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Gibby, Was your grandfather a tar-heeler? Pocosin is believed to be an Algonquin name for Carolina Bays, which is a Southern variant of spung. Closed basins pock-mark the Atlantic Coastal Plain in the thousands from southern New Jersey to northern Georgia. Many were destroyed through drainage...

Another link: http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/burlington_county_times_news/pinelands-commission-to-undertake-ponds-study/article_8e862ae4-1c89-57c7-a28e-3f85a15cc0b3.html It's interesting that Carleton referred to these pockets of water as spongs, which is actually a modern version of...

Intermittent basins are also noteworthy sites that have long cultural usage. Relicts of the Pinelands’ earliest cultures can be found by their rims. Some mark places of Colonial settlement, at the locus of early trails that went from pond to pond across the Pine Barrens. They remain valued spots...

Boyd, You are right, loss of agricultural production land is a bigger problem outside the Pines, and certainly an unacceptable waste of a valuable resource wherever it occurs. We should be thankful that Mayor Cimprich is a preservationist, and not courting developers like other politicians. I...

Here, here, Up at Rutgers Cook College, the old Ag School, I was taught that it took nature a thousand years to make one-inch of topsoil in the Garden State, and minutes to destroy it. The Garden State simply undervalues farmland. No other country in the world squanders this priceless resource...

Bob, Guy, While pond specifics might be deemed proprietary, and for good reason, I can’t imagine why their locations would remain hidden. Spung integrity is a matter of water quality and quantity. We are learning that it is the smaller, more isolated pools that are most critical to habitat...

The Pinelands Commission will use a $350,524 grant supplemented with $116,841 in conservation funds to study Pinelands intermittent pools (spungs). http://www.state.nj.us/pinelands/images/pdf%20files/press/PR_PinelandsEPAGrant.pdf "'We are thrilled to receive federal funding for a study that...

Given the large Mexican population working and living in the Pines, this topic is germane to the blog. I had accrued some airline points from workshops and conferences, so took the wife and daughter out to El Paso last spring for an extended weekend vacation before my daughter started college...

Yes, it is a great Pinelands plant! We’ve always included sassafras roots when making home-made root beer. This beverage was mildly fermented for carbonation in gallon jugs especially for Easter. Raisins were added for the wild yeast found on their skin to jump-start the process. Inevitably one...

What is redevelopment? According to the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority, "Our mission is to provide a unique approach to revitalization (a) efforts in New Jersey's cities (b). We develop programs and resources to improve the quality of life by creating value in urban communities (c)." What...

Boyd, Good gophering. It is unsettling to how far the scheme has advanced, isn't it? Do you have a shapefile map for Dorothy-Estell Manor for comparison? Richland is the first and so far only Village redevelopment zone. As such it is touted by politicians as a "redevelopment prototype for the...

Looks like it’s time to save the Pine Barrens, again by Gabe Donio The above mentioned opinion is now online: http://www.hammontongazette.com/Weekly%20file/opin1.html "The sewer plants, if allowed to be built, will radically change the character of the Pinelands, create competition for...

See today's opinion section of the Hammonton Gazette (September 28, 2011). Publisher Gabe Donio has written a detailed follow-up titled "Looks like it's time to save the Pine Barrens, again," which questions the wisdom of forcing Pinelands Villages to sewer. His commentary is not online, but is...

Pinelands: Sewer plants OK – Package sewer plants allowed in villages by Gabe Donio, Gazette Staff Writer http://www.hammontongazette.com/Weekly file/news1.html "Building small community wastewater plants would allow the villages to develop, Leaken wrote, adding the Pinelands Commission...

Orville, Your poison ivy cure listed above is remarkably similar to the one I learned as "Indian lore" growing up near Doughty's Tavern: http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/threads/chigger-bites-ouch.5836/#post-69208 Let me know if you find any other Pinelands place names associated with your...

Thanks Boyd, I've been inspired! The topic is timely, and nicely dovetails with a current arboricultural project I'm involved with. The wife's on her way to REI's Marlton store as I write. What is the spatial accuracy of the new units anyway, within a few meters? S-M

Thanks Woodjin, Atlantic County has excellent Pinelands habitat to explore. You were on the “new” New Columbia Road. Nesco began as a Scottish settlement in 1707, home ground to those of the Campbell clan of Atlantic and Cumberland Counties. Although Boucher in Absegami Yesteryear stated that...

Argh me maties, My wife, of old Jersey Dutch stock (1656), is purportedly a descendent of Captain Kidd, through the marriage of Jonathan S. Roll and Lucinda Kidd, September 4, 1851. Baltus Roll, namesake of the private PGA golf course in Westfield is also a relative. Baltus was a beloved albeit...

Hi all, Its been a busy summer, so I haven’t been able to respond to comments. It is possible that these tessellations have little to do with a development, but have been part of some scientific endeavor. One candidate is a silvicultural experiment, although it’s only a guess. Various forest...

D-W, You mention the Pinelands Village of Dorothy. I’m afraid that Dorothy’s core is deemed as “Smart Growth” worthy, along with the core zone of adjoining Estell Manor. The combined parcels dwarf Richland Village’s bounds. Private and public planners can quietly circumvent Comprehensive...