Join URWA for a Day Trip to the World Famous Rodale Institute on Wednesday, July 21st

The Upper Raritan Watershed Association hosts lots of fabulous programs for its youngest watershed stewards each summer, and this year, the association added something for its grown up members and friends. Gardening enthusiasts, budding organic farmers, nature photographers, native plant advocates, eco-citizens and environmental commission members: URWA has organized trips with you in mind!

On Wednesday, July 21st, URWA and its guests will head to the Rodale Institute, which is located on a 333-acre organic certified farm in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. The farm is devoted to research, education and certified organic production. It is best known for its Farming Systems Trial (FST), the longest running U.S. experiment designed to compare organic and conventional farming practices. FST was established in 1981 and attracts interest from scientists, farmers and lay visitors from around the world. In addition to the research experiments, the farm’s production and demonstration areas offer visitors an opportunity to learn how agriculture can either contribute to environmental problems or be a significant solution in solving global warming, improving human nutrition and preventing famine.

After carpooling (participants will meet at Fairview Farm on Larger Cross Road in Bedminster at 9:00 a.m.) to the Institute the group will take a one-hour guided tour of the farm to learn about some of the interesting projects being carried out there this summer. Participants will get lots of ideas for small-scale projects to bring home to their own gardens.

After the tour, the group will have a yummy lunch prepared with food grown at the farm and spend time browsing in the bookstore and gift shop. Participants will be back in Bedminster by 3:00 p.m. The price of $70 per person (for members of URWA, $90 for non-members) includes transportation, tour and lunch. Reservations are required. Please contact Susan Brookman at 908-234-1852 ext. 20 to register by Wednesday, July 14th.

We Are All Stakeholders in the Highlands Regional Master Plan

URWA has been closely monitoring the progress of the Highlands Council to develop and implement the Highlands Regional Master Plan since the Council was created.  82% of the Upper Raritan watershed is in the Highlands region – 27% in the Preservation Area and 55% in the Planning Area. 17 of our 19 Highlands municipalities are either completely or partially in the Planning area.

Over the last several years we've reviewed many, many reports and made recommendations to strengthen policies and encourage actions that we believe will provide the best protection for the precious water and other natural resources of the Highlands region.  Earlier this month, we made the following observations to the NJ DEP when it held a Highlands Stakeholders meeting:  

• URWA wants to see as much authority as possible given to the Highlands Council.
• We strongly support the current 88 and 25 acre zoning.
• We want all Water Quality Management Plans in the Planning Area to be reviewed by the Council.
• We look forward to land values in the Highlands increasing in value, just as protected land in the Pinelands has.

It is in the best interest of all new Jerseyans to support the Highlands Regional Master Plan and work with the Highlands Council to strengthen the Plan. We all depend on clean water resources for our homes, industry, and agriculture; therefore we each rely on the success of this Plan.

It's Green Frog Season!

Despite its name, the Green Frog can actually be more brown than green in color.  They are found in any body of freshwater in New Jersey.  Their voice sounds like a loose banjo string with each note becoming less and less loud. Young Green Frogs issue an alarm call when frightened, making a high-pitched peep as they jump into the water.  Folks at URWA are happy to see healthy Green Frogs in the pond at Fairview Farm.  In some parts of the watershed frogs are threatened by non-point source pollution caused by substances such as, lawn fertilizers, road salt and pharmaceuticals that get into the streams. 

To learn more about how you can protect our water supplies for humans and wildlife, visit URWA’s website www.urwa.org.

Celebrate National Trails Day® at Fairview Farm with a Guided Walk on Sunday, June 13th

National Trails Day® is a celebration of trails that evolved from the report of President Ronald Reagan's President's Commission on Americans Outdoors. In 1987, the report recommended that all Americans be able to go out their front doors and within fifteen minutes, be on trails that wind through their cities or towns and bring them back without retracing steps. The recommendation, dubbed Trails for All Americans, became the impetus behind National Trails Day® in 1993.

To celebrate National Trails Day the Upper Raritan Watershed Association will host free guided trail walks at Fairview Farm on Sunday, June 13th. The walks will be a great opportunity to breathe fresh air, get your heart pumping and escape from stress! Guided walks will begin at 10:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., noon and 1:00 p.m. and each will last approximately one hour. The terrain is not challenging, but the trails will be muddy if it rains beforehand, so be sure to wear appropriate shoes (sneakers, walking shoes or other closed toe footwear is recommended). No reservations are necessary, and participants are welcome to stay after the guided walk to explore more of the trails at Fairview Farm.

National Trails Day Guided Walks at Fairview Farm
Sunday, June 13th
10:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., Noon and 1:00 p.m.
Fairview Farm Wildlife Preserve, 2121 Larger Cross Road, Bedminster

Fore more information about the Guided Walks at Fairview Farm, please call Lauren Theis at (908) 234-1852, ext. 12 or email ltheis@urwa.org.

The Burnt Mills Floodplain Preserve: Visit it This Spring!

The Burnt Mills Floodplain Preserve was established on December 21, 1989 when Ken & Yvonne Schley and Anne & Floyd Stradling deeded three parcels of land totaling 11.32 acres to URWA. The parcels had been in the Schley family and were bequeathed to Ken and Anne in 1944 upon the death of their father, Kenneth B. Schley. A grist mill was built on the floodplain shortly after the Civil War, and was taken down by Mr. Schley after he purchased the property in 1928. Its ruins still sit on the site today, adding historical interest to the preserve.

The site, on the Lamington River near the confluence of the North Branch, supports diverse wildlife including great blue heron, long-tailed salamanders, red shouldered hawks, barred owls, and freshwater mussels, including the threatened triangle floater (Alasmidonta undulate — learn more about this mussel in the “Creature Feature” on URWA’s web site at www.urwa.org). Each spring, under a canopy of sycamore, black cherry and ash, Virginia bluebells carpet the forest floor – it is a sight not to be missed!

Unfortunately, another plant also awaits springtime visitors – the Lesser celandine, a small yellow buttercup-like flower, is an invasive plant that is spreading across the site. Lesser celandine spends much of the year underground as thickened, fingerlike tubers or underground stems. During the winter, leaves begin to emerge and photosynthesize in preparation for flowering. Flowering occurs from late winter through mid-spring, and afterwards, the above-ground portions die back. The plant spreads primarily through abundant tubers and bulblets, each of which is ready to become a new plant once separated from the parent plant. The tubers of Lesser celandine are prolific and may be unearthed and scattered by the digging activities of some animals, including well-meaning weed pullers, and transported during flood events. It is difficult, but not impossible, to control invasive plants like Lesser celandine, and URWA is committed to stopping its spread (see our web site about efforts to stop the spread of invasive plants at http://www.cjisst.org/).

The preserve has been part of New Jersey’s Green Acres tax exemption program since 1990, and as is the case with all of URWA’s preserves, the Burnt Mills Floodplain is open to our members and the public for passive recreational purposes.  The preserve is used by fishermen, photographers, walkers, kayakers and people who simply enjoy observing the natural world.  We invite all of URWA’s members and friends to explore the site.  For directions, please visit URWA's web site at http://urwa.org/land/bedminster.html.

What is Happening to Our Bats? Find Out at URWA's Wake Up Call Breakfast Program on May 5th

Despite their spooky reputations, bats are tremendously helpful to people. All nine species of bats found in New Jersey are insectivores. They feed at night on flying insects, including mosquitoes. A single little brown bat can eat 3,000 mosquito-sized insects a night, and a colony of 150 big brown bats can eat enough cucumber beetles to save farmers almost a billion dollars annually in crop damages and pesticide costs!

Bats are fascinating creatures that are just beginning to be appreciated by the general population in our country. They are the only true flying mammals, and they use echolocation to locate and catch their prey. Bats are particularly vulnerable to pollution and pesticides, so their presence or absence can tell us a lot about the overall health of the local environment. Unfortunately, bat populations are declining at an alarming rate. As is the case with many species of wildlife, bats have been on the losing end of many real estate deals as native habitats have been transformed into homes, shopping centers, office parks and roadways for humans. In recent years, a new threat to bats has emerged.
In 2006, hibernating bats in a cave west of Albany, New York were found coated with a chalky fungus that caused them to interrupt their hibernation and burn up their fat reserves. Since then, the condition has killed more than 1 million bats in the Northeast. The U.S. Geological Survey has called the bat die-off "the most precipitous decline of North American wildlife caused by infectious disease in recorded history." The affliction has been named "white nose syndrome" due to the white fungus observed around the nose of some of the affected bats. Infected bats often emerge too soon from hibernation and are often seen flying around in midwinter. These bats usually freeze or starve to death.

MacKenzie Hall, a Biologist with the Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, will speak with interested community members about New Jersey's bat populations at a breakfast meeting hosted by the Upper Raritan Watershed Association on Wednesday, May 5th. She will also explain how residents can become "citizen scientists" by participating in summertime research to gather information about roosting areas. Information collected will help biologists document roosting locations and help to create a range map for some species of New Jersey bats.

URWA's  Wake Up Call Breakfast: What is Happening to New Jersey's Bats?  will take place on Wednesday, May 5th from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the Jam Café, which is located at89 Main Street in Peapack.  The cost to attend is $15 per person, and includes breakfast.  Please contact Kate Deans at 908-234-1852 ext. 16 or kate@urwa.org to register.

Spring Bird Migration is Underway

There are many wonderful aspects of springtime -- the emergence of long-dormant plants in forests, meadows and gardens; the sounds of Spring Peepers and other frogs and toads calling one another in wetlands; the flowering of trees and shrubs that colors the landscape in shades of pink and white...  One that almost everyone counts as truly special is the re-appearance of birds that migrated south for the cold winter months.

Spring migration is well underway, and there are some great web sites that have been created to help people learn what species are travelling through any given area at a particular time.  These web sites also contain loads of intersting information about how birds use the stars and magnetic fields to navigate, how scientists (both formally trained scientists and citizen-scientists) track them, and what are learning from migration studies over time.

Here are a few of our favorite web sites about bird migration.  We encourage you to check them out!

Following Spring Migration 
This site from ENature includes maps that show the winter range of many birds, their migratory paths, and the dates when you might expect to see the first arrivals of each species in our watershed.

Clemson University Radar Ornithology Laboratory
This web site explains the work of CUROL and explores how radar is used to track birds as they migrate.

Migratory Stopovers
This site from the Chipper Woods Bird Observatory provides information about the importance of stopover sites, the places where birds rest and feed as they make their long journeys north and south each year.

Bird Migration on Nexrad
The Wisconsin Society for Ornithology hosts this site which allows you to track birds in real time or through a five day archive.

Woodcreeper
The folks at this web site are tracking bird migration over New Jersey using Doppler radar and a community of diehard birdwatchers.