In 2010, CRI awarded the Conserve Wildlife Foundation $20,000.00 through its RPWHP Grant program. This grant covered 50% of the costs of the afforestation of 7.6 acres along the northern face of the Sourland Mountain at Otto’s Farm Park.
Otto’s Farm Park sits on the northern edge of the regionally significant Sourlands. Contiguous forest blocks are known habitat for the state threatened Barred owl and other declining wildlife such as the Eastern box turtle, Black and white warbler, Canada warbler, Hooded warbler, and Louisiana waterthrush.
Hillsborough Township contracted with Conserve Wildlife Foundation (CWF) to remove very mature woody invasive plants on 30 acres of Otto’s Farm Park. CWF worked to have half of the property cleared in October 2009. The remaining 15 overgrown acres were cleared in October and November of 2010, followed immediately by no-till planting with a native warm-season / cool-season grass mix and northeast native wildflowers. In late November 2010, more than 60 fruit-producing shrubs like elderberry, serviceberry, dogwoods, and hackberry were planted in perimeter patches along the grassland to provide food sources for songbirds, bees, larval and adult butterflies, and other wildlife. Tree guards were put around each shrub for deer protection. Several hundred additional trees and shrubs were planted in the Spring of 2011.
Benefits include the conversion of marginal cropland to long-term wildlife habitat and extending the forest cover of the Sourland Mountains Central Focal Area as identified in the draft RPWHP Forest Conservation Plan.
Ecosystem Services Provided:
Climate Stabilization and Air Pollution Management: Carbon sequestration- afforestation
Water Protection, Filtration, and Control: Water quality- improved groundwater recharge, improved soil stability, increased rainwater infiltration, buffering of adjacent forested wetlands.
Biological Diversity: Habitat- protection of habitat for Fowler’s toad, species of special concern in NJ, removal of invasive species, ecosystem restoration.
Total Project Cost: $40,000
Status: This project was completed in Spring 2011. Project partners included the US Fish and Wildlife Service, which provided much of the plant materials (~1,000 trees and shrubs), and Hillsborough Township’s Department of Public Works, which spent their time to help accomplish the planting and deer fencing. Funding was provided through an NRCS WHIP grant and a CRI RPWHP grant.
If you would like further information about this project, please contact Conservation Resources.
