Forked River Mountain
Views

 Newsletter of the Forked River Mountain Coalition

www.frmc.org

Vol. 7 No.1

Save the dates

Field Day...
March 11, 2000

 

Forked River
Mountain Cleanup...
April 16, 2000

 

Barnegat Bay
Festival...
May 20, 2000

 

more details in the
next newsletter!

 

COALITION RECEIVES TRAILS GRANT

 

    The Forked River Mountain Coalition has been awarded a $15,000 grant by the NJDEP to begin the planning and construction of a trails system in the Forked River Mountain area. While the Coalition will develop a comprehensive plan for a multi-use trails system, only a small portion will actually be constructed at this time.

 

     “Most of the area is still private property,” said Kerry Jennings, President of the Coalition. As we acquire more land for open space, we will construct the various segments of trails and link them together, added Jennings. The Coalition will utilize its own volunteers to help construct and maintain the trails.

 

     The grant will allow the Coalition to investigate and establish an initial multi-use trail that will stand alone as well as become part of the larger trails system in the future. A small interpretive trail is also currently envisioned. The trail will be somewhere in the newly created Forked River Mountain Wildlife Management Area. The property is owned by the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, a Coalition partner.

 

     Eventually, over 20 miles of hiking, interpretive, mountain biking, horseback, cross-country skiing and motor vehicle trails are possible. The purpose of constructing a trails system is to allow people the opportunity to experience this unique area of the Pine Barrens and learn about the areas resources without damaging or degrading them.

 

    Individuals or groups that would like to get involved in the Forked River Mountain trails project should contact the Coalition by calling 609-971-1635 or write to P.O. Box 219, Forked River, NJ 08731.

 

Bluebird Monitors Wanted

 

      The Coalition’s bluebird nest box trail had fantastic results during its first year.  Our nest boxes fledged a total of twelve bluebirds.  We are again in need of a few dedicated individuals to help monitor the nest boxes during the second year of the project from March until August.  If you would like to volunteer as a bluebird nest box monitor, please call the Coalition at 609-971-1635 no later than March 1, 2000.

A Look Back . . . A Look Ahead . . .

      For the past year, the Forked River Mountain Coalition has been busy working to permanently protect this vast wilderness.  Below are just some of  our accomplishments for 1999 and some of our future goals for 2000, and beyond .

Accomplishments

Received two grants to conduct a threatened and endangered species inventory and prepare management recommendations to help ensure their survival. We also were awarded a grant to begin the planning and development of a trails system for the area.

Established a web site to better educate and inform the public about the Forked River Mountains and the Coalition.

Conducted our Sixth Annual Spring Cleanup.  Over 17 tons of trash was removed from the forest.  To date, more than 167 tons of debris have been removed from the woods around the Forked River Mountains. Over 150 volunteers participated.

  Established a bluebird nest box trail and had fantastic results; two nest boxes fledged a total of twelve bluebirds.

Sponsored and participated in a variety of educational events, like the Barnegat Bay Festival, to promote a greater awareness about the importance and significance of the Forked River Mountain area. Thousands of people attend these events annually.

Continued to publish our newsletter, “Forked River Mountain Views,” to report on our activities and educate the public about conservation and stewardship efforts in the area.

Goals

Acquire more land.  Precious little time remains if we are to protect the entire Forked River Mountain area as open space.

Continue plant and wildlife studies.  We must understand the habitat requirements of threatened and endangered species if we are to ensure their survival here and else where.

Begin work on a comprehensive trails system for the Forked River Mountain area.  Eventually over 20 miles of hiking, interpretive, mountain biking, horseback, cross-country skiing and motor vehicle trails are possible.

Maintain and expand our web site to bring you all the important information and news you need to know about the Forked River Mountains and the Coalition.

Continue to monitor our bluebird nest box trail and expand other conservation and stewardship activities within the Forked River Mountain area.

Conduct the seventh annual spring cleanup, our annual canoe trip and treefrog hike and participate in the annual Barnegat Bay Festival, Pine Barrens Jamboree and other educational events to promote greater awareness about the importance and significance of the Forked River Mountain area.

     But we can only realize our goals with your help.  If you are not currently a member of the Coalition and would like to join, or if you are a member and have not yet renewed your membership, simply complete the registration form.  Be sure to mark the appropriate box and return the form along with your $15 membership dues for 2000.  Please help support the grass-roots initiative to permanently protect the Forked River Mountains and the vast wilderness that surrounds them.

 

 Volunteers "Cleanup"

      A hand full of hardy volunteers turned out for the fall cleanup on November 6, 1999.  This special cleanup was scheduled to remove debris around remote sections of the Middle Branch.  Believe it or not organizers did not want a large turn out like for the Spring Cleanup.

      “We promoted this event very differently, suggesting only hardy volunteers participate” said Kerry Jennings, president of the Coalition.  Because the area that needed to be cleaned up was not easily accessible, we needed to keep the group relatively small.

     As it turned out, we were able to remove trash from the same areas we cleaned up during last year’s fall event.

     Our thanks to all those hardy volunteers!

Did you know...

•   The Forked River Mountains are located in Lacey Township and encompass an area of over 20,000 acres
•   East Mountain, the larger of the two hills, rises 184 feet above sea level
•   Barnegat Lighthouse, Old Barney, constructed between 1856 and 1859, can be seen from the mountain, 11 miles away
•   Historic Hangar One at the Lakehurst Naval Base, site of the 1937 Hindenburg disaster, is also visible from the mountain, 13 miles away
•   From the area emanates the headwaters of three watersheds, Cedar Creek, Forked River and Oyster Creek, all flow into Barnegat Bay
•   The Old Tuckerton Railroad, which traversed the area from north to south, operated between 1871 and 1936
•   The Albert Brothers Homeplace was located in the Waretown woods, the cabin was built in 1933 and stood until 1988
•   The most mysterious place in the Forked River Mountains is Aserdaten, circa 1860s, it is said that deer were raised here to restore the local population

 

Critter Corner. . . 
    Timber Rattlesnake

The timber rattlesnake is one of two venomous snakes in New Jersey and the only venomous snake in the Pine Barrens.  Adults range from three to five feet in length.  Timber rattlesnakes have broad, arrow-shaped heads, rough, divided or keeled scales, and a rattle on the end of their tails. Their color varies with black or dark brown cross bands and spots on a ground-color of yellow, brown or gray.  The tail is always black and the rattle adds segments each time the snake sheds its skin. Some people believe that you can tell the age of a rattlesnake by counting the number of segments on the rattle.  Since a rattlesnake can shed more than once a year, this is not true.

Timber rattlesnakes are extremely rare in New Jersey, and in the Pine Barrens.  There may be only five or six populations left with more than 50 adults in all of the state.  In the Pine Barrens rattlesnakes generally hibernate in shallow underground dens along the edge of streams flowing mainly through Atlantic white cedar swamps.  They utilize the flat, sandy uplands surrounding their den sites as their home range for foraging and brooding.  Rattlesnakes return to the same den sites each year.

Timber rattlesnakes are not aggressive creatures.  Most people who are bitten are trying to kill or capture the snake.  Their venom is used to obtain prey.  A rattlesnakes diet consists mainly of rodents and other small mammals and birds.  The timber rattlesnake is considered an endangered species in New Jersey.  This is primarily a result of their indiscriminate killing and habitat loss due to development.  Historic accounts of timber rattlesnakes exist in the Forked River Mountain area.  We hope to someday rediscover them or reintroduce them into suitable habitat.  With your continued support, we will be able to do just that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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