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Archive for the ‘Habitat Restoration’ Category

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Ponderlodge: Before/After

Monday, October 15th, 2012

It’s been several years since the old Ponderlodge Golf Course was purchased by the Green Acres Program. After being slated for use as a satellite campus for Stockton College the old lodge and other buildings are long gone from the site. Today, the site is managed for wildlife and outdoor recreation. The old paved cart paths make it a magnet for local residents to easily explore it’s features. We’re delighted to be working with NJ Fish & Wildlife to enhance the habitat on site.  This past week we planted over 2,700 native species in an area we call the “Backyard Habitat Demonstration Site.” It’s in an area where the old lodge used to be located. The purpose of the site is for visitors to learn about features they themselves can install in their own backyards to benefit wildlife. We have 6 main features: Forested habitat, Scrub-shrub, Wildflower meadow, Pond (not yet installed), Nectar producing plants, and a brush pile. The features will be highlighted by interpretive signs and we hope to get volunteers to help maintain the site in the future.

BEFORE: The old lodge at the former Ponderlodge Golf Course in Villas, New Jersey in 2008. © Ben Wurst

 

DURING: Shortly after demolition in April 2011. A bare landscape with no value to wildlife at all… © Ben Wurst

 

 

AFTER: Volunteers and staff planted over 2,700 native trees, shrubs, wildflowers and grasses for wildlife. © Ben Wurst

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Volunteers needed!

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2012

Since 2009, we’ve been active in helping to restore wildlife habitat to a former golf course in lower Cape May County. In place of the large lodge on the site we are building a “Backyard Habitat Demonstration Site.” It will feature several different habitat treatments that homeowners can use to provide habitat for wildlife in their own backyards. It includes the creation of scrub-shrub habitat, forested habitat, nectar producing plants, wildflower meadows, a pond, and a brush pile.

The site was designed by landscape designer Jeanne Marcucci with greenjean gardens LLC. Last week the site was prepped by NJ Fish & Wildlife. After the site was plowed we laid out paths that run throughout the site. Next compost will be spread to some areas (wildflower beds) and plants will be delivered on October 9th. The team at Planet Earth Landscaping will be assisting us the the compost spreading and planting.

Volunteers are needed to help plant the many native plants that were ordered on October 10-11th from 10-2pm each day. For more information or to volunteer contact Ben Wurst.

The site where 2,700 native trees, shrubs, wildflowers, and grasses will be planted for wildlife near Villas, NJ.

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Hiking at Ballanger Creek

Thursday, August 2nd, 2012
New trails open to public!

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

I might be a little biased in saying that Bass River State Forest is one of the most beautiful state parks in New Jersey, only because I live in the same town where it’s located. There is so much to explore at BRSF: large pine plantations by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) that helped build NJ’s state parks, Atlantic white-cedar swamps galore, sugar sand, and all the wildlife that occupy pinelands habitats. One new and much different portion of Bass River State Forest is Ballanger Creek, pronounced “Baa-lan’-ger”. The surrounding forested habitat is mostly unfragmented and is comprised of mature pine-oak woodlands. There are some very large pitch pines that cover many species that are shade tolerant like, american holly. Two old freshwater impoundments were drained after Hurricane Irene blew out an earthen dam. Now freshwater wetlands have emerged and atlantic white-cedar seedlings are beginning to sprout.

Common along much of the coast of New Jersey, this site has had a lot of use in its history. A saw mill once operated here in the mid-19th century and in the early 1900s fields along the creek were used for agriculture. It was also used as a dump site for fill and other debris. A house and several out buildings were demolished when the property was acquired by the Green Acres Program in the mid-90s. Since its acquisition the site has not been actively managed for wildlife. That all changed in late 2009 when Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ acquired funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to enhance the degraded wildlife habitat on site. We’re all done with the project and there’s a lot to explore here. We invite you to explore this site and enjoy its natural beauty and its wildlife residents. Click on the map to download or print a copy of it. Here is a link to the site via Google Maps.

Check out some photos from my recent visit:

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NRCS introduces new initiative to restore bog turtle populations

Friday, July 6th, 2012

(c) Brian Zarate

by Karena DiLeo, Wildlife Biologist

This spring, NRCS introduced Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW) a new partnership between NRCS and FWS that offers technical assistance and financial incentives to landowners to enhance wildlife habitat on their property.  WLFW focuses on 7 species whose decline could be offset by managing habitat on private lands.  These species use habitat that is beneficial to other wildlife populations while being compatible with agricultural practices. One of these focal species is the bog turtle.  This habitat specialist is dependent upon open unpolluted wetlands, spring-fed fens, sphagnum bogs, and wet pastures but habitat fragmentation, invasive species, and ditching and draining of wetlands are threatening these habitats and leading to population declines.

In New Jersey over 70 percent of bog turtle sites are on privately owned land, the majority of which are not currently monitored or protected under easement.  CWF in partnership with ENSP and FWS has been working with landowners to increase awareness of these turtles and protect their habitat.   Since 2011, CWF has reached out to almost 100 landowners to conduct habitat assessments on their property which will be used by ENSP and FWS to prioritize sites for restoration.

(c) Karena DiLeo

WLFW has provided a great opportunity to continue our work by incentivizing landowners to manage for bog turtles.  Protecting sites through easements will ensure that NRCS and its partner biologists are able to continue management of these dynamic ecosystems, while monitoring and protecting this rare turtle.

In June, NRCS applied for a second round of funding due to an overwhelming number of WLFW applications and the hard work of conservationists and biologists to enroll these landowners.

 

 

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Photo from the Field

Monday, April 16th, 2012
HEADSTARTED EASTERN TIGER SALAMANDERS INTRODUCED INTO VERNAL POOL COMPLEX IN CAPE MAY

Kim Korth and Dave Golden with Kevin Wilson from the Cape May County Zoo

Eastern tiger salamander larvae, hatched at the Cape May County Zoo, were released into our enhanced vernal pool complex in Cape May this month.   Continued monitoring and genetic analysis of this population will determine survivorship of headstarted egg masses versus those placed in predator-exclusion cages in the pool.

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