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We're not beating a dead horse I’m sure there is plenty of grist for the mill! South Jersey has the only ice-marginal coastal plain in North America, and is replete with geologic surprises. Colleagues are astounded at the remarkable preservation of this place, especially those from across the...

geodiversity - valuing and conserving abiotic nature What’s the problem? I suggest that we cannot separate man from his natural environment. The two disciplines, geology and archeology, are inseparable historical sciences as in geoarcheology. Geographical relationships are complex, requiring...

Jerseyman, Many thanks for your extended response. Keep in mind that C.K. Landis’ father, Michael G. Landis, purchased for $15,000 “tracts of land in Burlington and Atlantic Counties which make up the Atsion Estate” from Samuel B. Coughlin of Philadelphia (Book P, Page 568, March 1, 1860). I...

Tom M To answer your question on Apple Pie Hill, I must pose another on the Jersey Central that might even stump Jerseyman! Is Charles K. Landis, Vineland’s founder, working behind the scenes to develop Fruitland and Wheatland? I know Landis liked the name Fruitland since he later tried to...

time-travel! Dragoncjo, Why not time-travel! The 1889 Cook/Vermeule atlas sheets have legend symbols that I suggest represent real world 19th century vegetation density. Where tree symbols are widely dispersed, plant spacing was correspondingly sparse. Around Millville, the Union House...

I jest, it was only helium...

Hmm, does it seem like we're catching the Commission’s attention?

When I was a young buck growing up in the Pines, we used surplus dirigibles from Navy Lakehurst to go spung-hopping – but now the Commission lists hydrogen as an indirect greenhouse gas…

I'll remember to wave when I blow by on the Parkway!

Agricultural Landscape Research Yes, calls for conservation are diverse. I come from an agrarian background, and loathe seeing our distinctive rural landscape (open space) paved over. A substantial portion (perhaps a third?) of the Reserve is currently in agricultural production. Ag production...

You needn't worry, land-use planners at the Pinelands Commission will protect us through Smart Growth. Nothing better defines our rich cultural legacy than gingerbread festooned upon a strip-mall – Pinelands Village "meaning of place." I can see Father Beck turn in his grave.

I believe Pine Plains to be precontact features. At the Millville Historical Society is a copy of Miller (1749: A Map of the Honorable Thomas Penn’s and Richard Penn’s Land on the Prince Morris River). On this document are landforms “cripples” (a semidry stream channel) and “plains.” This map...

not unique Lutz (1934: 17), in his classic monograph “Ecological Relations in the Pitch Pine Plains of Southern New Jersey,” suggested that Plains forest community was not confined East and West Plains. I agree. The Gordon map, despite numerous inaccuracies, has this one right. They are not...

Why not? As relayer pointed out, it is a tiny group of developers and their friends who benefit from current rules. Do you think corporate greed was limited to banks or Wall Street? I fear that Pinelands redevelopment schemes could be deemed shovel ready in the name of proposed economic...

Off subject? You’re spot on! We snuff candles while Rome burns.

This is a two-pronged problem, lowering water-tables and lax rule enforcement. Behind the scenes it’s well accepted that widespread drop in groundwater has already occurred but few say this in public. In defense of delineators, as water-table drops wetlands are getting harder to identify. It’s...

Pinelands Smart Growth, an example TeeGate My concern is that the Smart Growth and Redevelopment fast-track projects, making it easier to bypass customary checks and balances – especially public debate. Mason (1992, Contested Lands: Conflict and Compromise in New Jersey’s Pine Barrens)...

“clusters it into smart-growth areas (Leaken)” Sorry for the post length, but there's lots to say! I suggest that you look at western Atlantic County to see how proposed clustering will proceed. Redevelopment and Smart Growth are land-planners’ tools of choice. Within a 5-mile stretch of...

Misclaims, Have you seen this paper, Open Space is a Good Investment – The Financial Argument for Open Space Preservation? ANJEC, the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions, has it in PDF-file format for downloading at their website. The document can be found under Publications –...

My sentiments as well! Kevinhooa, You are so right; there are many stories yet to be told within the Pinelands National Reserve – even south of the Mullica. Blogs like this are evidence enough that a Jerseyman can still enjoy a spirited adventure in South Jersey. Jack McCormick, in his...