At Tuesday's NJMC commission meeting, long-time Executive Director Bob Ceberio announced he is retiring at year's end.

Although the announcement was not unexpected, it is still difficult for those of us who have had the privilege of working with him to accept that he is leaving.

Throughout his three decades with the Meadowlands Commission, he has had a profound and lasting impact on the environment in the Meadowlands, creating and executing a vision where both humans and nature not only co-exist but thrive.

When Bob moved to the Meadowlands as a teenager more than four decades ago, much of the region was literally a smelly dump, and the Hackensack River was so polluted that even barnacles couldn't hack it.

Ospreys breed here now, and there are too many egrets and herons to count. The Meadowlands is an ecotourism destination these days, with more than 280 species of birds seen hereabouts — and rarities seen on a regular basis. 

A lot of people have done amazing things to help the Meadowlands bounce back, and Bob Ceberio has been one of the key players in that revival.

It also needs to be said that Bob has been a champion not only of this blog from Day One, but, more important, the concept that it embodies: a celebration of the natural wonders of the Meadowlands.

Thank you, Bob.