More on the Highland Park, New Jersey Environment

Come to "Make a Difference Day," Oct. 26, 2002, Johnson Park. October 26 was "Make a Difference Day," a national day of service. Water Watch had a cleanup in Johnson Park, beginning around 11 a.m. and lasting about 2 hours.

Water Watch invited Highland Park residents, Rutgers students and staff, community groups and organizations, and local officials.

There was refreshments, a guest speaker, and informational tables, with pizza after the cleanup. For more information, contact Water Watch at Livingston College, 732-445-5269. 10/02
Monarch Butterflies Now Hatching in Highland Park. How do we know? Mike Rosenberg, our Environmental Commission chair, collects caterpillars each year to watch them develop. He feeds them milkweed leaves till they pupate and finally hatch. Then they can be released back to the wild. The first for year 2002 hatched out on 5 September. Watch for newly hatched monarchs in your yard! See http://monarchwatch.org/ for more info on monarchs. 9/02
Tires (and Mosquitos) Removed. Discarded tires collect water and are a major breeding site for mosquitos. On July first the Environmental Commission led the county Mosquito Control crew to a cache of 11 old tires in The Meadows in and above the stream that descends from Donaldson and Crowells Road. Tires were carried out by hand and trucked off for recycling. 7/02
Native Plant Reserve Wins EPA Award. The US Environmental Protection Agency (Region II) has awarded Highland Park's Native Plant Reserve one of its Year 2000 Environmental Quality Awards. Our project was nominated for the award by Middlesex County. We share the EPA honor with projects that were larger (by hundreds of acres) or in wilder landscapes, but we think we were singled out as the kind of small project that can have a good impact in the tight spaces of urban cores, where open space may be needed the most. STAC members traveled to regional EPA headquarters in New York City to receive the award plaque. 9/02
See Award Photo!
New Street Trees. The borough's current planting contractor, Silagy, completed the 2002 planting of 105 street trees on June 20--one of our largest grant-supported plantings ever. BE SURE TO WATER YOUR NEW TREE! Let a hose trickle for 45 minutes at the base in any week without a HEAVY rain, or give several buckets of water (about 20 gallons) each time. Drought restrictions allow this, provided even-numbered houses water on even days, odd on odd, and in the hours of 5 to 9 AM or 5-8 PM. Take care not to let water run off onto street or sidewalk.

Less happily, trees that died from an earlier planting by a different contractor still need to be replaced under guarantee (some of them for the second time!). If you got a dead one, be patient and leave it as evidence while the borough negotiates; but if you got a live one in that planting, this too needs water in this drought year. 7/02
Special Tree Pruning. An extra round of tree pruning in fall 2002 will be our first use of a new tree maintenance grant from the state's Community Stewardship Incentive Program (CSIP). These extra funds allow hiring a contractor for pruning the largest and most troubled trees shown on our computer tree inventory--some of them nearly a hundred years old. 7/02
Cedar Lane Bikeway Constructed. Rutgers University has now completed the new asphalt bikeway segment up Cedar Lane, with painted bicycle lanes continuing farther on Livingston College roads. The route borders the Rutgers Ecological Preserve. Rutgers responded to borough concerns about tree cutting by removing only a narrower width than originally marked, though still keeping roots away from the paving and retaining wall. Later, when the route is designated a link in the East Coast Greenway, it will be part of a federal biking/hiking network from Florida to Maine (including also the Delaware & Raritan Canal towpath and Johnson Park). The first users of the Cedar Lane segment have wondered why part was left unpaved near the Cedar Lane/River Road intersection. This is because Middlesex County will soon reconstruct that intersection, and pave then. 7/02
Donaldson Park Renovations. The Middlesex County Department of Parks and Recreation is proceeding with plans for proposed improvements at Donaldson Park. A drawing of February 2002 was recently on display at Borough Hall. Here are our best attempts at reproducing it. Note that the eastern tip of the park includes Highland Park's only large tidal marsh, with municipal conservation lands east of that ("The Meadows," mostly off the map). This gives that corner of Donaldson Park potential as a nature-viewing area. Your comments to this web site are welcome. 6/02

Donaldson Park proposed improvements 2/02 (full view).
Donaldson Park proposed improvements 2/02 (east portion).
Donaldson Park proposed improvements 2/02 (west portion).
Plant Rescue/Route 18 Extension. Samples of woodland wildflowers threatened by the Route 18 extension along Metlars Lane (Kilmer Woods/Rutgers Ecological Preserve) were saved May 11 by a plant rescue team. With University permission, members of the Environmental Commission, Shade Tree Advisory Committee, and Native Plant Society of New Jersey dug out samples of Jack-in-the-pulpit, spring beauty, and trout lily, along with seedling red cedar trees. These were later planted at the Native Plant Reserve on River Road. 5/02
See Photo and map!
Cedar Lane Bikeway/East Coast Greenway. Work started in March 2002 on the long-planned Rutgers University bikeway alongside Cedar Lane from River Road to Livingston College. Upon completion, it will be designated as a segment of the East Coast Greenway, a federal biking/hiking route from Florida to Maine. New Jersey's portion of the ECG also includes the Delaware & Raritan Canal towpath and Johnson Park bikeway. The segment being constructed beside Cedar Lane passes along the Rutgers Ecological Preserve and the wooded buffer in front of the apartment complexes Forest Glen and Treetops. Early in construction, several trees were cut. Representatives of the borough and the Shade Tree Advisory Committee then met with the Rutgers project manager and the construction chief. Ways were found to cut fewer trees in the remainder of the route. 3/02
Trail Clearances Being Planned for Southside. The largest complex of woods and meadows owned by the borough is "The Meadows," in the Orchard Heights section east of Donaldson Park and below the old municipal dump at Donaldson Street. A 2001 biological survey/restoration study by Thonet Associates recommended trail improvement that would avoid damage to natural areas. This would improve walkability down to the river from the Southside Bikeway (Fifth and Valentine) and east to the stream by the Edison border. Our planning ideas are subject to DEP approval under a $15,000 Recreational Trails Grant that we expect to use first for the path into Donaldson Park along the DPW grounds, with the more rustic trails of The Meadows itself a subject for a future grant. As part of the environmental education centers project, the area is expected later to receive a council ring, signage for nature education, and restoration plantings. Keep checking this web site for photos and progress reports. 3/02 rev. 8/02
See Meadows topographic map and trail concepts.
Southside Bikeway Receives Benches. If you've been using this paved and stroller-friendly path along the woods and fields of The Meadows east of Donaldson Park, you may have wondered why no place to sit. Well, the benches were on order, and now they've arrived--at the foot of the bikeway near Fifth and Valentine. Relax, watch the birds--and throw some trash in the new trash can. 3/02
Greenway and Environmental Education Centers: Concept Approved. Highland Park's concept of a riverside greenway with a string of environmental education sites was approved in December by the Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders. Mayor Meryl Frank led a presentation introduced by Freeholder James Polos, who had earlier sponsored a Freeholder grant of $500,000 for the project.

The newly approved form of the concept is no longer the single building envisioned at the time of the original grant. Instead, several simpler (and less expensive) centers would be established around the whole greenway. This gives residents access from all parts of town, and takes advantage of different kinds of habitat in the various areas.

Sites include the Native Plant Reserve (River Road at Harrison), Valley Place Ravine (off South Adelaide), and "The Meadows" (east of Donaldson Park and downhill of the Orchard Heights section). In Donaldson Park, a separate project by Middlesex County will add native plantings and additional pavilions and restrooms.

Site work begins at River Road and elsewhere this coming spring and summer. There will be projects for habitat restoration, trails, educational signs, and simple gathering points such as a pavilion, stone council circles, or log seats. Volunteers may find participating in creating all this to be an "environmental education" in itself (contact this web site to get involved).

Planning is being coordinated by the "Working Group for the Environmental Education Centers," drawn from an earlier, larger committee of school and environmental representatives. The Working Group is composed of officers of the Environmental Commission and Shade Tree Advisory Committee plus retired councilman Gene Young. 1/02
"The Meadows" Natural Area: Study Completed. "The Meadows" is the historic name for the recovering fields, woods, and wetlands past the east end of Donaldson Park. In December, the Environmental Commission accepted the final report from Thonet Associates of their year-long grant-funded study, "Biological Survey and Restoration Concepts for The Meadows." Surprisingly rich arrays of native plants and wildlife were found, from deer to salamanders but especially birds (even a bald eagle!). A separate grant will be sought to clear a rustic trail in 2003, but some preliminary volunteer trail-blazing has already been done. 1/02 rev. 8/02
Community Forestry Management Plan Approved. Highland Park's Community Forestry Management Plan has been approved by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. It was prepared by Certified Tree Expert Kevin Scibilia and the Shade Tree Advisory Committee. Approval puts Highland Park among the small number of communities that have successfully completed this process. The plan gives us a scientific basis for managing the trees of the "community forest" along our streets. Approval also makes us eligible for state grants in the Community Stewardship Incentive Program (CSIP)--and we've already won one (below). 1/02
Tree Maintenance Grant Won for 2002. In December, the borough received notice of winning a $9,000 tree maintenance grant from New Jersey's Community Stewardship Incentive Program (CSIP). The grant proposal was written by the Shade Tree Advisory Committee. It pays for pruning many of Highland Park's most mature trees. Trees with special need were identified through our computerized tree inventory database. This is the inventory's most extensive use to date. 1/02
Tree Planting Grant to be Activated. New street tree plantings are planned for spring 2002. They will draw on a state Community Stewardship Incentive Program grant obtained earlier (before we had a web site to announce it!). The funds will cover as many as possible of the homeowners who requested trees by mid-2001. 1/02 UPDATE: These plantings were completed in September 2002. If you got a new tree, BE SURE TO WATER IT in any week without a heavy rain. Roots typically won't be well established until the third or fourth year, so the new trees need help.
Ayres Beach Natural Area: Purchase Under Consideration. Middlesex County is considering purchasing Red's Marina and the adjacent Barwood Marsh for open space. This is the area where the Ayres family ran a swimming beach for Highland Park residents early in the twentieth century. The Environmental Commission is proposing that the combined area be known as the Ayres Beach Natural Area and used by residents in conjunction with the riverfront greenway and environmental education centers. The county needs to investigate site conditions before a purchase can be confirmed. Stay tuned. 1/02