The New Jersey Fall Foliage Updates

Autumn at Duke Farms, Hillsborough

Although New England gets more attention, New Jersey offers plenty of locations for great autumn colors. This past weekend, travelers throughout the Garden State could see early changes in foliage. After a dry month, the needed rain will knock down some leaves but it should be minimal.

Some areas of NJ, including Long Pond Ironworks State Park in Passaic County and the Wharton State Forest are already at mid-peak conditions. 

The NJ Forest Service's Facebook page at facebook.com/NewJerseyForests posts a weekly foliage update on Fridays.

Take in the striking foliage at Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (Skylands Region), where you can hike part of the iconic Appalachian Trail. At High Point State Park in Sussex (Skylands Region), trek to the summit of the Kittatinny Ridge for sweeping views of the Poconos, Catskills and the Wallkill River Valley. Allamuchy Mountain State Park in Stanhope (Skylands Region) offers several waterways, so you can enjoy the reflections of dazzling fall colors in their glassy surfaces.

The Invasion of the Southern Pine Beetle

The southern pine beetle (SPB), one of the most destructive forest insects in the southeastern United States, quickly devastates pine-dominated forests during outbreaks. This native bark beetle, which is smaller than a grain of rice, feeds on the living tissue under the tree’s bark and introduces blue stain fungi.

As pine dominant forests cover an estimated 440,000 acres in southern New Jersey, this beetle poses a considerable threat to our state’s forest resource. Since its re-entry into the state in 2001, SPB impacted approximately 26,600 total acres, and more than half that total occurred in 2010 alone.

Since 2001, SPB populations in New Jersey have been on the rise, destroying 1000 new acres of pine forests each year on average, but infestations remained largely confined to the southern sections of the state. 

Then, in 2008, SPB crossed the Egg Harbor River for the first time and entered the pine forests of Atlantic County, and continues to move north and west. 

 

SPB attacks all pine species including pitch, shortleaf, loblolly, and Virginia, preferring trees weakened from drought, stress, or injury. The tree crown displays the first outward sign of

infestation when it rapidly turns from a healthy green to yellow, red, and finally, brown. 

A closer inspection may reveal pitch tubes on the trunk and S-shaped galleries under the bark. The beetle also transmits blue stain fungi, which stops water from circulating in the tree.

To control populations and minimize the spread, foresters must detect and suppress infestations while the beetles still actively infest the tree. If untreated, beetles move quickly to adjacent forests. The best control option is to take down infested trees. This disrupts populations from expanding and destroys all life stages. If the infested trees cannot be sold to a sawmill, they remove the bark, buck the logs or chip the wood to kill the beetles in the trees. 

How To Report a Beetle Sighting

• Submit a Southern Pine Beetle NJ Sighting Report (PDF)
• Call the New Jersey Forest Service
  • 609-625-1124 (Southern Region)
  • 609-292-2531 (Trenton)

VIDEO: The Invasion of the Southern Pine Beetle

Download an information sheet

Forest Stewardship at Sparta Mountain WMA

Forest stewardship activities in Stand 33 on Sparta Mountain WMA will begin on or about November 27, 2018. Weather permitting, the work should take about two weeks to complete. All cutting will cease from Dec 3 - 8, 2018 and again before April 1, 2019.

Approximately 17 acres will be managed to accelerate the development of old growth forest characteristics through a process known as "gap-phase replacement". Through the creation of small canopy gaps and growth of younger cohorts of shade-tolerant trees, this stand will contain three or more age classes at any given time.

The majority of woods at Sparta Mountain WMA are mature or middle aged. These woods are quite valuable to many species, but so are old growth and young forests too. The objective is to maintain the mature forests, foster old growth forests, and create new young forests.

Specifically, about 25% of the existing tree density will be cut or girdled (left as a standing dead tree) with chainsaws or hatchets. No heavy machinery or chemicals will be used, and none of the cut trees will be removed or sold.

More information www.spartamountainfacts.nj.gov

Fracking, Forests, and Endangered Species in Nearby Pennsylvania

The Sierra Club Allegheny Group has put out an alert for concerned citizens in Pennsylvania and neighbors to contact your state representatives and senators if you are opposed to the bills HB 1576 and SB 1047.

These bills are part of the push to drill in the Marcellus Shale area. this includes county parks and state forests.

A recent NPR interview talks about our neighbors in Pennsylvania and the effect on forests due to drilling activity, new roads, and pipelines. Of particular concern is the disturbance of the rare areas of ‘core forests’ deep in the woods. Now the gas industry is seeking to remove restrictions on where they may drill in the forests.

These two bills - HB 1576 and SB 1047 - would move the responsibility of entries on the state endangered Species list from the independent biologists of Game and the Fish and Boat Commissions, to members of the legislature.

Conservationists are also concerned that the bill has a provision to allow environmental permits to be given without consideration of the impact on endangered species.