I was driving down Eagle Rd. today and just past the blue sign for the Eagle tavern traveling towards Apple Pie hill there is a large clear cut. Does anyone know whats going on at this site?
clear cut off of Eagle rd
- Thread starter kevineichman
- Start date
There are a few people on this site who can give you more details, but from what I gather that was done illegally. I may be wrong so don' take that as fact. It was clearcut and chemicals were sprayed to kill all vegetation which is not how clear cutting is done. Hopefully, more people will post and prove me right or wrong.
Guy
Guy
Barry and I were there last year when I we first noticed this. He had written or called someone on the PB Commission, I believe but when the person spoke to Barry, the person didn't even know where this site or road was.
B
BarryC
Guest
Unfortunately, what you saw is quite legal, no matter how wrong it is. They did indeed remove all native vegetation. The intent is to use pesticides to kill what remains and then plant some type of hybrid tree in a plantation, for commercial purposes. This land is no longer Pine Barrens land. The property is owned by the Lee Brothers and that is part of their new tree plantation. I don't know whether it will be for lumber or pulp wood.
I suppose it's possible that if all the hybrid trees were removed at some date in the future, that native vegetation may again grow there. I don't know. But for now, all native vegetation is out.
I was with Renee and her family when I discovered it, and all of us were shocked. I did indeed email the Pinelands Commission and I described the location as "along the road from the Eagle Tavern site to Apple Pie Hill". The woman in the Commission said she was unfamiliar with the Eagle Tavern site and also with Apple Pie Hill! She said that without a lot number and block number she would not be able to help me and find out what it was all about. I told her that the land probably covered hundreds, if not thousands, of acres, and how could I come up with lot numbers and block numbers for that?! I also said it was shameful that a member of the Commission had never heard of Apple Pie Hill. She did not respond.
Later I emailed the Pinelands Preservation Alliance. They knew right away what I was referring to, and told me it was the Lee Brothers' tree plantation.
Amazing.
I suppose it's possible that if all the hybrid trees were removed at some date in the future, that native vegetation may again grow there. I don't know. But for now, all native vegetation is out.
I was with Renee and her family when I discovered it, and all of us were shocked. I did indeed email the Pinelands Commission and I described the location as "along the road from the Eagle Tavern site to Apple Pie Hill". The woman in the Commission said she was unfamiliar with the Eagle Tavern site and also with Apple Pie Hill! She said that without a lot number and block number she would not be able to help me and find out what it was all about. I told her that the land probably covered hundreds, if not thousands, of acres, and how could I come up with lot numbers and block numbers for that?! I also said it was shameful that a member of the Commission had never heard of Apple Pie Hill. She did not respond.
Later I emailed the Pinelands Preservation Alliance. They knew right away what I was referring to, and told me it was the Lee Brothers' tree plantation.
Amazing.
kevineichman said:
She has probably never been to the Pines anyway. Vote her off the Commision, now.
Hi everyone,
While I was in New Zealand, I was able to see first hand what major pine tree plantations really look like. I also took a forestry class at the university there and learned a great deal about forestry and plantations.
My problem with this site on Eagle Tavern Road is that clear cutting is not a sustainable means of forestry. Clear cutting clearly disrupts the soil and allows for nutrients/leaf litter to dissapear. With a poor soil such as that in the Pine Barrens, numerous chemicals are being added to "adapt" the soil to grow this hybrid species. Applying chemical pesticides to rid the soils of any traces of native vegetation further reduces the sustainbility of the ecosystem.
Additionally, infrastructure questions need to be addressed when dealing with forestry. If there is to be logging done, that will mean heavy logging trucks which will need proper roads to accomodate. Are the roads around this site even close to adequate for the tonnage expected if logs are supposed to be harvested?
One concept which I'd really like to see, and one which I'd like to eventually research in my lifetime is the use of agro-forestry. Agro-forestry theories abound, but one which might apply to the Pine Barrens would be to mix a blueberry farm with cedar trees. You would be able to do this near a body of water so that the crops would be close and the cedar would prosper on the borders.
There are also sustainable methods for harvesting, which are NOT clear cutting! Stand management, or the cycling of trees in age groups, allows for selective harvesting. Proper methods can be devised so that soils are not disrupted by heavy machinery during harvesting time. I'm interested to see what methods the Lee Brothers will be using when harvest time comes. By the looks of their initial efforts and chemical dependencies, I'm not holding my breath for a sustainble forestry operation at their hands at the expense of the fragile Pine Barrens.
Justin
pine_mind
While I was in New Zealand, I was able to see first hand what major pine tree plantations really look like. I also took a forestry class at the university there and learned a great deal about forestry and plantations.
My problem with this site on Eagle Tavern Road is that clear cutting is not a sustainable means of forestry. Clear cutting clearly disrupts the soil and allows for nutrients/leaf litter to dissapear. With a poor soil such as that in the Pine Barrens, numerous chemicals are being added to "adapt" the soil to grow this hybrid species. Applying chemical pesticides to rid the soils of any traces of native vegetation further reduces the sustainbility of the ecosystem.
Additionally, infrastructure questions need to be addressed when dealing with forestry. If there is to be logging done, that will mean heavy logging trucks which will need proper roads to accomodate. Are the roads around this site even close to adequate for the tonnage expected if logs are supposed to be harvested?
One concept which I'd really like to see, and one which I'd like to eventually research in my lifetime is the use of agro-forestry. Agro-forestry theories abound, but one which might apply to the Pine Barrens would be to mix a blueberry farm with cedar trees. You would be able to do this near a body of water so that the crops would be close and the cedar would prosper on the borders.
There are also sustainable methods for harvesting, which are NOT clear cutting! Stand management, or the cycling of trees in age groups, allows for selective harvesting. Proper methods can be devised so that soils are not disrupted by heavy machinery during harvesting time. I'm interested to see what methods the Lee Brothers will be using when harvest time comes. By the looks of their initial efforts and chemical dependencies, I'm not holding my breath for a sustainble forestry operation at their hands at the expense of the fragile Pine Barrens.
Justin
pine_mind
If you are all refferring to the plot of cleared land that I think you are talking about, then that clearing has existed since at least August of 2003!! I remember taking the "back way" from Apple Pie Hill at night and driving through a very large clearing thinking to myself "what the **** is this doing here?". I ended up exiting the clearing around Speedwell/Friendship Rd and taking it to 563. Is this what everyone is talking about?
B
BarryC
Guest
i have a 50 mile drive i do every now and then that does not run on any black top raods and does not repeat itself.It"s mostly in waharton but does cross some private property though no roads are blocked.This site was part ot the drive.I still used it last time I did it but their were signs now saying keep off though the only gate was hanging open.(I never lean, climp touch,pee on or otherwise interfere with any tree that has a sign on it.
The clear cut pissed me off but they do regrow and in a few years make excellent snake habitatbut now that youse have told me that their permanently changing the land I"m really upset.Not many snakes in a tree plantation.I say once the trees or old enough to hold a flame wouldn"t it be ashame if a wild fire came by and killed all the foreigners and set succession back to a pitch pine/blackjack forest once again?
The clear cut pissed me off but they do regrow and in a few years make excellent snake habitatbut now that youse have told me that their permanently changing the land I"m really upset.Not many snakes in a tree plantation.I say once the trees or old enough to hold a flame wouldn"t it be ashame if a wild fire came by and killed all the foreigners and set succession back to a pitch pine/blackjack forest once again?
B
BarryC
Guest
Hey, good thinking! :wink:
manumuskin said:I say once the trees or old enough to hold a flame wouldn"t it be ashame if a wild fire came by and killed all the foreigners and set succession back to a pitch pine/blackjack forest once again?