A little more than 7 years. It was 3 trips before me as I started on trip 15 (High Plains Drifting).
12.) Oct 2001: “Lebanon Crossing” (8.5)
Guy
Development in Mt Misery??
- Thread starter Teegate
- Start date
A little more than 7 years. It was 3 trips before me as I started on trip 15 (High Plains Drifting).
12.) Oct 2001: “Lebanon Crossing” (8.5)
Guy
I've heard that there were plots laid out that a person could reserve to cut your own firewood. Could this be one of those areas?
Back in the early 80s I did that at Batsto with the man I worked for. They just put markers on trees and you had to cut in that particular area. Maybe back in the 40s they cut roads and told you what section to cut in. You could be correct. We need to find someone who knows the answer to this. With Chris Bethmann retired I doubt we will.
Guy
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 test plots have been laid out over the years. Whether or not these lines are related to forestry, there is a little-known Pine Barrens story to be told about the subject.
During the 1950s and ‘60s there was a quiet plan to burn off oaks to encourage pitch-pine growth. Although foresters like Elbert Little and Silas Little claimed studies were to intended develop better timber resources, the actual purpose I am told was to manipulate Pine Barrens groundwater resources for the hydrologists. Their true goal was to increase groundwater recharge. It was thought that pines were thriftier consumers of water resources than broadleafed trees, although ironically new studies seem to indicate the opposite is true. Pines may be thirstier than oaks after all! Planners were already anticipating the day when the public would tap Pinelands groundwater resources to support urbanization outside the Pine region.
Now everyone simply puts straws along the Reserve’s perimeter and sucks hard, draining its lifeblood from the margins. This reminds me of the 2007 movie There Will Be Blood, wherein a crafty oil baron simply extracts neighboring parcels of their oil negating any need to buy adjacent property rights. According to an NJDEP study, “A comparison of the water supply and existing water demand estimates indicates that both the Great Egg Harbor River and Mullica River watersheds are already overdrawn” (2003: Status of the Water Supply of Southeastern New Jersey: Executive Summary, draft, September 2003. Land Use Management, Division of Watershed Management, Trenton, NJ. 18 pp.).
S-M
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 test plots have been laid out over the years. Whether or not these lines are related to forestry, there is a little-known Pine Barrens story to be told about the subject.
During the 1950s and ‘60s there was a quiet plan to burn off oaks to encourage pitch-pine growth. Although foresters like Elbert Little and Silas Little claimed studies were to intended develop better timber resources, the actual purpose I am told was to manipulate Pine Barrens groundwater resources for the hydrologists. Their true goal was to increase groundwater recharge. It was thought that pines were thriftier consumers of water resources than broadleafed trees, although ironically new studies seem to indicate the opposite is true. Pines may be thirstier than oaks after all! Planners were already anticipating the day when the public would tap Pinelands groundwater resources to support urbanization outside the Pine region.
Now everyone simply puts straws along the Reserve’s perimeter and sucks hard, draining its lifeblood from the margins. This reminds me of the 2007 movie There Will Be Blood, wherein a crafty oil baron simply extracts neighboring parcels of their oil negating any need to buy adjacent property rights. According to an NJDEP study, “A comparison of the water supply and existing water demand estimates indicates that both the Great Egg Harbor River and Mullica River watersheds are already overdrawn” (2003: Status of the Water Supply of Southeastern New Jersey: Executive Summary, draft, September 2003. Land Use Management, Division of Watershed Management, Trenton, NJ. 18 pp.).
S-M
Thanks for the great information. The state also did studies of natural revegetation of land that had been cleared in this area (Mt Misery). These studies were done on land that at one time was orchards. I thought this area was part of that but the grid pattern was visible decades earlier. The studies were done in the early fifties on several acres. One detail I do remember reading was that the grid lines were twenty meters apart. I hope this small fact might help in solving the mystery.
Just checked and the grid lines on the 24k topo form rectangles that are about 100 meters x 200 meters (more or less - a 24k topo is not precise enough to measure to the nearest meter). That's sort of an "interesting" size however...
Hey Guy,
I used to frequently pass through that area when I lived out that way. I never noticed the symmetry of the "trails" as you have noticed on the aerial photos but I remember thinking the area was atypical and disturbed. On your next trip out there look for something out of the ordinary. I can't remember what now. Perhaps a high number of white pine. there might be one of those strange green metal boxes out there also (the ones found elsewhere in the area).
I once almost had a head on collision while on my motorcycle back in there with a guy in an old compact car filled (completely jammed) with blueberry bushes. That area, especially to the north has been host to a # of forestry projects. Many nurseries. Many of which have occured since the C.C.C. camps were in effect. I think there have been some plausible explanations given here, but I think the answer is on the ground, not from the air.
Jeff
I used to frequently pass through that area when I lived out that way. I never noticed the symmetry of the "trails" as you have noticed on the aerial photos but I remember thinking the area was atypical and disturbed. On your next trip out there look for something out of the ordinary. I can't remember what now. Perhaps a high number of white pine. there might be one of those strange green metal boxes out there also (the ones found elsewhere in the area).
I once almost had a head on collision while on my motorcycle back in there with a guy in an old compact car filled (completely jammed) with blueberry bushes. That area, especially to the north has been host to a # of forestry projects. Many nurseries. Many of which have occured since the C.C.C. camps were in effect. I think there have been some plausible explanations given here, but I think the answer is on the ground, not from the air.
Jeff
This is weird. On Bing maps some of the "roads" are straight lines of trees:
http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=39...50188840705775&lvl=17&dir=0&sty=h&form=LMLTCC
I think I'm going to have to change my answer to "forestry experiment."
http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=39...50188840705775&lvl=17&dir=0&sty=h&form=LMLTCC
I think I'm going to have to change my answer to "forestry experiment."
100 x 200 meters sounds like a measurement that came from the mind of a scientist instead of a real estate developer. 
Well, we now have the answer courtesy of Ted Gordon. We were all clueless. I think you all will be interested in this info.
Ted writes:
Hi Guy,
The grid pattern shows the late Dr. Silas Little prescribed-burning test plots in Lebanon State Forest. His experimental work on fighting fire with fire became the basis of how to attack potential wildfire in the Pines.
Si was a good friend and mentor who lived on Creek Road in Moorestown. He had his office at the experimental station on New Lisbon Rd. near 4-Mile Circle, presently manned by Rutgers' staff.
Cheers,
Ted
Ted writes:
Hi Guy,
The grid pattern shows the late Dr. Silas Little prescribed-burning test plots in Lebanon State Forest. His experimental work on fighting fire with fire became the basis of how to attack potential wildfire in the Pines.
Si was a good friend and mentor who lived on Creek Road in Moorestown. He had his office at the experimental station on New Lisbon Rd. near 4-Mile Circle, presently manned by Rutgers' staff.
Cheers,
Ted
This forum is a great source for obscure information.
I assume this is the tower in the PDF file. I don't think there is one out where the grid is but I may be wrong.
http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=qn...67536&dir=4.089272701512495&sty=b&form=LMLTCC
Guy
http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=qn...67536&dir=4.089272701512495&sty=b&form=LMLTCC
Guy