Spring 2006 Issue Executive Board President ... · Manalapan, NJ 07726 [email protected] NEWSLETTER...

Native Plant SocietyExecutive Board

PRESIDENTAntonio Federici

129A Barnett StreetBoonton, NJ 07005

[email protected]

VICE PRESIDENTRobert L. Swain

Box 400Clarksburg, NJ 08510

[email protected]

SECRETARY/CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Bunny JaskotMilltown NJ [email protected]

TREASURER, MEMBERSHIPPeggie Leifeste

Matawan , NJ 07747(732) 583-2768

RECORDING SECRETARYPat Eisemann

Manalapan, NJ [email protected]

NEWSLETTER EDITORBill Young

631 Wright DeBow RoadJackson, NJ 08527

[email protected]

HORTICULTURISTHubert Ling, PhD

Bridgewater NJ [email protected]

The Native Plant Society of New Jerseywww.npsnj.org Spring 2006 Issue

President’s MessageSpring is here and we could use some more rain. Creeks are down and Bill

Young just showed me around a 140 acre restoration site he just planted.That Bill does some cool work. He is helping restore wetlands and uplandsadjacent to a large river system (maybe we can talk him into writing an articleabout it in the next newsletter).

As the river flows and things keep rolling along, we are continuing toexplore expanding the NPSNJ and create chapters. This month (May) a groupof us are meeting up in Parsippany. We had a good amount of volunteer interestwhen Hubert and I were at an Earth Day event in Morris County (PyramidMountain). Despite a little rain people showed up and we made a lot of friends.

So, if you have interest in attending monthly meetings and offering somevolunteer time, please contact me via email or letter. Our goal is to see aNorth, Central and South Jersey chapter each evolve. We are looking to you,our members, to help make this move. Having a central Jackson meetingeach month keeps the home fires burning but to really mix it up with localinitiatives we need local operatives, local flare, local faces, meeting a makingthings happen!!

The break from winter has our folks out and about: school teachers busywith Envirothons, more communication with the American ChestnutFoundation, and a bunch of our members donated photos to an upcomingbook that the Brooklyn Botanical Garden is putting out on Native Plants.

I leave you with hope for good gardening, good rain, and some sunny (goodfishing) days to come. Please come out to one of our monthly meetings andshare some time with us. We will grow with your help and nourishment.We also welcome newsletter articles for our upcoming summer issue.

Thank you for your support, Tony ([email protected])

American Sycamore, Somerset County, NJ

For in the truenature of things, ifwe rightly consider,every green tree isfar more glorious

than if it were madeof gold and silver.

- Martin Luthe Wise Words

Native Plant Society of New Jersey SPRING 2006

News this week sponsored by:Roads & Bridges magazine (RB)Rain Gardens to the RescueFebruary 20, 2006

Flower power is back. At least inKansas City, Mo., it is. Leaders in theneighboring metropolitan area arespending a lot of time these daysgrowing an idea that uses flowers tocombat the oftentimes expensiveproblems related to storm waterflooding, according to a story in theLawrence Journal-World.

Where engineers once would haveimmediately begun drawing up plansfor concrete culverts or channels towhisk water away, thought now isbeing given to specially designedflower gardens that will suck up water,store it in the ground and even filterout some pollutants.

“There’s a shift in thinking goingon,” said Scott Cahail, environmentalmanager with the city’s water servicesdepartment. “We’re beginning torealize that how we’ve been doingthings isn’t always the answer. Moreconcrete isn’t the answer. Speeding upthe flow of water isn’t always theanswer. Sometimes that justcontributes to the flooding problems.”

The key to the new strategy is nativeplants. Many plants known to pioneerssettling the area are great at suckingup large amounts of rainwater becausethey have deep roots. With a bit ofminor shaping of the soil, “raingardens” can be created to allow waterfrom downspouts or steep slopes topool in a person’s yard and be absorbedby the plants instead of running into astorm sewer on the street.

“Instead of creating ways to rushwater off our property, we’reencouraging people to value it as aresource and keep it on their property,”Cahail said.

Kansas City has adopted the ideamore so than any other majormetropolitan area in the country,Cahail said. Metro leaders in Novemberlaunched an initiative dubbed 10,000Rain Gardens, urging citizens,businesses and fellow governments tobuild 10,000 of the special gardensover the next several years.

Over the last several weeks, the cityhas been running television and radioads promoting the initiative. The ideaseems to have piqued the interest ofKansas Citians, said Ted Hartsig, a

manager with Eudora’s AppliedEcological Services, which is workingas a consultant on the KC project.

“The response in Kansas City isoverwhelming, and I really do meanoverwhelming,” Hartsig said. “We’rebeing contacted by three or fourpeople per day who want us to comeand talk to a group.”

The initiative’s Web site —www.rainkc.com — has had 22,000hits in the last month, and more than200 area landscapers have signed upfor classes on how to build raingardens.

Hartsig said he thought rain gardenswould start popping up around the citythis spring.

“Once you show people that thisisn’t about using weeds, they reallybegin to realize some of the benefits,”Hartsig said. “They can be prettymaintenance-free and aesthetic.”

The plants generally don’t needadditional water and usually don’trequire fertilizer. But they do producea garden that looks different thantraditional beds of manicured flowers.The native plants look more like thegrasses you’d expect to find in a prairie,but many of them flower in the summerand glisten against the snow and frostof winter.

Lawrence leaders plan to keep aneye on what their next-door neighborsare up to. Mayor Boog Highberger saidthe city needed to be open toalternative storm water solutionsbecause traditional forms of dealingwith runoff could be costly. CityManager Mike Wildgen agreed, butsaid he would be particularlyinterested in seeing how the raingardens cut down on Kansas City’sneed for curbs, gutters and othertraditional stormwater projects.

“I’m not sure there’s really anyinformation on how they will work ina large system like that, but it is aninteresting idea,” Wildgen said.

Kansas City leaders are interested inseeing whether the gardens can savethem money. Cahail said the idea forthe rain garden initiative came asplanners were grappling with ways toget storm water efficiently movingthrough pipes and culverts strained bygrowth and age.

“We looked at it and saw that it wasgoing to cost us an arm and a leg,”Cahail said.

But the jury is still out on whetherthe rain garden idea will do much toreduce the need to resize and rebuildportions of the city’s stormwatersystem. It is not expected to eliminatethe need to improve existinginfrastructure, but it could cut downon the need for some projects. That ispart of what Applied EcologicalServices is trying to determine.

“One rain garden won’t make adifference,” Hartsig said. “But if a lotof people — say if even one in fourpeople did it — it could have atremendous impact.”

The company, which has beenoperating out of Eudora for about twoyears, is developing a cost benefitanalysis but doesn’t yet have theresults.

And Hartsig said there were somereasons beyond pure dollars and centsto adopt the garden concept. He saidtoday’s storm water system oftencreated problems by eroding streambanks or creating flooding in otherareas of a community.

“Today you build a concretechannel, and that just increases thevelocity of the water,” Hartsig said. “Itjust moves the water downstream andmakes it someone else’s problem.”

Source: LJW February 20, 2006

Spring is easily my favorite season.The fall has it’s lovely colors, retreatingtourists (yeah), and cool, comfortablenights. It’s harvest time, and that hasgreat appeal. The winter has its manyholidays, snow, sometimes ice skating,and beautiful silhouettes of the baretrees. But it’s too cold, and I am gettingold. Summer is awesome—any seasonwhere swimming and the beach and

Happy, HappySpring to All!

(cont’d on page 5)

Highbush blueberry


http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/ensp/someagle.htm

BALD EAGLE SIGHTINGS

Hard to Seebut Worth theLook!by Kathy Salisbury,Greater Newark Conservancy

When shopping for native plants toinclude in our landscapes many of usgo for the showy flowers. While thegrand spring flowers of Creeping Phloxand Trout Lily are stunning and noteasily ignored, think of including theearly and mid spring bloomers whoseflowers are a littler tougher to see.

The intricate small brown flowers ofour native groundcover ginger, Asarumcanadense, are truly unique. There maybe a reason these little flowers are sohard to get to though – some peoplesay they are malodorous. Americanginger is pollinated by flies so it makessense that they don’t smell all thatgreat to us. If you have a moist shadyto partly shady spot in your yard inwhich you would like to put a delicateground cover, consider the ginger. Stoponce in a while to take a look at theflower in spring, but while you are onyour hands and knees – don’t get yournose too close!

Another hidden flower worthincluding in any native landscape is theMayapple. You will only get flowers onthese plants once they have reachedthe age where they have grown twoleaves, then a flower will form at theconnection of the two leaves. Giventhe right conditions, a nice shady areaor a sunny area with enough moisture,these plants will colonize. Currentlythe Mayapple is being researched forits medicinal and anti-cancer qualities.

Though the Toadshade Trillium’sflower sits right on top of its leaves, itmay be difficult to tell there is a flowerthere at all! The mottled leaves of thisnative may seem to be the interestingcharacter of this plant, however, themaroon flowers, which may be greenor yellow stand straight up and last forweeks and weeks. Toadshade, whichgot its name because the mottledleaves look like the skin of a toad, dobest in undisturbed areas of moistshade.

Look below the leaves of the GiantSolomon’s Seal and you will see bellsof white and green hanging in linesfrom the stem. Getting its name fromthe tall arching braches that supportthese flowers, Solomon’s seal is easilytransplanted and withstands rootcompetition. It is a must for a dramaticaddition to any shade garden.

Have you ever lifted up the hood ofa Jack-in-the-Pulpit? Jack is anothermust have for a shady native plantgarden. People walking through thewoods in the fall may first notice Jackbecause of the bright red berry clusterit sets. Gardeners should take a close

look at what is under the stripedspathe of the flower, there lies thespadix – or ‘Jack’ and often he is asbeautiful as his leafy cover.

A word of caution regarding theinstallation of these plants into anylandscape. These plants may all havehidden flowers for a reason. If ingestedthey have been known to cause adverseaffects in humans.

All of these plants have interestingfoliage that merit planting in a nativelandscape, upon further inspection,however, gardeners will notice thereis a lot more to these spring flowersthan meets the eye.


DEP OrdersClosure ofOyster Beds inDelaware Bay(06/30) TRENTON — New JerseyDept. of Environmental Protection

Commissioner Lisa P. Jackson thisafternoon ordered the immediateclosure of 110 square miles ofDelaware Bay oyster beds, as state andfederal authorities worked to clean upoil contamination that stretched fromthe Cohansey River to Egg Island.

Commissioner Jackson closed the70,400-acre area to safeguard thepublic from consuming potentiallytainted shellfish.

The prohibition on all shellfishharvesting applies specifically to all ofNew Jersey’s waters in the DelawareBay that are northwest of a line fromthe Egg Island Point bearingapproximately 227 degrees T throughMiah Maull Shoal Light.

Commissioner Jackson’s order willremain in effect until further notice.

Earlier, the U.S. Coast Guardresponded to a 6:45 a.m. report that

oil was spotted in the upper DelawareBay. Late this afternoon, DEP crews andDelaware state environmental officialswere on the water, working with theCoast Guard to clean up the six-milenarrow band of oil near the center ofthe bay in the mail shipping channel,east of Port Mahon in Kent County, Del.

Oil-skimming vessels weredeployed to conduct recovery andcleanup operations.[Please note: as of May 2006, these havenot been reopened.]

Grand Opening of the PinelandsVisitor Center at Pinelands

Preservation Alliance on May 7Pinelands Preservation Alliance is pleased to announce the opening of the

new Pinelands Visitor Center, an interactive experience highlighting the ecological,historical and recreational features of the New Jersey Pinelands. The PinelandsVisitor Center, centrally located just off of Route 206 at the Pinelands PreservationAlliance’s Bishop Farmstead headquarters (17 Pemberton Road, SouthamptonTownship) will serve as an information gateway for visitors to the region.

The Pinelands Visitor Center includes large scale, detailed maps of the Pinelandsregion; informational literature; educational materials; interpretive display panels;an interactive virtual eco-tour kiosk, and a bookstore featuring an extensiveoffering of both non-fiction and fiction titles, movies, maps and clothing withPinelands themes.

The Grand Opening is on Sunday, May 7, from 1pm-5pm. The day’s eventswill include tours of the 1750’s farmhouse; guided walks through the nativeplant and ornamental gardens; a photography exhibit featuring renownedPinelands photographer Mike Hogan; old-time music and light refreshments.

The Pinelands Visitor Center will be open by appointment weekdays from9am-5pm. Summer hours will be on Sundays, 1-4pm, through July 30.[Editor’s note: I have been there, and it is a really cool place, plus they are adding a raingarden totheir master plan , so give them a visit.]

NJ WILDLIFE MANAGEMENTAREAS SURPASS 300,000-ACREMARK(06/07) TRENTON - Department ofEnvironmental Protection ActingCommissioner Lisa P. Jackson todayannounced that New Jersey’s networkof wildlife management areas hastopped 304,000 acres, making it oneof the largest in the Northeast.

“As the nation’s most denselypopulated state and the fifth smallest,NJ now boasts more acreage for wildlifemanagement areas than NY and evenoutpaces VT, MA and RI combined,”Acting Commissioner Jackson said.“That achievement is a testament toour commitment to preserving openspace, protecting our unique wildlifeand habitats and providing countlessrecreational opportunities for residentsand visitors alike.”

As of January, the state’s 121 wildlifemanagement areas totaled 304,735acres, up 8,000 acres during the pastyear. Located throughout 19 counties,the total acreage represents more than44 percent of New Jersey’s state-owned open space.

Administered by the DEP’s Divisionof Fish and Wildlife, the state’s systemof wildlife management areas dates to1932 when the Board of Fish and GameCommissioners, now known as the Fishand Game Council, acquired the 387-acre Walpack Tract in Sussex Countyas a “public shooting and fishingground.”Source: NJDEP

Magnificent American Sycamores onthe Raritan River, March 2006


YELLOW SPRINGS FARM OPENHOUSE & NATIVE PLANT SALE

Chester Springs, PA CatherineRenzi, owner of Yellow Springs Farmannounced their annual Spring OpenHouse & Native Plant Sale to be heldrain or shine on Saturday and Sunday,May 27th and 28th, from 10 am to 4pm at Yellow Springs Farm, 1165Yellow Springs Road in Chester Springs(about 1.5 miles east of Rt. 113). Freeto the public. For directions visitwww.yellowspringsfarm.com or call610-827-2014. On Saturday at 10 am,award winning nature book authorJane Kirkland will lead guided birdwalks around the farm. A huge varietyof native plants, wildflowers, shrubs,trees, grasses and ferns will beavailable for purchase on both days.The plants are grown in containers sothey are easy to transport and aregrown using organic fertilizers andsustainable, biodynamic farmpractices. Those who bring their owncontainers to the Open House can takehome fresh-brewed compost tea,compliments of Yellow Springs Farm.Yellow Springs Farm promotes landstewardship through the propagationand sale of plants native to the Mid-Atlantic area.

ENVIRONMENTAL HAPPENINGSAROUND THE STATE:DEP WINS LEGAL CHALLENGE TO STORMWATERREGULATIONS

(06/26) TRENTON – Depar tment of EnvironmentalProtection Commissioner Lisa P. Jackson todayapplauded a New Jersey appeals cour t ruling thatupheld the DEP’s authority to adopt comprehensivestormwater rules requiring 300-foot buffers to protecthigh-quality waters from the dangers of development.

“The cour t ruling represents a tremendous victoryfor New Jersey in our ongoing fight to protect thequality and quantity of our water resources. Clean,safe and abundant drinking water supplies aresomething we cannot afford to take for granted,”Commissioner Jackson said. “New Jersey’sstormwater rules are considered the nation’s mostprotective largely because they require 300-footvegetated buffers along Category One waterways tohelp filter pollutants and safeguard the quality ofthese waters.”

In the 24-page decision released today by theAppellate Division of New Jersey Superior Cour t, thethree-judge panel rejected the New Jersey BuildersAssociation’s argument the DEP lacked the statutoryauthority to promulgate the stormwater rules, andalso noted that the association “mischaracterizedthese buffers as ‘no build zones.’”

“This ruling by the Appellate Division affirms DEP’sbroad authority to protect water quality in New Jersey,as well as the need to preserve the remaining pristinewaters throughout the state for future generations,”said Attorney General Zulima V. Farber. “The courtrecognized the close correlation between waterquality and the way that land is used along the banksof our sensitive waterways.”

The DEP has applied Category One status, thestate’s highest level of water protection, to 10,219acres of reservoirs and 3,855 river miles.

“It’s par ticularly gratifying that the cour t hasacknowledged that without these tough stormwaterregulations, developers and industry would continuebuilding right on top of sensitive streams andreservoirs that provide drinking water to millions ofour residents,” Commissioner Jackson said.

The DEP adopted the new stormwatermanagement rules in February 2004 – the first majorupdate of the regulations in 20 years. Soon after the

regulations were adopted, the New Jersey BuildersAssociation took legal action.

“Protecting the quality and quantity of our watersupplies not only is essential to our environmentand our quality of life, but also is critical to the stabilityof our economy,” Commissioner Jackson said.

The New York Times, May 2, 2006GARLIC MUSTARD CASTS A PALL ON THE FORESTBy Henry Fountain

In drama, the uninvited visitor is a common plot device.Everyone is getting along swimminqly until a new characterarrives and upsets the apple cart. Things quickly fall apart.Garlic mustard, a tall weed native to Europe that wasintroduced to the United Spates in the late 1800’s, is a bitlike that uninvited visitor. Researchers have found that itdisrupts a healthy relationship between hardwood treeseedlings and soil fungi, with results that can be disastrousfor a forest.

Like other scientists, Kristina A. Stinson, who studiesinvasive plants as a research associate at Harvard Forest,Harvard’s ecology and conservation research center inPetersham, Mass., had noticed that native trees suffered inthe presence of garlic mustard. “We thought theirdependence on native fungi might play a role,” Dr. Stinson

said. Many plants make use of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi,which form an elaborate network of filaments throughoutthe soil. These fungi are a diverse group, but they all haveone thing in common: they help plants take up nutrientsfrom the soil, getting carbon in return. Garlic mustard is amember of the mustard family, “one of the very few familiesthat do not need to associate with mycorrhizal fungi at all,”Dr. Stinson said. These species produce chemicals that haveantifungal properties.

Native mustards have been around long enough, shesuggested, that the mycorrhizal fungi have learned to livewith them. But the fungi haven’t had time to adapt to garlicmustard “It basically is killing off the fungi,” she said. In astudy using soils from a forest in Ontario, Dr. Stinson andcolleagues found that sugar maple and other hardwoodseedlings grew much slower when the soil came from anarea infested with garlic mustard than from a mustard-freearea. The findings are published in the journal Public Libraryof Science Biology. (cont’d on page 6)

get this, no school—well that’s got tobe great. But spring is the best, in mymind, because it is so much more thannature coming to life. It’s aboutrenewal, second chances, and new life.It’s so much optimism, where out ofseemingly nothing, wonder andelegance emerges! Each spring, I markmy diary with “what’s out” that dayor that week, and I try to observe newthings I had missed before. I now havethe “signature” of the Sassafras. It ischartreuse green, coming out lateApril, early May, and now it is justunmistakable. Bob Swain pointed it outto me, and once one tunes in to it, youcan’t miss it. Now, “Sassies” jump outin an expression unique to them.

As I write this, the Highbushblueberries are in bloom, and it is athing of beauty! Part of what makes NJso great. So, when the Forsythiasbloom, spring is upon us. Enjoy thespring, enjoy the summer, and get outand hike, swim, garden or whateveryou do. The outdoors is ours again.

Oh, and pray for rain. This is one ofthe driest springs on record, and nowthe DEP has declared a droughtwarning. Native plants, as we know,are much more amenable to thisphenomena, so we have less to worryabout.

Be well. Happy spring, Bill Young,Newsletter Dude

(Happy Spring cont’d from page 2)

“We cannot continue to pushnature to the brink and then hope

that by mircale it will return.”

– Jimmy Carter


[our newsletter was published after thescheduled events listed, but we send it tointroduce you to the site, and encourage you tovisit — Newsletter Ed.]CONTACT: Mary Arnold, Executive DirectorTel.: 201-836-2403 • Fax: 201-836-1734E-mail: [email protected]: www.teaneckcreek.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Features Editor

RIBBON-CUTTINGAT BERGEN COUNTY’SNEW ECO-PARKTeaneck Creek Conservancy Celebrates withmunicipal, county & state officials at ribbon-cuttingceremony for the Opening of its Trail System Wed., May 3, 11 a.m., Teaneck Creek Conservancy(Teaneck, NJ) – On May 3rd the Teaneck CreekConservancy will host a ribbon-cutting ceremonyfor municipal, county, and state officials: par tnerswho have been instrumental in suppor ting andhelping to fund the Teaneck Creek’s new $1 milliondollar 1.25 mile loop trail system. Students from theNathaniel Hawthorne School will sing at the event.The ribbon cutting precedes the official publicopening of the new park on May 7 th when there willbe a festival with music, guided walks, special eventsfor children, food, and more.

The opening of the limited access pedestrian trailsystem is the culmination of over five years of acommunity-based, public/private par tnership totransform a neglected dumpsite into a state-of-the-ar t eco-park for the residents of Bergen County. For information call the Teaneck Creek Conservancyat 201-836-2403. The event will take place at 20East Oakdene Avenue (off of Teaneck Road) inTeaneck, NJ.

The Teaneck Creek Conservancy was establishedin 2001 as a public/private par tnership betweenBergen County, the Township of Teaneck, the PuffinFoundation Ltd., and area residents to preserve a46-acre degraded wetland in what was known asArea One of Overpeck Park. Area One is circumscribedby DeGraw Avenue to the south, Teaneck Road tothe west, Fycke Lane to the nor th, and Frank BurrBoulevard by the Glenpointe Marriott complex inTeaneck to the east. For nearly fifty years, the areawas abused as a dump for debris from theconstruction of the intersection of Route 80 and theNew Jersey Turnpike and other sources. Five yearsof community organizing, fundraising and thousandsof hours of volunteer labor are culminating in the

opening of a beautiful groomed trail system througha wetland area that is making a comeback.Boardwalks, bridges and crushed stone pathwayshave created a per fect place for walkers, joggersand birdwatchers to enjoy an unknown oasis in thisdensely populated area. Students from the TeaneckSchool District and other schools from around theregion will also be able to make use of the newlyconstructed Puffin Outdoor Classroom off of FyckeLane that is next to a pristine wetland area thatscientists say most closely resembles what the NewJersey meadowlands were like prior to the arrival ofEuropeans.

The over $1 million construction costs were paidthrough a $500,000 grant from the Garden StatePreservation Trust/New Jersey Green Acres Fund,$425,000 from Bergen County, $50,000 from thePuffin Foundation Ltd., $11,700 from the NationalFish and Wildlife Service, and many private donations.The Teaneck Creek Conservancy also draws uponthe volunteer resources of its 145 members whohave spent countless hours in the park removingdebris, clearing and marking trails, and building theLenape Tur tle Peace Labyrinth.

Mary Arnold, MBA, Executive Director of theTeaneck Creek Conservancy said, “The communityleaders, public officials, and members of our technicalteam who are coming to cut the ribbon next weekare the movers and shakers who have made thisproject happen. Their vision, creativity, skills, andcommitment have recycled abused and underutilizedpublic land into a new eco-park and culturaldestination.”

The highly experienced technical team thatbrought the project home included Bergen CountyParks, Open Space, and County Counsel, TRC OmniEnvironmental, Rutgers University, and Hines Wasser& Associates.

The trail and outdoor classroom opening willconclude Phase One of the Teaneck CreekConservancy’s plan for the park. Phase Two currentlyis underway and will include a major wetlandsrestoration effor t that is being led by a par tnershipthat includes Bergen County Parks Division, RutgersUniversity, and the US Geological Service. The goalis to address the issues of the landfill and constructiondebris while attempting to restore Teaneck Creekand the surrounding wetlands as a viable habitat fornative species of plants and wildlife. According tothe plan, area school children and university studentswill be an impor tant par t of the research andrestoration effor ts. Nearly $400,000 already has beenraised for Phase Two though grants from the NewJersey Wetlands Mitigation Council and the NewJersey Water Resources Research Institute.

Gloucester County Times, Apr. 4, 2006

IN NEW JERSEY, BEESNEED TO BE BUSIERBy Allegra Tiver, [email protected]: Beekeepers.

In the face of dwindling bee populations, the NewJersey Beekeepers Association, New JerseyDepartment of Agriculture and Cook College atRutgers University have joined forces to develop the“Bee-ginner’s Beekeeping Program” to encourageindustry in the state.

“Insect pollination is vital to many important fruitand vegetable crops grown in New Jersey, such asapples, blueberries, cantaloupes, cranberries,cucumbers, squash, pumpkins and watermelons,which account for $115.8 million in revenue eachyear,” said Charles Kuperus, the state’s secretary ofagriculture.

Fruit and vegetable farmers who depend on beesto pollinate their crops generally rent bees frombeekeepers, who place them exactly where they needto go. Cranberries and blueberries would barely growwithout bees, and apples and strawberries have bettershape because of them.

Through a $20,000 grant from the Depar tment ofAgriculture, the program is offering $300 wor th ofstarter hives and basic beekeeping equipment for 50first-time bee-keepers who successfully completethe course, offered by the Cook College Office ofProfessional Education in New Brunswick. Twoclasses, of 50 students each, have already filled up.

The remaining $5,000 in grants will go to eightregional branches of the New Jersey BeekeepersAssociation, which will mentor the participants.

Destructive pests, such as the tracheal and Varromites, have caused a decline in bee populations inrecent decades, causing a major shortage in NewJersey and neighboring states, said Bob Goodman,executive dean of Cook College and the New JerseyAgricultural Experiment Station.

“Every commercial beekeeper winters in the south,since the mites have become resistant to all thetreatment,” said Bob Harvey, beekeeper at Harvey’sHoney in Monroeville. “Everybody was losing somany bees. There used to be a lot of sidelinebeekeepers who decided to throw in the towel.”

Over the last several years, the state’s beekeeperpopulation has dropped from an estimated four tofive thousand to a present estimate of about 2,500.

Harvey remembers the first pest arriving fromoutside the country in the mid-1980s, followed byanother a few years later. Now, Harvey’s bees winterin Florida.

“We follow the bloom up the coast,” Harvey said.“We’re running the orange bloom now. It’s our firstpollination, and we do it just for honey.”

Harvey is next scheduled to head toward theapples and blueberries in New Jersey, Maryland andDelaware. He ships 3,500 hives holding 50,000 beeseach, which make a total of 4 tons of honey eachday, on palettes in tractor trailers.

The New Jersey Agricultural Statistics Servicerepor ted that in 2004 there were 12,000 honey-producing bee colonies in the state, which yielded324,000 thousand pounds of honey — valued at$447,000.

To find out more, contact Paul Raybold, StateApiarist for the Depar tment of Agriculture at (609)292-5440 or visit {1}.

Copyright 2006 Gloucester County Times

In studying invasive species,scientists often see a direct effect.Invasive cane toads in Australia, forexample, wipe out snakes and otherpredators. But garlic mustard displaysa mechanism that, so far at least,appears to be unique “It’s really ademonstration of how ‘the enemy ofmy friend is also my enemy,’” Dr.Stinson said. By killing fungi, “it’sdisrupting this long standing nativemutualism.” Garlic mustard has now

(Garlic Mustard cont’d from page 5) spread through 30 states, from Maineto Oregon, and into Canada. “Whenthis plant shows up in a forest, the treespecies themselves that become thecanopy are most at risk,” Dr. Stinsonsaid. That could have tremendousimpact by changing the compositionof the forest.” While the effect mightnot be immediate, it will occurnonetheless.” Our experiment was onseedlings, Dr. Stinson said. “But thoseare the future generations of forests.”


Fractal Tree

Fractal Fern

By Mrs. Eisemann’s Academic Enrichment Program 8th GradeEnvironmental Science students at Barkalow Middle Schoolin Freehold Township.

Fractals, sometimes referred to as chaos theory, are afantastic phenomenon. What is a fractal? There is no singlesimple answer because the word is used to refer to a varietyof things. By definition, a fractal is a pattern of repetitionthat is self similar at any scale. That means that no matterhow large or small or how much of it you can see, it willstill have similar elements and patterns. If you could enlargeany of the tiniest spirals in this image, you would find morespirals of the same kind. There can also be patterns for therepetition of patterns. This is a big subject!

The term “fractal” was invented by Benoit Mandelbrot in1975 from the Latin word fractus meaning fractured orbroken. Self similarity is when each small portion is exactlythe same when magnified as the enlarged portion. Fractalsin nature range from anything to coastlines, rivers, clouds,mountains, lightning, trees, flowers and seashells.

Fractal image usually refers to an image generated by acomputer from a recursive (repeating) equation involvingcomplex and imaginary numbers. Natural fractals referto natural objects that show fractal patterns, such as plants,shells, seacoasts, feathers, blood circulation systems andbutterflies.

Fractals and food – If you think of a head of broccoli orcauliflower, imagine cutting off a branch of the head. If youput the two next to each other, the branch looks like aminiature of the whole head. Next cut off a branch from thebranch, and see that it is a miniature of the branch. As youcan imagine, this process can continue on forever.

You can see the self-similarity in the vegetables -cauliflower and romanesco - below.

Fractals and plant growth – One of the easiest fractalsto define is a tree These four trees shown below were drawnusing Geometer’s Sketchpad. The first tree embodies all ofthe rules for drawing the second tree. In the second tree,every branch is a copy of the original tree. In the third tree,after two more iterations (repetitions), every sub-branch

Fractals, or What Happens WhenYou Repeat Yourself, Repeat Yourself

becomes a copy of the second tree. And the fourth treeshows a few more iterations, and drawn larger to show moredetail. This amounts to defining a kind of self-similarityNotice that the initial asymmetry is repeated everywhere inthe final tree.

Ferns are fractals, that is, they are self-similar. The fernbelow is a computer-generated image of a fern. Notice howrealistic this image is.

Computer-generatedfractal images – These arecreated with formulas.

There are many famousfractals, some of which areshown below. The JurassicPark books use fractals to

show the increasing chaos of each chapter. You can see thestages very well in the Koch Snowflake below.

Fractal Websites – The information in this article wasgarnered from the sites listed below.

An entire class in fractals as a design element can befound at quiltuniversity.com The class runs for a monthat the VERY reasonable charge of $32. It is entirely done onthe computer, so you can learn at midnight in your jammies!

The rest of the sites listed have much information andmany images on fractals. You can find many sites through asearch engine such as Google.http://math.rice.edu/~lanius/frac/http://www.jimloy.com/fractals/trees.htmhttp://www.fourmilab.ch/images/Romanesco/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractal_arthttp:/ /web.cs.wpi.edu/~matt/c o u r s e s / c s 5 6 3 / t a l k s / c b y r d /pres1.htmlhttp://polymer.bu.edu/ogaf/html/chp53.htmYou can play with fractals at http://www.chaospro.de/

Cauliflower

Romanes

Cauliflower

Romanesco

TheMandelbrot

Set


Native Plant SocietyExecutive Board 2006

Members at LargeRUSTY BELL

Wall, N.J. • [email protected]

MILLIE LING, [email protected]

LIZ JACKSONNJ DEP Fish & Wildlife

Raingarden Workshop Coordinator

The Native Plant Society of New JerseyCook College • 102 Ryders LaneNew Brunswick, NJ 08901-8519

From ANJEC:• New Jersey ranks sixth among the

top ten states in the nation forgenerating economic impact basedon wildlife watching!

• Nature tourism is one of the fastestgrowing segments of the tourismindustry. Studies have shown thatNew Jersey’s natural areas andwildlife are enjoyed by millions ofpeople from all income brackets andraces and from rural to urbansettings.

• More than 2.8 million residents andvisitors participate in wildlife-relatedrecreation in New Jersey each year,generating $4.1 billion and creating33,657 jobs.

• If New Jersey’s outdoor recreationwere an industry, it would be aFortune 500 company.

New Jersey by the Numbers…75,000 pairs of bald eagles in the lower 48 states in 1782

1967 year bald eagle listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.<2 Percent of nesting pairs in 1960, lower 48 states.

175 known occupied breeding sites in 1988300 known occupied breeding sites, 1992356 known occupied breeding sites, 1994 (USFWS 1995)

22 number of pairs documented breeding in NJ in 1800’s1 number of pairs in New Jersey in 1970.

178 Eagles observed in annual midwinter survey, 2004. (NJDEP 2004)(Highest ever recorded in NJ)

Sources: Clark and Niles, 1998, NJDEP 2004, USFWS, 1995, Smith, Clark and Niles, 2003

VP Bob Swain sent out a postcard to former members,in effect, asking them to consider coming back.

That outreach has a wonderful response, returningmany former members back to the NPS.

Thanks, people, we missed you. Welcome back!B. Young

Bill Young’s raingarden in summer

Spring 2006 Issue Executive Board President ... · Manalapan, NJ 07726 [email protected] NEWSLETTER...

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