The New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry manages a public park system which consists of over 50 protected areas designated as state parks, state forests, recreation areas, and other properties within the state of New Jersey in the United States. The agency also owns and manages 38 historical sites and buildings throughout the state (some located within the boundaries of state parkland) and also owns five public marinas and four public golf courses. These properties are administered by the Division's State Park Service, founded in 1923. New Jersey's state park system includes properties as small as the 32-acre (0.13 km2) Barnegat Lighthouse State Park and as large as the 115,000-acre (470 km2) Wharton State Forest. The state park system comprises 430,928 acres (1,743.90 km2)—roughly 7.7% of New Jersey's land area—and serves over 17.8 million annual visitors.
History of the New Jersey state park system
Forests and the Forest Park Reservation Commission
Entry gate and sign at Swartswood State Park--New Jersey's first state park
At the beginning of the twentieth century, New Jersey did not have much of a lumber or forestry industry. The value of its trees was insignificant and undermined by destruction by uncontrolled forest fires, and after decades of clear-cutting forests to fuel iron forges, furnaces, and other industrial operations.[1][2] In 1896, the state geologist recommended the acquisition of land for parks in order to protect water supplies and to provide natural recreation to the state's increasing urban populations.[3] After several years of reports and advocacy of geologists and naturalists (including, notably, U.S. forester Gifford Pinchot), New Jersey governor Edward C. Stokes established the Forest Park Reservation Commission in 1905 to protect forest land and create a system of park reserves within the state.[3][4][5] At the commission's meeting on September 12, 1905, the commissioners adopted the Salem Oak (of Salem, New Jersey) as a symbol of New Jersey's parks.[6] The commissioners acquired two tracts in southern New Jersey, near Mays Landing and along the Bass River, as the first state forest reserves.[7] The Mays Landing tract was sold in 1916 after opposition from local officials and landowners made acquisition and expansion on adjacent lands impossible. The Bass River tract became the core of Bass River State Forest.[8] In 1907, the commissioners would also acquire 5,000 acres (20 km2) on Kittatinny Mountain near Culver's Gap, supplemented by a gift from Governor Stokes, which would become the core of Stokes State Forest.[9] The reservations, which by 1912 comprised 13,720 acres (55.5 km2) became sites for studying forests, reforestation projects, and scientific forestry.[10] With the acquisition of a tract that included Swartswood Lake in Stillwater Township, the commission began developing parks for the purposes of recreation by providing boating, fishing, camping, and picnicking. In the Commission's 1915 Annual Report, they stated "It is intended to make Swartswood a public playground. Boat liveries and picnic shelters to be maintained under proper control will make it available to a large number of people".[11] The Forest Park Reservation Commission was consolidated with other agencies into the Department and Board of Conservation and Development on April 8, 1915.[12]
State Park Service
The Salem Oak, which was alive in 1675 when John Fenwick founded Salem, New Jersey, has been the symbol of New Jersey's state parks since 1905.
In 1923, the legislature authorized the creation of the State Park Service to administer the state parks and forests. New Jersey began to redirect its efforts from the development of these and other properties for recreational purposes instead of protecting or promoting the commercial potential of forested land. The state legislature established a commission to create a historic park along the Delaware River above Trenton, at the location where George Washington and Continental Army crossed the river on December 25, 1776 before the surprise attack on Hessian troops at the Battle of Trenton and the Battle of Princeton (January 3, 1777). The initial plans were defeated by a public referendum, but there was increased desire to complete these plans to establish a Washington Crossing Memorial Park in time for the 150th anniversary of American independence in 1926. The park was officially dedicated and opened to the public on June 4, 1927. In the wake of World War I, state forester Alfred Gaskill proposed a new public park along Kittatinny Mountain, "as the State’s memorial to its sons who had made the supreme sacrifice in the Great War". A few years later, Colonel Anthony R. Kuser donated his mountaintop estate at High Point (the state's highest elevation) to the state for a public park with an additional gift of $500,000 to erect a granite-clad obelisk to honor veterans. Construction of the monument began in 1928 and was completed in 1930.
According to the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry administers and manages 430,928 acres (1,743.90 km2) in its state parks, forests, and other areas. These areas, during the state's 2006 fiscal year (from July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006) recorded 17,843,541 visitors.[13]
Planning future parks
In 2006, the Division of Parks and Forestry began planning and preliminary work two new state parks: Great Falls State Park in Paterson, and Capital State Park in Trenton.[14][15] The state's only other urban park is Liberty State Park in Jersey City.[15] According to the master plan prepared by Philadelphia-based planning and urban design firm Wallace Roberts & Todd, Capital State Park would incorporate areas around the state's capitol complex in Trenton and the city's Delaware River and Assunpink Creek waterfronts to provide "a long-term strategy to revitalize Trenton by reestablishing connections to the downtown and reclaiming its riverfront."[16][17] Great Falls subsequently became Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park.
In 2009, the state also purchased 1,174 acres (4.75 km2) in Jefferson Township the former site of the Mount Paul monastery and seminary belonging to Paulist Fathers (from 1924–2009). The tract, which will be developed into a state park, is located in the state's Highlands region on the eastern side of Sparta Mountain and featuring mountain streams that flow into the Russia Brook (a tributary of the Rockaway River).[18]
Post's Brook along the Lower Trail in Norvin Green State Forest
The State Park Service asks its visitors to embrace the "Carry In, Carry Out" philosophy in order to "keep the parks clean and beautiful by carrying out the trash you carry in".[22]
Fishing and hunting are permitted in several of the state parks and forest.[22]
Golf courses
The State Park System also includes four golf courses that are open to the public. Each of the four courses include associated restaurant and banquet facilities and is operated under contract between a private management company and the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry.[23] Centerton Golf Course, located in Pittsgrove Township in Salem County is located within Parvin State Park.[24] Cream Ridge Golf Course is located in Cream Ridge in Monmouth County and was acquired by the state in 2006.[25] Spring Meadow Golf Course in Farmingdale in Monmouth County was privately developed and operated beginning in the 1920s and acquired by the state five decades later.[26]
White Oaks Golf Course - Gloucester County 2951 Dutch Mill Road Newfield, NJ 08344
Located along Allamuchy Mountain and Musconetcong River, features 2,440-acre (9.9 km2) Allamuchy Natural Area of mature mixed oak-hardwood forests, natural fields; 14 miles (23 km) of marked and 20 miles (32 km) of unmarked trails including Sussex Branch Trail and Highlands Trail.
Park currently being developed, includes buildings and areas of Trenton's capitol complex, waterfront areas along Delaware River and Assunpink Creek; celebrate Trenton's Native American, Colonial, Revolutionary War, ethnic, and industrial heritage
Transitional zone between two different ecosystems featuring open fields, saltwater and freshwater marshes, Pine Barrens white cedar swamp, and northeastern hardwood forest.
One of the last undeveloped tracts along the state's oceanfront; features primary and secondary sand dune systems, shoreline overwash, marine estuaries; migratory and residential wildlife species; hiking, fishing, crabbing, boating and sunbathing.
Delaware and Raritan Canal mileage including the 36-mile (58 km) main canal between New Brunswick and Trenton and 22-mile (35 km) feeder canal between Trenton and Frenchtown; many historic structures including buildings, locks, spillways, and towpath; described as "the longest (and narrowest) recreation area in the state. A greenway that snakes through one of the most heavily populated regions in the world."
Provides "a window into the Pine Barrens history" and region's ecosystem; preserved historic village associated with New Jersey cranberry agriculture and Atlantic White Cedar logging and milling industries.
Coastal defense battery built 1872–1902 to protect the Delaware River and Philadelphia after the American Civil War. Troops were stationed at site from 1897 to 1922.
Donated by Colonel Anthony R. Kuser and wife Susie Dryden Kuser; landscaping designed by the Olmsted Brothers of Boston, sons of Frederick Law Olmsted, designer of New York City's Central Park. Features the highest elevation in New Jersey, High Point, a 1,803-foot (550 m) prominence of Kittatinny Mountain marked by a 220-foot (67 m) granite obelisk erected as veterans memorial.
Two separate parcels of land, one on the southwestern shore of state's largest freshwater lake, Lake Hopatcong, another on Lake Musconetcong; the park features remnants of the Morris Canal and Lake Hopatcong Historical Museum.
Island Beach is a narrow 10-mile (16 km) barrier island between Atlantic Ocean and Barnegat Bay featuring untouched primary dunes, thicket, freshwater wetlands, maritime forest and tidal marshes; also New Jersey's largest osprey colony, peregrine falcons, wading birds, shorebirds, waterfowl, and migrating songbirds.
Features Monksville Reservoir and ruins of Long Pond Ironworks, an eighteenth- and nineteenth-century ironworking community (1766–1882) along the Wanaque River.
Site of the June 28, 1778 Battle of Monmouth during the American Revolution. George Washington and Continental Army attacked the rear of a British Army column commanded by Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton; features interpretative center, annual reenactment battle held in June, the Craig House (1746), the Rhea-Applegate house (1745), and a pick-your-own fruit orchard.
Features Pine Barrens swamp hardwood and pine forest ecosystem along Muddy Run (Maurice River tributary). Features over 200 flowering plant species including blossoming dogwood, laurel, holly, magnolia, wild azalea. Historically, the home of a CCC camp (1933–1941), summer displacement camp for Japanese-American children during World War II; prisoner-of-war camp for German soldiers, and housing for Kalmyk refugees who escaped Eastern Europe and the USSR in 1952.
Site of the Battle of Princeton fought between British and American on January 3, 1777 — a victory that proved decisive in restoring American morale during American Revolution. Includes the Clarke House where General Hugh Mercer died from his wounds nine days later despite the efforts of Dr. Benjamin Rush.
New Jersey's first state park. The focus of the park was a place for recreation at the state's third-largest freshwater lake, Swartswood Lake (a glacial lake).
Former New Jersey governor Foster M. Voorhees created the park with donation of his 325-acre (1.32 km2) farm; scenic views of Round Valley Reservoir and Spruce Run Reservoir; an observatory and astronomy education center, operated by the New Jersey Astronomical Association, offers the largest working telescope accessible to the public in the state—a 26-inch Cassegrain reflector.
Site of a lookout used by George Washington in 1777 monitor British troop movements around New York City and northern New Jersey when the Continental Army was stationed at the Middlebrook encampment.
Wawayanda offers 60 miles (97 km) of trails including a 20-mile (32 km) segment of the Appalachian Trail. Features 1,325-acre (5.36 km2) Bearfort Mountain Natural Area, 399-acre (1.61 km2) Wawayanda Hemlock Ravine Natural Area (399 acres (1.61 km2)), and 2,167-acre (8.77 km2) Wawayanda Swamp Natural Area
Bass River is New Jersey's first state forest. Features the 67-acre (0.27 km2) man-made Lake Absegami, the remains of the Civilian Conservation Corps Camp S-55 (1933–1942), a 3,830 acres (15.5 km2) portion of Pine Barrens pygmy forest in the West Pine Plains Natural Area, and the pine/oak woods and a small Atlantic white cedar bog of the Absegami Natural Area
Features the site of Lebanon Glass Works (1851–1867); Whitesbog Village, an active nineteenth- and twentieth-century cranberry and blueberry producing community where the high bush blueberry was developed.
The park features the 1,112-foot (339 m) high, 6-mile (10 km) long Jenny Jump Mountain ridge, large glacial boulders and outcroppings from the Wisconsin glaciation, and because the area enjoys the darkest skies in New Jersey, the park is home to the United Astronomy Clubs of New Jersey's Greenwood Observatory, open for public stargazing.
Administered by the Bass River State Forest, this site was acquired from the National Park Service in 1972. This site is part of what is known as the "Pygmy Forest", featuring the groves of Pitch Pine that is part of the Dwarf Pine Plains Habitat in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Features the endangered broom crowberry (Corema conradii) and other rare plant species.
These are state-owned historical sites in New Jersey.[72] These state-owned historical sites are open to the public year-round on Wednesdays through Sundays (10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., 1:00 p.m. to 4 p.m.)
Located 246 feet (75 m) above sea level on the headlands of the Navesink Highlands; built in 1862 to replace an earlier lighthouse (1828); first American lighthouse to test a Fresnel lens; site of a demonstration by Marconi of the wireless telegraph in 1899.
An eight-room Georgian mansion built on the "Hope Farm" estate of John Wallace in 1778–79. During the second Middlebrook encampment, George Washington used the home as his headquarters in the first half of 1779 and used it to host foreign dignitaries and plan military strategy during the American Revolution.
The small six-room home was purchased by the American poet Walt Whitman in 1884 and he resided there in his declining years until his death in 1892. Today it houses a museum with many of Whitman's belongings and pieces of furniture.
Palisades Interstate Park - a protected area overseen by both New York and New Jersey along the Hudson River.
References
^Gifford Pinchot, "A Study of Forest Fires and Wood Production in Southern New Jersey" in New Jersey Geological Survey, The Annual Report of the State Geologist for 1898 (Trenton: MacCrellish & Quigley, 1897). Appendix.
^"Damage By Forest Fires, New Jersey Legislature to be Asked for Protection", The New York Times, January 5, 1896, page 16; "Forest Fires In New Jersey. The annual Loss Over $1,000,000—Need of Legislation to Save Timber Lands", The New York Times, April 16, 1893, page 10; "Caring for Jersey Forests. State Spending Money to Stop Fires and Promote an Industry", The New York Times, May 15, 1910, page 20.
^Sussex County Deed Book H-10, p. 467; 18 May 1907, Lands in Townships of Sandyston and Frankford, parts of Lots 3, 4, 39, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 52, and 53 of the Sussex Allotments from Noah H. Hopkins and Susan Hopkins, his wife, of Branchville, New Jersey, to the State of New Jersey for $5,000.
^Annual Report For the Year Ending June 30, 1920, Department of Conservation and Development, (Trenton: 1920).
^Reports of the Forest Park Reservation Commission of New Jersey: Tenth Annual Report for the Year Ending October 31st 1914 (Paterson: The News Printing Company, 1915).
^Mark A. Berhow (editor), American Seacoast Defenses, A Reference Guide, Second Edition (CDSG Press, 2004), 198, 230. ISBN0-9748167-0-1; Emanuel Raymond Lewis, "Fort Mott", Seacoast Fortifications of the United States (Annapolis: Leeward Publications, 1979). ISBN978-0-929521-11-4.
^United Astronomy Clubs of New Jersey, Main Page, section "UACNJ Observatory at Jenny Jump". Retrieved September 29, 2015. Quote: "The UACNJ Observatory is located at Latitude 40 54' 26.8" North, Longitude 74 55' 31.8" West, and 1100 feet above sea level in Jenny Jump State Forest, near Hope, New Jersey, in Warren County."
^Roger W. Moss, Historic Houses of Philadelphia: a Tour of the Region's Museum Homes (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998), 50. ISBN0-8122-3438-3
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