New Jersey’s new 364 acre wildlife recreation area and hiking park

Jackson, NJ – Today, Jackson Township, home of Six Flags Great Adventure and the northeastern most border of the Pinelands National Reserve,  the Pine Barrens as New Jersey residents affectionately call it, officially preserved 364 acres of forest and wetlands.    The Bunker Hill Bogs Wildlife Recreation Area was officially christened today by Mayor Michael Reina as local residents and volunteers of the Jackson Pathfinders were on hand to witness the occasion.    

The huge parcel of land that encompasses a large section of eastern Jackson Township was rescued several years ago from becoming the southern entrance to an extension of the Westlake Village retirement community.   Years of legal and political maneuvering by concerned conservationists eventually forced the Westlake developer to cede the property to Jackson Township according Art Rosky, the local site manager for the Jackson Pathfinders.       The Jackson Pathfinders, through grants from the State of New Jersey and with the approval from the township, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and JCP&L, which maintains rights of way on the land eventually turned this once forgotten tract of land into a clean and pristine ecological park with over 5 miles of trails around two large lakes and 9 defunct cranberry bogs.    Through the dedicated effort of Pathfinders’ Treasurer Tom Stevens, Chairperson Karen Borga and the Pathfinders organization, a $25,000 grant from the New Jersey Conservation Fund, the group was able to clean up years of trash left behind which included items such as discarded metal swingsets, construction debris, tires, automotive parts and various other illegally dumped items forgotten by years of neglect.   

Joining Mayor Reina at today’s ribbon cutting ceremony was township Councilman Scott Martin and Councilwoman Bobby Rivere.   Other special guests included Jackson Girl Scout troop 110 who worked hard the previous morning on a community flower garden in preparation for today’s ceremony, led by troop leader Kathleen Malmstrom, of the Dogwood Service Unit of the Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore.

Jackson Township Councilman Scott Martin said “It’s a beautful site. There’s no doubt the residents of Jackson will enjoy themselves here.” about the new park and it’s stunning natural beauty and hidden wildlife treasures as the children in attendance followed a turtle as it crept along the shore of the lake.

“Today is all about the Jackson Pathfinders and they deserve it” said Mayor Reina “This isn’t about politics, it’s about what ordinary people in the community have accomplished.  It makes me proud to be the mayor of Jackson when I see things like this.” as he pointed around at the kids playing by the water and the results of many years of hard work by the Pathfinders, a 100% volunteer organization and branch of the Jackson Township municipal government.  He continued “This project has had absolutely zero cost to the taxpayer and that’s the beauty of it”. 

It was just a few months ago that Mayor Reina proposed to expand Jackson’s volunteer corps by reinstating an all volunteer community advisory board for the township to tackle projects and iniatives that might have otherwise carried a burden on taxpayers, similar to the Bunker Hill Bogs reclamation project.  Mayor Reina then spent time with the children in attendance including his grandson and the kindergarten daisy scouts from the Lucy N. Holman Elementary School who created the community garden at the site.  Mr. Reina will be joining the children at their school as a special “Mystery Guest” to read an unspecified Dr. Seuss classic to the children later in the week and answer questions they may have about being mayor of their town.

After the ceremony, Tony Santamaria, a local ecological expert took the group of children and the mayor on a short hike through the bog trails and detailed the vast and diverse range of wildlife that could be found in the preserve from deer to snakes to fish to the local beaver population.   Along the way, Mr. Santa Maria showed the children the effects already being felt by the project such as a resurgence in wildlife and growth of  auquatic plants that haven’t been seen in recent memory at the Bogs because of damage caused by off road vehicles which has been all but eliminated.    The Pathfinders have also built dozens of bird and owl shelters on the property which have lured back local exotic bird species including woodpeckers and owls.

Along the hike, the group was joined by Customized Dickens, a horse owned by Karen Borga, being ridden here by Pathfinder member Keith Sawyer.   Dickens is a neiiigh-bor of the bogs who calls the adjacent horse ranch owned by Site Manager Art Rosky  home.

In the above photo, Mayor Reina, no stranger to horses, walks along some of  the 5.1 miles of reclaimed trails first hand, accompanied by Customized Dickens and Keith Sawyer. 

After such an accomplishment, the Pathfinders intend to remain busy and keep informing residents about the untold natural treasures right here in their own backyards.   “Next up is a full moon hike at the New Jersey Forest Resource Education Center in August” Ms. Borga said.  The Forest Resource Education Center is just a few miles west of the Bunker Hill Bogs on East Veterans Highway.

“We have fishing, hiking, kayaking, horseback riding and canoeing right now at the bogs” explains Art Rosky, site manager “In the future, we’ll have lots of activities for children and seniors.  Just yesterday morning, two fisherman spent all afternoon in a boat out here and didn’t catch anything.  As they were leaving, a young kid on the banks caught a huge bass!”.   Rosky says there are plenty of bass already in the lakes and the waters will eventually be stocked with fish by the state.

Bunker Hill Bogs is the most unique of Jackson Township’s parks as it has no swing sets, no ball fields and no stadium lights.  In fact, it doesn’t even have electricity, but it’s one of the most diverse and well maintained ecosystems in the town and it’s open from dawn till dusk every day.  You won’t find Bunker Hill Bogs on any Google Map or State Wildlife guides because it just officially opened today, but it’s located on East Veteran’s Highway (Route 527), west of the intersection of Whitesville Road on the westbound side of the highway.  It’s a makes for a perfect eco-day trip for the entire family.

Jackson Daisy Scouts prepare park for National Trails Day ribbon cutting ceremony

Jackson, NJ – Armed with shovels, rakes and a whole lot of community spirit, the girls of Daisy Troop 110 from the Lucy N. Holman elementary school landscaped and  planted a flower garden this morning at the Bunker Hill Bogs Wildlife Recreation Area, Jackson Township’s newest park.    The park consists of over 5 miles of hiking and scenic trails along the Bunker Hill Bogs which was preserved and saved from developers through many years of hard work by the Jackson Pathfinders.   The girls were on a tight deadline today as the official ribbon cutting ceremony takes place tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m., followed by a short hike through the preserve and a community cleanup project.  Mayor Mike Reina is expected to be in attendance along with members of the Pathfinders organization and other township dignitaries to celebrate National Trails Day and the official opening of the park.

Above you can see the before and after of the Kiosk flower garden at Bunker Hill Bogs.

The girls, ages 5 and 6,  and their parents led by troop leader Kathleen Malmstrom,  arrived at the Bogs at 9:00 am and started clearing out their garden area, removing branches, picking weeds and turning the soil in preparation for their transformation.

They then headed to I&G Farms on Whitesville Road, just a minute from the park where Justin, an employee at the farm center helped the girls pick out flowers, plants and bushes that are both beautiful and deer resistant as the bog area is home to many dozens of white tailed deer, beavers, groundhogs, rabbits and other plant eating animals.

After picking the right flowers for the jobs, the girls headed back and got busy digging and planting their flowers, which I&G farms gave a generous discount on to the scouts. (hint: go to I&G farms and buy some flowers).   

By noon, the girls and their parents finished the garden and were ready to go home after  hard day’s work.    Their flower garden and the park is a gift to the Jackson community given by Jackson residents.   The entire park has been created through state grants and volunteer efforts by the Pathfinders, Jersey Shore Boy Scouts, Jersey Shore Girl Scouts and dozens of volunteers who have worked very hard this past winter to get the park and trails ready for tomorrow’s ribbon cutting ceremony.

The plants and landscaping supplies for this project were donated by Jackson NJ Online with the help of our friends at I&G farms who were generous to provide the scouts a discount on their materials for the project.  “When you give children the tools to give back to the community, it’s amazing how well they respond.” said Phil Stilton, an organizer of the project “These girls could have slept in today and watched cartoons, but they knew the mayor and other important people will be here tomorrow morning  and wanted to do something special for Jackson. Every one of them went home covered in dirt and mulch this morning.”    

After meeting park site manager Art Rosky over the winter and realizing the girls still needed to work on a community garden for the scout program, Mr. Stilton felt the Pathfinders and the Girl Scouts were a perfect match and introduced the two groups to each other.  Each hour of time donated on this project helps the pathfinders earn credits from the State of New Jersey to buy more trees from the Forestry Resource & Education Center.  “I’m hoping other scouts and community organizations can see what both the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts have done here and help make this place beautiful ” he continued, referring to the informational Kiosks built and provided earlier in the year by local Boy Scouts “There are many opportunities here at the bogs  with all sorts of environmental  projects for children to lead and I’m sure our kids can continue to deliver.”

Any other volunteer organizations who wish to help make this park beautiful by planting flower gardens, working on cleanup projects or donating materials to this effort should contact Karen Borga, chairperson for the Jackson Pathfinders at (908) 330-2579 or visit the Pathfinders online at www.jacksonpathfinders.org.   The garden still needs appropriate border material to be complete.

If you are interesting in having your daughter join the Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore, visit http://www.girlscoutsjs.org/ or call (800) 785-2090  to find a troop in Jackson.

Jackson’s Busy Beavers

We’re all familiar with Jackson’s most high profile creature, the gypsy moth caterpillar, but did you know that Jackson also has a high population of beavers toiling their days away damming up our streams and rivers and creating new ecosystems all around us?  One such ecosystem can be seen first hand at the Bunker Hill Bogs.  

Our property backs up into the Bunker Hill Bogs wetlands and open space area and for years, I have been able to watch the beavers of the bogs build their dams, but over the past year, these guys have been particularly busy building new dams.   Two years ago, I was able to cross completely over to the eastern side of the ponds, but something happened one day.   The beavers built a dam.  What was once a quick jump across a trickling stream had become a forty foot wide pond thanks to the local beaver engineering department.  These days, I have to use the main entrance on Route 527, just like everyone else, but it’s worth the trip, deep into the park to see nature’s construction workers in action.

On my trip to check up on my furry friends today, I was shocked to see that they had abandoned their dam project of 2008 and had completed a nearly 100 foot long dam that has made the lake behind it raise nearly six full inches!   The 3rd lake from the road used to be barely a few inches deep with muck and lilly pads visible from the surface as far as the eye could see, but with the new depth, the lake is taking on a completely new identity, providing residents with new fishing spots and beautiful scenic panoramas, that is if you can look past the power lines.

I have lived in Ocean County my entire life and never knew we had beavers and never knew how accessible they are.  If you want to see a unique and almost human like occurrence in nature, you can see these beaver dams yourself by taking a quick 5-10 minute walk down the trails and head towards the 2nd JCP&L utility line on the land bridge that crosses the reserve.   Once you get to the end of the land bridge, look out to your right to see the new dam and if you’re adventurous, you can go look at the old dam, but the water levels have risen to wear some days, it’s just a muddy mess.

When hiking and exploring the trails at Bunker Hill Bogs, always be prepared and well equipped.  I would recommend at minimum, a good pair of hiking boots or sneakers with ankle support, bug spray, bottled water, a cell phone and maybe a partner to accompany you.   You can’t really get lost back there because you will either end up in the water, on Route 527, in the Westlake retirement village or Butterfly Road.   It’s a great trip to take with your kids.   I take my daughter to see the beavers a few times each year, have a picnic and she loves it.