Highland Park Environmental News from Winter/Spring 2003
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Summer Spruce-up at Native Plant Reserve 29 June.
Come Visit the NATIVE PLANT RESERVE
SUMMER SPRUCE-UP Sunday, 29 June 2003, River Road at Harrison, 10 a.m. (till 11 or 12).
De-stress yourself with nature. See Some of New Jersey’s beautiful native plants. Learn Highland Park’s plans for the riverfront & nature pavilion.
If you like, help us pull some weeds, plant some flowers, do your bit. Gardening clothes recommended; or just come visit. A few sprinkles? Come anyway. Downpour? Rain date July 6. 6/03
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Street Fair Plant Sale Raises $1,200.
The Highland Park Community Day street fair April 27 again included a row of shared information tables for the Environmental Commission and Shade Tree Advisory Committee (STAC), but joined this year at our tables by borough interns introducing the boroughwide green community and 2020 concepts—something of a one-stop shopping opportunity for environmental information in Highland Park. But visually the big change was the plant sale organized by STAC, with flowers and shrubs filling several parking stalls of the Stop & Shop lot and making a fine green background for all our pamphlets and displays. Over $1,200 net profit goes to a borough fund for plantings in Highland Park. 5/03
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Highland Park Streams Coming Clean at Last.
Community Water Watch from Livingston/Rutgers again came to town April 23 to haul more trash out of one of our streams, the one at the foot of Crowells Road. With this second cleanup led by Jessie Roerhich, this small but striking rocky gorge finally became clear enough of old shopping carts and plastic fencing that we now dare to show you photographs of it—debris free! See
Crowells photos. 5/03
Water Watch is a joint program between the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group Law and Policy Center and AmeriCorps.
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Ceremony at River Road Native Plant Reserve.
Many guests, including the DEP commissioner, state assembly members, county freeholders, and elected borough officials, gathered on April 22 at the site of the future nature center/environmental education center/outdoor learning center on River Road. Concept designs were displayed. There will be a pavilion and parking about opposite Walter Street and a universal access path looping through the expanded 3-acre Native Plant Reserve site. (The reserve was started in 1994 on about 1 acre in the north half of the site--where its plantings and educational signage won an EPA award--but now the full 3 acres is available and Middlesex County has granted the funds.) Rehabilitation of the full site is now a top priority, with many new plantings planned of native trees, shrubs, and flowers. Representatives of state, county, and local government united in the ceremonial planting of three white oak trees as a token of things to come. 5/03
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Street Fair and Special Plant Sale.
For the Community Day Street Fair, Sunday, April 27 (noon to 5 p.m.), the Shade Tree Advisory Committee will have its first special plant (and birdhouse) sale, featuring many native trees, shrubs, and perennials rarely found in garden centers but specifically chosen for planting at homes and businesses in Highland Park. Part of the proceeds goes to a fund for plantings in Highland Park.
The Environmental Commission and STAC will again have adjacent tables (this year in front of the Stop & Shop parking lot in order to accommodate the many plants). You can pick up free pamphlets with environmental and landscaping information, ask questions, or sign up to volunteer or to request a tree for the street by your home or business. At these tables you can also examine the concept plans for the outdoor learning center to be developed at the River Road Native Plant Reserve, with a small pavilion and extensive plantings and paths. 4/03
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Outdoor Learning Center Ceremony April 22.
Conceptual site plans have been drawn up for plantings, trails, exhibits, and pavilion at the Native Plant Reserve on River Road. These were presented by the borough’s selected landscape architects, MKW, as part of the Main Street design presentations April 6th, and drew a crowd around that display all day long. A festive design presentation ceremony is scheduled for the afternoon of April 22 (Earthday), down at the Native Plant Reserve on River Road opposite Harrison, 4 p.m.
The pavilion itself is not yet designed (the tan rectangle in the accompanying illustration is for position only, not to show the shape), but is expected to have a sheltered deck for enjoying the view over the plantings and some interior space to store and display various exhibits. The main entry and exit are tucked away among some large trees, between Walter and Harrison, where walkers can take advantage of proposed solar-powered pedestrian-activated crossing lights at those two streets, and where drivers can get in and out without being too close to rush-hour traffic backed up from the Raritan Avenue intersection. What do you think? What activities would you like to see down there? Email this web site with your suggestions and concerns, and come the afternoon of April 22 if you can. Click the image to see more detail. 4/03
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Highland Park Streams Being Studied and Cleaned.
Highland Park’s streams are getting cleaner and better studied with the help of two regional programs. On March 12, Beth Hartmaier and Jessica Johnson of Watershed Ambassadors “walked” the stream in the southeast corner of Highland Park, below Crowells Road. Such walks are biological surveys of stream quality and water creatures. What did they find? As might be expected for a once-large stream whose upper portions are now in pipes, a trout stream it’s not. But it wasn’t the bottom of the quality range, either. There were some small pollution-sensitive gilled snails in addition to other, more pollution-tolerant species like midge larvae, scuds (not the missile, an invertebrate!), and a leech. If the snails can make it there now, we’re within reach of better quality (with some work).
That work started March 30, when Jesse Roehrich of Community WaterWatch led Livingston/Rutgers students in a hard-working cleanup. After taking out nine shopping carts, a few tires, and much trash, they’re planning another attack on the abundant leftovers, later this semester or the next. We’ll eventually be able to enjoy this surprisingly deep-cut stream corridor without its festoon of trash. Thank you to both groups. By the way, does anyone know the names of this stream at Crowells Road, as well as other unnamed ones below South Fifth and below Valley Place? 4/03
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Egyptian Geese in Donaldson Park.
Birders who've gotten used to droves of the usual Canada Geese in our county parks have been puzzling over a new pair of geese seen in Donaldson several times over the 2002-2003 winter. They're generally lighter colored and look as though they've gotten black eyes fighting. These are Egyptian geese (Alopochen aegyptiacus), and yes they really are from Egypt--but only by way of some local zoo or farm. They are escapees. The Sibley Guide to Birds notes "small numbers feral in southern California," so if our pair (both adult) settle in and nest, we may have the beginning of an East Coast colony. See photo at top of this page and in our photo collection.3/03
Latest on geese: Since we posted our goose news, two South Jerseyans emailed us about their own pairs of Egyptian geese, in Blackwood and in Gloucester County (no town specified). These two pairs have four to six goslings each. Meanwhile our own pair (so far without goslings that anyone has reported) have apparently wandered a bit, and can now sometimes be seen in Johnson Park as well as Donaldson. Or do we have two pairs? Stay tuned. 6/03
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Hearing May 1 on HP Master Plan.
The Planning Board heard possible revisions for the draft Highland Park Master Plan on March 27, 2003, and has scheduled the full public hearing for Thursday, May 1, at 7:30 p.m. in Borough Hall. Important open space questions are among issues being considered. The draft at this point apparently will retain residential (not conservation) zoning for the Upper Meadows (lower Buck Woods, bikeway, and old landfill). It recommends new zoning (too detailed to summarize here) for properties by the river (The Y, Cenacle, Castle, and Parker Nursing Home). You can see the original draft and the latest revisions at Borough Hall (and we believe also the public libary). Come listen to this presentation on the document that decides the shape of our town, then decide what you think, and let the Planning Board know it. 3/03
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Exhibition Opens on New Jersey Towns.
The new interactive exhibition "Just in Jersey" has opened on the big screen at the State House Welcome Center in Trenton (West State Street) and will be on display for approximately the next eight years. Visitors select a town and see projected photographs and information about it. In the Highland Park portion is one photograph drawn from this web site, a misty color view of Johnson Park. 3/03
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Middlesex County Sets Open Space Plan.
Middlesex County's March 2003 Master Plan may double the set-aside open space in the county over the next ten years. The county's 1-cent open space tax passed in 1995 was raised in 2002 to 3 cents. This assured future income can then be used to back bonds for the more immediate purchase of land. Municipalities have submitted "wish lists." For a summary of Highland Park's,
see news from 2002.
The Star-Ledger describes the plan: "The new master plan does not prioritize land for acquisition; instead it catalogs the sites that local officials want preserved. Applications for trust funds must be submitted to the Open Space Advisory Board." 3/03
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Sewer Break in Sayreville: Save Water in HP.
The sewer line break in Sayreville on March 2, 2003, spilled sewage into shellfish beds along the Raritan. Utilities authorities were forced to use a backup line with too little capacity for the load put on it by surrounding communities. Highland Park is one of those communities. All residents are asked by the state Department of Environmental Protection and Middlesex County Utilities Authority to limit water use for an indefinite time in March to control pollutant overflows from the limited system while repairs of the larger system are made. Here's part of the official announcement:
TRENTON The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in cooperation with the Middlesex County Utilities Authority (MCUA) is making an urgent request for residents and industries within the MCUA sewage treatment plant's service area to limit their water usage as much as possible in response to the March 2
sewage line break.
"By limiting water use, residents and local industries can help reduce impacts from the sewage line break on our natural resources," said DEP Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell. "We will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that everything is being done to stop the sewage flow and protect public health." 3/03
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Seeking Comments.
This Highland Park Environmental web site has now been up over a year, won an award, and received various messages from some of you out there. Now we'd like more input: What features do you especially like (or dislike!)? Is it easy to find what you want, or are there spots where we could guide you better? What new features would you like to see here?
What you tell us now will help us prepare for linking to the broader municipal site that borough government is developing under a statewide program of municipal web sites. So look us over, click the "contact us" button back on the HOME page, and tell us what you think. 1/03
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IPM: Coming Soon to a School or Lawn Near You.
Integrated pest management (IPM) is now mandated for New Jersey schools, and children can breathe easier--both metaphorically and literally. So what is it? It's no more spraying of potent pesticides whenever an insect or weed is noticed, and certainly no spraying on an arbitrary schedule when there is no problem anyway but "just in case." Landscapers practicing IPM are trained to identify the exact pest, decide if the level warrants control, and if so consider all control methods together ("integrated"), so as to choose the most precise for that pest and the least dangerous for pets and humans. Chemicals become a last resort for problems that resist hand cleanup, simple cleanliness, or natural methods. What's good for schools is good for homes, lawns, or gardens, so if you do need to hire a lawn/yard contractor, consider one trained in IPM. See our links page for more info.1/03
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Open Space Video.
HP TV (Channel 71) has been broadcasting a video survey of Highland Park’s riverside open spaces. The video is called “A Common Path: The Highland Park Greenway and Environmental Education Centers Project.” It shows filmed visits to the Native Plant Reserve on River Road, Valley Place Ravine off South Adelaide, and streams and trails in The Meadows east of Donaldson Park. Each is followed by a brief panel discussion on that area and on general principles of watershed protection through preserving green space. The video has been showing at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. weekdays but may be over by the time you read this; watch for reruns. It was made by students in an adult class taught at Highland Park High School by Donna Miklojcik. Future classes may again have an opportunity to learn TV production while filming HP spaces and events. Participants in the open space panel discussions are Steve Barnes, Ruth Bowers, Loren Muldowney, and Michael Rosenberg, with Arnold Henderson narrating the open space films. 1/03
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