As recounted in my December 2012 posting, Hurricane Sandy blew over a number of large trees in the Kilmer Woods section of the EcoPreserve. However, no ill wind goes unstudied. In order to clear the trails of downed trees, we had to chainsaw a number of large red, white and black oak trunks. We recently went back to cut “cookies” from a several of these downed boles or stumps to be able to age the trees and fill in some…
A team of students from the Rutgers Outdoors and Naturalists Clubs helped to restore a remnant meadow in the SW corner fo the EcoPreserve. The objective was to open up and connect several existing patches of little bluestem, a bunchgrass, and black haw shrubs. This meadow and shrub thicket has been gradually invaded by red cedars and other tree species over the years. The larger goal is promote greater habitat diversity in this portion of the EcoPreserve by maintaining early…
With the assistance of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service and Rutgers University Emergency Services, a controlled burn was undertaken Feb 21, 2013, on the large meadow interior to the EcoPreserve. This management action is part of a long term goal of restoring the ecological health and native species diversity to the EcoPreserve. An area of tallgrass meadow of approximately 1/2 acre in size in the interior of the Preserve was targeted. This controlled burn will have great ecological benefits…
With the help of RU Facilities, TreeTech and a dedicated crew of students, the SuperStorm Sandy damage to the EcoPreserve was finally cleared away. A number of blowdown trees were chainsawed to open up the EcoPreserve trail system. The students, several with chainsaw certification from summer jobs with the US Forest Service, were able to put their skills to good use. So get out there and enjoy the trails in this great wintry weather.