Rye Strips, or Letters in the Pines

[Ben Ruset]

I emailed the F&W commission for more information about the Rye Strips and oddly shaped letters in the Pines:

Hello:

My name is Ben Ruset - I run the website www.NJPineBarrens.com, which is a community based site dealing with the New Jersey Pine Barrens.

One of the most often asked questions I get from people is what are the "letter shaped" clearings that often show up in satellite photographs of WMAs in the Pine Barrens (Greenwood WMA, for example.)

I have done some research and have heard them called "rye strips" - presumably cleared and planted by the state to provide a place for deer to congregate and eat, and for hunters to be able to hunt deer that go there.

I'd like to be able to post an "official" answer from someone at the F&W as to what these places are, what they are officially called, etc.

Any help is appreciated!

Yours,
Ben Ruset

Their response:

I've learned that the fields were developed as part of a wildlife habitat improvement project in the period 1969-79 after a major wildfire burned through the area killing most of the trees in 1963. The fields were designed to maximize edge habitat and create more wildlife diversity. Randomly selected letter designs help us evaluate which projects created more wildlife habitat. PT

 

[BEHR655]

Hmmm.......I wonder which letter the deer prefer. I didn't even know they could read.

Steve