High Plains Drifting

[manumuskin]

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 predates widespread charcoal manufacture.

At Willowwood Arboretum, Gladstone, NJ, is a pygmy pine taken from the Pine Plains over 50 years ago. Botanist Dr. Benjamin Blackburn collected the specimen, if I remember correctly. He was the author of Trees and Shrubs in Eastern North America (1952). This tree is directly behind the park office, and is about half the height of a normal pitch pine. On dunes, pitch pines also seem to grow about half their customary height and tend to keep lower branches.

Figure: Typical South Jersey “barrens” in the Millville area, Engle, C.C., Lee, L.L., and Miller, H.A., 1921: Soil Survey of the Millville Area, New Jersey. Geologic Series Bulletin 22, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC. 46 pp.

i assure you there is nothing anywhere near millville that looks like that today except maybe some clearcuts for aBOUT 10 YEARS THAT IMMEDIATELY GROW BACK UP.
Al

 

[dragoncjo]

Yeah Al, I spent about 4-5 years hiking cumberland county alone and would love to see something like that. I feel like I'm driving up Oswego Road toward the gun club off Allen's road when I see that. Looks just like the pine barrens proper. Can someone drop a cigarette in the cumberland county pines one day on a dry summer day.

 

[bobpbx]

Yeah Al, I spent about 4-5 years hiking cumberland county alone and would love to see something like that. I feel like I'm driving up Oswego Road toward the gun club off Allen's road when I see that. Looks just like the pine barrens proper. Can someone drop a cigarette in the cumberland county pines one day on a dry summer day.

I know how you feel. Its an odd thing to other people to love scrubby pines and white sandy trails, but I love 'em. Feels clean and primitive, and close to the sea.

 

[woodjin]

I know how you feel. Its an odd thing to other people to love scrubby pines and white sandy trails, but I love 'em. Feels clean and primitive, and close to the sea.

Yeah, it does feel close to the sea or ocean doesn't it. I swear when I am in the plains I always seem to expect to see the ocean just over the next rise. After all these years I still get that sensation. Being close to the ocean always gives me a sense of security...a sense of escape. I get that same feeling in the plains.

Jeff

 

[manumuskin]

Yeah, it does feel close to the sea or ocean doesn't it. I swear when I am in the plains I always seem to expect to see the ocean just over the next rise. After all these years I still get that sensation. Being close to the ocean always gives me a sense of security...a sense of escape. I get that same feeling in the plains.

Jeff

I think it gives us a comforting sense of smallness.Humility is a good thing.I like the dark closed in cedar swamps as well bt occasionally have to crawl out to see the sky.You get that same big sky feeling kayaking or hopping across the salt marshes,cumberland counties big sky country.
Al

 

[Chrisr]

Chrisr, it seems at the turn of the century much of south jersey had rattlesnakes. Obvioulsy given there reputation(not really deserved) they were killed anytime they were seen, which extirpated them from many areas. I know the area you speak of had them up till fairly recently and I'm sure one may turn up from time to time...but at one time they were a pretty common critter from what I've been able to gather. However with all the cutting of at. white cedar forests I'm sure many were killed and thus they really only are found in areas of deep wild woods now. If any of your family members ever see one down there let me know I would love to document their existence.

Dragoncjo, If I hear of one of my cousins coming across one, You bet I'll let you know. To be honest, I used to have a horrible fear of snakes. And God forbid I ever came across a rattler (which I never did)!!!! But since joining this site and educating myself about the Pines and wildlife, my fears aren't as bad of snakes anymore. However, I would still need a change of underwear should I happen to get lucky and see a Timber!!

 

[dragoncjo]

Thanks Chrisr.

Really with snakes there is nothing to fear. Most are very harmless and need to be provoked in order to bite. Don't worry about rattlesnakes, they are very elusive, very secretive and aren't found in areas of open woods. You have to be seeking them out to find them....and even then it is extremely hard to find them. Snakes have been given a bad rap in the bible, myths, legends, etc.....they are a very interesting animal. I don't expect people to like snakes, but they deserve respect as a important member of pines history and ecology.

Now I'm sorry I've totally hijacked this thread with my snake talk.

Guy/Al/Bob/Jeff, how deep is that govenor's pond?

 

[manumuskin]

Thanks Chrisr.

Really with snakes there is nothing to fear. Most are very harmless and need to be provoked in order to bite. Don't worry about rattlesnakes, they are very elusive, very secretive and aren't found in areas of open woods. You have to be seeking them out to find them....and even then it is extremely hard to find them. Snakes have been given a bad rap in the bible, myths, legends, etc.....they are a very interesting animal. I don't expect people to like snakes, but they deserve respect as a important member of pines history and ecology.

Now I'm sorry I've totally hijacked this thread with my snake talk.

Guy/Al/Bob/Jeff, how deep is that govenor's pond?

we were discussing the depth while there.we don't know but I bet it's not deep.probably not over your head

 

[bobpbx]

being close to the ocean always gives me a sense of security...a sense of escape. I get that same feeling in the plains. Jeff

exactly!

 

[Spung-Man]

time-travel!

Wow, that really just depressed the heck out of me....I wish Millville had those today, really cool picture. I would love to know were that pic was shot from.

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 dune field possibly supported true barrens vegetation (see photo below). The sparsely wooded Risley Plains (Estell Manor) and Newtonville Plains are also correspondingly symbol sparse on the 1889 map.

I’m sure these atlas sheets are available on-line. My boxed set is now in Jerseyman’s collection where they are put to rigorous use. Paul Stewart Wichansky (et al.) of Rutgers painstakingly hand-digitized Cook/Vermeule maps for land cover data used in his book chapter “Evaluating the Effects of Historical Land Cover Change on the Summertime Weather and Climate Change in New Jersey.”

The chapter was recently updated as an article in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, 2008 (113, D 10: D10107). As dear Paul acknowledged in the latter, “Finally, we humbly extend an appreciation to George H. Cook and Cornelius C. Vermeule, because without their true commitment and dedication to mapping New Jersey in the late 19th century, our land cover change project would likely have proved much more difficult, if not impossible.” They remain amazing maps.

Figure: photo of the distal portion of a Pleistocene dune field on the Union House Tract, along Route 55 just south of Sherman Avenue, Millville, NJ. Even today, the dune field’s vegetation, mature forest, is distinctly open and little understood.

 

[bobpbx]

I’m sure these atlas sheets are available on-line.

We have some, if not all of them here Mark, in the Historic Map section. Courtesy of Ben. See this one:

http://gallery.njpinebarrens.com/showphoto.php/photo/2266