Roaring Rock Park tree replanting

Township residents volunteering at Roaring Rock Park

Washington Township, Warren County NJ, organized a Trail Day at Roaring Rock Park on March 26, 2022.  The day started out somewhat rainy and dreary, but spirits were lifted as Trout Unlimited and Team Support Roaring Rock Park volunteers arrived by the carload.  Soon enough over 25 volunteers were on hand to tackle two important activities...

Stream Restoration / Tree Replanting

Trout Unlimited planting native trees along Brass Castle Creek

The first major activity, a stream restoration effort, was led by members of the Ridge and Valley chapter of Trout Unlimited (TU).  This local TU chapter coordinated a tree replanting effort within the June 2021 logging site at Roaring Rock Park with Washington Township via its Passive Recreation Area Coordinator.

Replanted poplar and oak trees at RRP June 2021 logging site

TU is a national organization dedicated to conserving, protecting and restoring trout streams and their watersheds.  In order to achieve their goals, local TU chapters conduct habitat improvement projects, stream restoration projects, stream clean-ups, and educational programs such as Trout in the Classroom, among other activities.

Approximately 35 trees, mostly poplar and oak, were replanted along an access road which the loggers used to haul out mature, healthy trees of the same species for sale on the timber market during the June 2021 commercial logging activity.   The specific location is the logging site east of Brass Castle Road, between Harmony Brass Castle and Hartmans Corner Roads.   This is the logging area which came uncomfortably close to Brass Castle Creek, generating concern about soil erosion.

Hurricane Ida's impact on the June 2021 logging sites "And now from all the erosion...there is a giant washout, dumping everything down..into [Brass Castle] Creek" pic.twitter.com/NJLzR4TwDo

— Support Roaring Rock Park! (@srrpnj) September 6, 2021

Brass Castle Creek is one of a small number of classified streams in New Jersey supporting native brook trout, capable of natural reproduction.  Team SRRP raised concerns last year about the creation of logging haul roads, and their negative effects not only on the park terrain, trees and wildlife, but also the risk of silt being deposited in the creek due to storm water runoff.   

Brass Castle Creek, close to where tree replanting took place

This section of Brass Castle Creek, in particular, has ideal sun shade and water temperature characteristics that support fish populations living within it.  Another adverse result of commercial logging within the park is mature tree removal decreases the shade providing canopy, thus removing important temperature regulating effects on the creek.   Brook trout are particularly sensitive to warm water temperatures.

Team SRRP contributed funding to TU to support the acquisition of the trees used in the replanting project.

RRP Trail Clean up

Team SRRP volunteering at March 26 2022 RRP Trail Cleanup

As Team TU was planting trees, Team SRRP and volunteers led by Washington Township's Passive Area Recreation Coordinator hiked along the Dick Flint Trail, widening the paths by cutting back invasive plant species such as Japanese barberry.   

Japanese barberry is a particularly aggressive shrub introduced from Asia in the late nineteenth century as an ornamental to be used in gardens.   Over the last one hundred years the species has made its way outside of backyard gardens and into forests across the eastern United States.   Once barberry establishes a foothold on the forest floor, like most invasive species it crowds out native plants and tree saplings.  Not only does Japanese barberry have strong thorns, which are a painful nuisance for hikers and discourages deer from browsing the plant itself, it also has characteristics that attract ticks.  Pennsylvania plans to ban the commercial sale of barberry in 2023.

We had good volunteer attendance which allowed canvassing the full length of the trail with the clean up effort.   Area residents who value local Warren County parks can contact Washington Township's Passive Area Coordinator to learn about upcoming trail days.

Project outcomes are not always according to plan

Discarded tree crowns which increases fire load
Roaring Rock Park, Warren County, NJ

This is especially true with the Forest Management Plan (FMP) now being executed at Roaring Rock Park, by the Washington Township Warren County NJ municipal government and its logging contractor.

How it started...

If you talk to proponents of forest management, you often hear that managed tree harvesting is a means to reduce the risk of

1. forest fire hazards, and   
2. legal liability stemming from potential lawsuits raised by victims harmed by falling dead trees.    

To achieve this goal at Roaring Rock Park, one would think the logging contractor, hired by the municipal government, would need to remove diseased and dead trees from the forest.

How is it going?

The municipal government, through its hired logging contractor, has started to log the park in June 2021, kicking off ten years of tree harvesting.   So will the recent logging activity lead to reduced risks? 

The "reduce forest fire risks" "benefit"

This is a large debate now, as you see forest fires raging in places such as California, Australia and even the Pinelands in southern New Jersey.   You hear that removing trees will reduce the fire load within the forest.

Aside from this ongoing debate, did the outcome of recent logging at Roaring Rock Park, decrease the fire load?

What occurred: the Township's logging contractor cut down mature healthy trees.  As they did this, they lopped off the tree crowns (tree tops) and discarded them on the forest floor.     

RRP Forest Management, June 2021 commercial tree harvesting activity left tree crowns to rot and die, increasing fire hazard threat. pic.twitter.com/LH8oOJe4nh

— Save Roaring Rock Park! (@SaveRRP) August 27, 2021

As these discarded tree crowns die and rot, they will increase the risk of forest fire by increasing the fire load of the park.   

The "dead trees falling on people" threat

If you observed the tree extraction by the loggers, you will notice that the logs taken were not diseased or dead.   They came from mature healthy trees that were not "ready to fall on residents."

Does not look like a diseased, infested tree...
Nor a dead, rotted log... pic.twitter.com/9iOsyURu4G

— Save Roaring Rock Park! (@SaveRRP) August 7, 2021

If one of the benefits of FMP is to remove dead diseased trees, then why is Washington Township's logger not doing this at Roaring Rock Park ? ... 1/ pic.twitter.com/UgKYbLfef2

— Save Roaring Rock Park! (@SaveRRP) August 26, 2021

Off to a bad start, let's get back on track

Our group urges Washington Township to:

1. stop the current logging activity which not only harms the ecology of the park, but runs counter to the benefits its touts, and 
2. inform the public through regular public meetings that state, on public record, the outcome of recent logging activities and plans for the future phases over the ten year FMP period. 
3. meet regularly with the New Jersey Highlands Coalition to design a more ecologically responsible FMP that reduces the harm to the forest ecology and wildlife that lives within it.
4. monitor future logging activity to minimize deviations from the plan.

Washington Borough, Hunterdon County NJ oppose forest management bills

Shabbacong Creek
downslope from Shabbacong Mountain Preserve
Washington Borough, Warren County NJ

On Tuesday June 1st, 2021 the local municipal council of Washington Borough in Warren County and Hunterdon County Board of Commissioners passed resolutions in opposition to three bills (A-4843/S-3549 A-4844/S-3550 A-4845/S-3548) being considered by the New Jersey state legislature.   These two local municipalities' actions followed that of Warren County on May 12th, 2021.

If passed, these bills would have a devastating effect on New Jersey public lands, for parcels whose size is as small as twenty five (25) acres.   These bills will mandate municipalities to obtain and implement "Forest Management Plans" (FMPs), similar to the one being considered for Roaring Rock Park in Washington Township.  These "plans", despite their benign sounding titles, are primarily commercial logging plans whose primary intent is to transform New Jersey public lands into large scale tree farms, and away from what should be their purpose: to preserve, protect and promote their natural resources and to provide recreational opportunities to residents.  

For Washington Borough the impact would be realized on the Shabbacong Mountain Preserve, an approximate 80 acre tract of land acquired with Green Acre Funding.   Washington Borough residents, in coordination with the local municipality, have designated this property for recreational use.

The actions of Washington Borough and Hunterdon County acknowledge:

1. These bills will essentially create new unfunded mandates, requiring compliance by local government to state law while not providing state funding to local municipalities to facilitate compliance, and remediation of the damage that will result from logging activities;
2. Adding insult to injury, these bills will prohibit local governments, and their taxpayers, from influencing activities arising from FMPs (the same constituents who would be paying for the implementation!);
3. These bills will primarily facilitate commercial logging activities, not the retention, protection and promotion of the natural resources (trees, water and wildlife) that reside on New Jersey's public lands (the same resources that make the lands valuable in the first place!)

Washington Borough and Hunterdon County join a growing list of local municipalities and organizations in opposition to these bills:

1. Washington Borough, Warren County
2. Warren County
3. Hunterdon County    
4. Monmouth County
5. Ringwood
6. West Milford
7. Raritan
8. Buena Vista
9. Clinton
10. Hardyston
11. Washington Township, Burlington County
12. Harding Township 
13. Rockleigh
14. Tenafly 
15. Parsippany – Troy Hills 
16. South Brunswick 
17. Lacey Township 
18. Shamong Township
19. Princeton
20. New Jersey League of Municipalities

We commend Washington Borough Council and the Hunterdon Board of County Commissioners for adopting a well written resolution and proclamation that acknowledge the ecological and recreational value of public lands and forests, and their positive effects on making their communities desirable places to live.   

Below are images of the adopted Borough resolution and Hunterdon County proclamation. We urge local New Jersey municipalities to consider adopting similar resolutions, especially if they have open public space greater than twenty five (25) acres.

Warren County NJ opposes forest management bills

Roaring Rock Park Hiking Trail
Brass Castle Creek
Washington Township, Warren County NJ

On Wednesday May 12th, 2021 Warren County New Jersey Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution in opposition to three bills (A-4843/S-3549 A-4844/S-3550 A-4845/S-3548) being considered by the New Jersey state legislature.   If passed, these bills would have a devastating effect on New Jersey public lands, for parcels whose size is as small as twenty five (25) acres.   These bills will mandate municipalities to obtain and implement "Forest Management Plans" (FMPs), similar to the one being considered for Roaring Rock Park in Washington Township.  These "plans", despite their benign sounding titles, are primarily commercial logging plans whose primary intent is to transform New Jersey public lands into large scale tree farms, and away from what should be their purpose: to preserve, protect and promote their natural resources and to provide recreational opportunities to residents.  

The Warren County NJ resolution also acknowledges the short sighted wording of the current bills:

1. these bills will essentially create new unfunded mandates, requiring compliance by local government to state law while not providing state funding to local municipalities to facilitate compliance, and remediation of the damage that will result from logging activities;
2. examples of such remediation costs will include, but are not limited to, 
1. replanting of harvested trees;
2. removal of silt deposited in waterways, resulting from soil erosion and deposits from commercial logging machinery;
3. restoration of fish and amphibian populations that will be diminished and killed off by silt pollution of streams and wetlands;
4. increased control of invasive plant and insect species, both of which will expand their current footholds as the protective tree canopy disappears;
5. increased control of browsing deer, who will target young tree saplings in a recovering forest for a food source;
6. destruction of hiking foot paths that may exist on New Jersey public lands if they are to be widened as access roads for commercial logging machinery.
3. adding insult to injury, these three bills will prohibit local governments, and their taxpayers, from influencing activities arising from FMPs (the same constituents who would be paying for the implementation!);
4. it acknowledges the bills are primarily focused on commercial logging activities, not the retention, protection and promotion of the natural resources (trees, water and wildlife) that reside on New Jersey's public lands (the same resources that make the lands valuable in the first place!)

We commend Warren County Commissioners for drafting and passing a well written resolution which acknowledges the ecological and recreational value of public lands and forests, and their positive effects on making Warren County a desirable place to live.    Warren County Commissioners are joining other municipal leaders across this state, such as Albert B. Kelly, mayor of Bridgeton, in recognizing these bills are short sighted and ill designed for New Jersey's municipalities.

Below is an image of the adopted resolution.   We urge local New Jersey municipalities to consider adopting similar resolutions, especially if they have open public space greater than twenty five (25) acres.

https://blog.saveroaringrockpark.org/post/651443943653916672/warren-county-commissioners-unanimously-oppose

Legislation threatens New Jersey public forests

Brass Castle Creek, Roaring Rock Park,
Washington Township, Warren County, New Jersey

There are four bills proposed in the New Jersey Legislature (A-4843/S-3549 A-4844/S-3550 A-4845/S-3548 A-4846/S-3547) that would require all publicly owned forested land to be managed under the context of a "Forest Stewardship Plan", likely by a professional forestry logging contractor, in accordance with practices laid out in these four bills. My opinion is that these four bills are ill conceived, but for northern New Jersey there are two that are particularly onerous.

The two that directly apply to northern New Jersey, A-4843/S-3549 and A-4844/S-3550, pertain to logging plans similar to the one created for Roaring Rock Park in Washington Township, Warren County. One of these bills mandates that all public property purchased with Green Acres funding and having a forested area of 25 acres or more must be subject to a forest stewardship plan. Green Acres open space is managed by state, county and municipal government as well as non-profits, which would all be required to hire foresters to create and carry out logging plans in forested areas.

The second clause in the second bill (A-4844/S-3550) would prohibit county and municipal governments from passing any ordinances or other rules that would in some way prevent logging of public lands within their jurisdiction, and it would preclude county or municipal approval of forestry plans.   It essentially shuts out local oversight and influence on logging activities on public lands.

The other two bills (A-4845/S-3548 and A-4846/S-3547) mainly affect the Pinelands in southern New Jersey. A-4845/S-3548 requires a certain amount of acreage in the Pinelands and elsewhere be burned every year and the other, A-4846/S-3547, requires a new government panel to facilitate these logging and burning plans.

These bills will create these issues:

1. These bills are primary commercial logging plans, written with the focus and intent to allow widescale tree harvesting with little to no accommodation to the preservation of the natural resources within the public forest land - trees, plants, wildlife and water resources.
2. These bills make no clear accommodation to remediation of the forest if and when logging activities will cease. The forests will likely be left to recover on their own, since local and county governments will not be afforded funds to provide proactive recovery i.e. widescale tree planting.
3. A-4843/S-3549 will not require post management restoration requirements to be established. Without these, non-native plant species will have new footholds for invasions. Ruts and overturned soils created by the new access roads and the dragging of heavy mechanized logging equipment across the forest floor, expose forest soils to wind-, animal-, and vehicle-born opportunistic invasive seeds. 
4. One bill (A-4844/S-3550) will remove local oversight by county and municipal governments, by preventing them from passing local ordinances that would prevent the logging of public lands within their jurisdiction. 
5. Furthermore, the removal of local oversight will prevent local municipalities, to the extent that they can, from influencing logging activities performed on private held land and under the guide of "forest management plans."   This will complicate the operations of municipal boards such as  Shade Tree Commissions and the ordinances under which they operate.
   
6. These current bills amount to unfunded mandates to local and county governments, as it is unclear whether this legislation will provide funding to pay for the logging contractor costs, restoration of the forests after logging ceases, and remediation of environmental issues or damage caused by logging activities to the park itself or adjacent properties that will be left to the local governments to sort out.
7. It is unclear who will bear the cost burden of remediation of environmental damage that will result from widescale logging, for example, polluted water resources (lakes, rivers).
8. It is unclear what legal rights adjacent landowners will have to bring lawsuits against the logging contractors, local and state government if their property is damaged by this logging activity.

If the Forest Management Plan being considered in Roaring Rock Park will be used as a template for all of the public forests within the State of New Jersey, then it is clear the New Jersey Legislature is facilitating the commercial, for profit harvesting of up to 1 million acres of publicly owned forested land. The focus of this plan is treating the public forests more as an expansive tree farm rather than its intended purpose - providing safe recreation experiences for residents and safe habitats for wildlife and native plant species to thrive.

These bills, if enacted into law, will spell disaster for the continued health and vibrancy of New Jersey's forests. Citizens who use and value these forests - hikers, mountain bikers, fisherman, hunters, Boy and Girl Scouts, bird watchers (to name a few) should be alarmed that the public lands that they pay for maintenance with their tax dollars, will now be exploited by industry with unclear benefits back to the taxpayers (other than decimated public parkland).

A common rebuttal point you will hear: "these are forests, with living trees, and living trees will grow back." This broad statement glosses over the challenges that will present themselves to forests. Once trees are cleared, more sunlight will enter the park. This will create a situation for the invasive plants to grow more aggressively, and stymie the new tree growth. A cleared forest will make it easier for deer to browse, and tree saplings make for easy food for hungry deer. Taken together, these two points will be significant impediments for a forest to recover.

Concerned citizens should write their New Jersey Assembly and Senators (in Warren and Hunterdon counties:  Doherty, DiMaio, and Peterson) and ask them to oppose this legislation, for the good of our forests, and to retain them as enjoyable recreational resources for ourselves and for future generations.