+THE NATURE TRAIL

Venture along the .4 mile long trail (out and back) to the Osprey Blind and Barnegat Bay. Along the meandering trail you will come across a mix of both native and non-native vegetation. Some of the native shrubs and trees that you will see includes winged sumac, bayberry, beach plum, serviceberry, black cherry, red maple and red cedar. Some highly invasive species are: common reed and Japanese honeysuckle. Please stay on the trail as poison ivy grows along the edges of it.

The Nature Trail Project

The nature trail that was created was made by carefully selecting and removing some woody and non-woody vegetation within a “berm” that is above the wetland edge of the property. The trail starts at the back of the Marine Science Building and continues parallel with the buildings towards the northeast. Before reaching Sandy Lane a side path (Pollinator Path) leads to beehives and a turtle garden. After the “Pollinator Path” it reconnects with the main trail then goes northwest within the wooded (roadside) edge along Sandy Lane. This section of trail has lots of poison ivy, so please stay on the trail! From there it connects with the existing saltmarsh trail on the Joe Torg Wetlands.

The majority of the work centered around blazing the trail, spreading mulch on the trail, and building and installing the osprey viewing blind. This fall/winter more work will be done to control non-native, invasive species, such as Common reed (Phragmites australis), Autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellate), and harmful ones like poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) at LBIF.

We kicked off the project on November 20 with our first Volunteer Work Day. Over 50 enthusiastic volunteers came out to help us blaze the new trail and plant nature trees, shrubs, and grasses in the old trail. Brush that was cleared during the work day was chipped up by the New Jersey tree service professionals at Pine Barrens Tree and any remaining phragmites was properly disposed of. The second work day was held on Monday, January 18th. At that event students from the Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science (MATES) volunteered during the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service as part of Stockton University’s Day of Service to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. The students joined Ben Wurst, CWF Habitat Program Manager to help continue work on the new nature trail. The students worked hard to clean up brush and spread wood chips in the cold blustery winds. The remaining reeds were properly disposed of by CWF.

Annual maintenance of the Nature Trail includes removal of poison ivy along the trail, trimming of phragmites, tree branches, and positioning of marsh walkway pieces.