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Pine Barrens (New Jersey)
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The Pine Barrens, also known as the Pinelands, is a heavily forested area covering 1.1 million acres (4,500 km²) of coastal plain across southern New Jersey. The name "pine barrens" refers to the area's sandy, acidic, nutrient-poor soil, to which the crops originally imported by European settlers didn't take well.
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The Pine Barrens, also known as the Pinelands, is a heavily forested area covering 1.1 million acres (4,500 km²) of coastal plain across southern New Jersey. The name "pine barrens" refers to the area's sandy, acidic, nutrient-poor soil, to which the crops originally imported by European settlers didn't take well. However, these uncommon conditions enable the Pine Barrens to support a unique and diverse spectrum of plant life, including orchids and carnivorous plants. The area is also notable for its populations of rare pygmy Pitch Pines and other plant species that depend on fire to reproduce (fire is very frequent in the Pine Barrens). The sand that composes much of the area's soil is referred to by the locals as sugar sand.
Despite its proximity to the metropolitan areas of Philadelphia and New York City, and the fact that the Garden State Parkway and Atlantic City Expressway run directly through it, the Pine Barrens remains largely rural and undeveloped. The Pine Barrens also helps recharge the 17 trillion gallon Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer containing some of the purest water in the United States. As a result of all these factors, the area was designated the Pinelands National Reserve (the nation's first National Reserve) in 1978, and it was designated a United Nations International Biosphere Reserve in 1983. Development in the Pine Barrens is strictly controlled by an independent state/federal agency called the New Jersey Pinelands Commission. The Pinelands Reserve contains the Wharton, Brendan T. Byrne (formerly Lebanon), and Bass River state forests.
Author John McPhee wrote one of his early books, The Pine Barrens, on the history and ecology of the region in 1967.
History
The fire regime before European settlement is poorly understood, although it is known that Native American fires had maintained the eastern savannas of the United States. Fire has played a major ecological role in the Pinelands, and the ecotypes "suggest that short fire intervals may have been typical in the Pine Plains for many centuries, or millennia."
During colonial times, the Pine Barrens was home to various industries. Bog iron was mined from bogs, streams, and waterways, and was worked in furnaces at Batsto, Lake Atsion, Ferrago, Hanover, and several other locations. Iron from these early furnaces was instrumental in supplying the American military with weapons and camp tools during the American Revolution and the War of 1812. The bog iron industry fell off in the mid-1800s when iron ore could be mined more cheaply in Pennsylvania. Other industries such as paper mills, sawmills, and gristmills rose and fell throughout the years. Smaller industries such as charcoal-making and glassmaking also were attempted and met with varying degrees of success. Over time, however, the forest reclaimed almost all traces of the Pine Barrens' industrial past. Ghost towns—remnants of these industries—can still be found at various locations, and one, Batsto Village, has been restored to its mid-19th century state.
The Pine Barrens were home to the Kallikaks, a poor, backwoods family who were held up as a case study in genetic inferiority by eugenicists in the early 20th century. Today, it is understood that the facts in the Kallikaks study were misrepresented. For years, residents of the area were called "Pineys", by outsiders, as a derogatory term. However, today, many Pinelands residents are proud of both the name and the land on which they live.
On July 12, 1928, Mexican aviator and national hero Emilio Carranza crashed and was killed in the Pinelands while returning from a historic goodwill flight from Mexico City to the United States. Flying back from Long Island, he encountered a thunderstorm and crashed in Burlington County. A 12 ft (3.6 m) monument identifies the location of the crash.
Efforts to preserve the Pine Barrens
Despite rapid urbanization of its surrounding land, the Pine Barrens remained largely untouched because its sandy soil was unsuitable for growing most crops, and its iron and charcoal deposits couldn't compete with more readily accessible deposits elsewhere. In 1969, the Pine Barrens averaged a density of 15 people per square mile, compared with 1000 people per square mile in the lands bordering it. There were concerns for the possible destruction of the Pine Barrens by urban sprawl. Amid those concerns was a plan for the construction of a massive jetport and planned city in the Pine Barrens to alleviate congestion in other major airports. The plan was made more attractive by the cheap cost of land and lower incident of fog in the area.
The New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve, the country's first National Reserve, was created by Congress under the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978. The New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve contains approximately 1.1 million acres of land, and occupies 22% of New Jersey's land area. The Pinelands National Reserve was created from the land of seven New Jersey counties. The reserve contains Wharton State Forest, Brendan T. Byrne State Forest and Bass River State Forest.
In 1983, the area was designated a U.S. Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO, an agency of the United Nations, and in 1988, it was designated as an International Biosphere Reserve.
Jersey Devil
The Pine Barrens gave rise to the legend of the Jersey Devil, said to have been born to a local woman named Mrs. Leeds in an area known as "Leeds Point" sometime during the 1700s. Most sightings of the legendary Devil have occurred in or near the Pine Barrens.
The Pine Barrens today
The only industries that still thrive in the Pine Barrens are related to agriculture and tourism. The Pine Barrens is the reason New Jersey grows the third-highest number of cranberries in the country, mostly attributed to the areas around Chatsworth, including Whitesbog which is north of Chatsworth. The first-ever cultivated blueberries were developed in the Pine Barrens in 1916 through the hard work of Elizabeth White of Whitesbog, and blueberry farms are now almost as common as cranberry bogs. A majority of these blueberry farms are found in and around the town of Hammonton. The Pine Barrens are also at risk from increasing development and suburbanization of the area. An endangered species of frog, the Pine Barrens Tree Frog, has a disjunct population there.
May 2007 fire
On May 15, 2007, a flare dropped from an F-16 during a training session over the bombing range at Warren Grove in Ocean County, about 25 miles north of Atlantic City resulted in an extensive forest fire. On the 18th, the fire was declared contained after burning over 17,000 acres (69 km²) and forcing the evacuation of more than 6,000 residents.
October 2008 fire
On October 21st, 2008, a small brush fire ignited near Atsion Lake, close to where the borders of Camden, Atlantic and Burlington counties converge. It quickly turned into a blazing inferno. It was brought under control about six days later after consuming about 1,950 acres. Officials blame extremely dry conditions and high winds for the start of the fire.
Gallery
External links
Governance
History and ecology
Non-profit organizations and other local interests
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