From the Press of Atlantic City

Oct. 8 , 2007

Cranberry bogs making way for wild

Pilot project to help nature take course in Chatsworth

By MICHELLE J. LEE

Staff Writer, 609-272-7256

WOODLAND TOWNSHIP - This land, in the heart of the Pine Barrens, once was full of water and cranberry vines.

Now, the flat terrain of the former DeMarco Farm's cranberry bogs is being transformed into a virtual moonscape. For the past month, excavators churned the earth at Franklin Parker Preserve, knocking down the man-made irrigation canals and building artificial hills and valleys.

The goal is to let nature take its course and have the land revert back to the wild, according to Tim Morris, director of stewardship for the New Jersey Conservation Foundation.

Changing the surface of the former bogs is important to encourage new growth. While some cranberries will remain, Morris hopes to see red maple and pine trees return to the property over the next few years.

"We're trying to make a mess, so that rather than have one type of plant community we'll have diversity," Morris said about the pilot restoration project, which covers 100 acres.

The preserve is home to 52 different rare and endangered plants and animals, such as the Pine Barrens gentian, the bald eagle and northern pine snake. Over time, the former cranberry bogs could become a breeding ground for other species, said Betsy Clarke, a biologist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The pilot project is part of a proposal to restore 2,200 acres of former cranberry bogs, blueberry farms and buffer zones. The project is funded by $1.25 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service. The entire restoration should be complete by August or September 2009.

The Franklin Parker Preserve covers 14 square miles on several sections of land in Burlington County. The property is about the size of Jersey City and it filters water into the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer, the main drinking water source for thousands of southern New Jersey residents.

The preserve was created in 2004 when the New Jersey Conservation Foundation purchased the property from A.R. DeMarco Enterprises for $12 million. The foundation co-owns the land with the state Department of Environmental Protection. The following year, the Natural Resources Conservation Service paid $4.4 million for an easement to keep the land undeveloped and agreed to fund the restoration.

Historically, the bogs were used for cultivating cranberries, a native plant, as far back at the Civil War, according to J. Garfield DeMarco, the former landowner and cranberry farmer. His father, Anthony R. DeMarco, expanded the farms when he began acquiring land in the 1940s.

DeMarco said the cranberry market crash in the 1990s and his desire to preserve the land, among other reasons, spurred his decision to sell the property.
The preserve is named after Franklin Parker, an original member of the Pinelands Commission who helped acquire the property.

Last month, as many as four bulldozers and two excavators worked to contour the land, breaching canals and dikes that flooded and drained the cranberry bogs, said Louis Cantafio, senior land steward for the New Jersey Conservation Foundation. A new water control system was also installed on the site to handle storm water runoff.

Future plans include creating nature trails, an information kiosk and small parking area for visitors, Cantafio said. Some of the cranberry pump houses will be converted into observation platforms with telescopes for bird-watching and star-gazing.

Simultaneously, the foundation is working to restore Atlantic white cedar trees, a native species that is an important habitat for the endangered Pine Barrens tree frog, Morris said. The foundation will plant 50 acres of Atlantic white cedar in the spring, with a second phase of 150 to 200 acres. The $300,000 project is being funded by grants from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Coastal America, private companies and donations.

Local opinion among Chatsworth residents, the neighborhood in the center of the preserve, have been mixed.

Jeff Brower, a retired forest firefighter and Chatsworth native, said he can appreciate the preservation efforts. But Brower is concerned the land will turn into a "big fire load" with trees replacing the cranberry bogs.

"Too many people come here have no idea about the fire hazard in the Pine Barrens," he said, referring to the natural fires that occur and the large fires that to threatened Chatsworth in 1954 and 1963.

"It's nice they're opening it to the public, but sooner or later you'll have someone with a cigarette butt, or an arsonist, and you'll get a fire there," he said.

Morris said a fire barrier was built in one section and the foundation partnered with the New Jersey Forest Fire Service to burn 100 acres last winter to curb overgrowth. Other burnings will take place in the future, he said.

Garry Alloway, another Chatsworth resident and volunteer forest firefighter, said the restoration is good if it's done right.

In the past, Alloway said the water from the cranberry bogs protected Chatsworth. Now, Alloway said the village will be left to the whims of Mother Nature and the New Jersey Conservation Foundation.

Alloway, DeMarco's cousin, used to cultivate blueberries. Alloway said their grandfather, Garfield Alloway, advised the family that if they didn't want to continue farming to let the land return to its natural form.

"Just let it go back. Pine trees will grow in it. Cedar trees will grow in it," Alloway said. "Let it grow back."

Franklin Parker Preserve, along Route 563 and 532 in Burlington County, is open to the public in the day for non-motorized activities such as hiking and fishing. To learn more, call the New Jersey Conservation Foundation at 1-888-526-3728 or visit the Web site at www.njconservation.org.

To e-mail Michelle Lee at The Press:
MLee@pressofac.com

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