Over 50 volunteers planted almost 500 native flowers, grasses, shrubs and trees in the field at Hopewell Borough Park on Saturday morning.
Members of several organizations in the Sourland region pitched in to support the local ecosystem, including Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, National Honor Society members, Hillsborough High School students, CHS Hiking Club members, Sourland Conservancy members. Volunteers dug deep into the dry Sourland soil to help provide food and shelter for a small, strange bird that most locals have never seen—the American Woodcock.
Caroline Katmann, Sourland Conservancy executive director who was on hand to help with the planting, thanked volunteers for their hard work and noted how this project began with the seed of an idea.
Sourland Conservancy Trustee Roger Thorpe was walking in the park fields with his wife, Clair, when he noticed autumn olive shrubs overtaking the former farm fields. As a D&R Greenway volunteer, he has worked to remove autumn olives from several Sourland preserves. He expressed an interest in removing the park’s invasive shrubs to his friend, Hopewell resident and Mercer County naturalist, Jenn Rogers. That portion of the park, formerly known as the “Ruhland Tract,” is owned and managed by the Mercer County Park Commission.
Jenn and Roger met with Laurie Cleveland, of the Sourland Conservancy, and Michael Van Clef, of Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space, to discuss possible solutions to the autumn olive problem, and the American Woodcock Habitat Restoration Project was born.
“Rather than try to recreate a system that another organization already has in place, we chose to combine our strengths in partnership,” Rogers said. “We all work really well together, and we’re all learning a lot. This has been a great experience.”
Rogers contacted U.S. Fish and Wildlife for guidance on the project. “They were very interested in our idea. American Woodcock numbers have been steadily declining since the 1970’s primarily due to loss of habitat.”
The government agency provided 300 native plants this fall: bayberry, buttonbush, red cedar, black chokeberry, silky dogwood, elderberry, oak chestnut, northern red oak, white pine, spicebush, sycamore and arrow wood viburnum. They will donate more in the spring.
Katmann worked with Rogers to apply for a New Jersey Conservation Foundation grant to help offset the cost for tools, supplies and 200 additional plants for the project. They were awarded a Franklin Parker Conservation Excellence grant. Throughout the summer, the Conservancy led volunteer teams to cut invasive autumn olive, Callery pear and Toringo crabapple and Japanese honeysuckle. Volunteers logged over 2,800 hours.
“Kudos to Laurie Cleveland, Jenn Rogers, Roger Thorpe and Mike Van Clef for the excellent organization and execution of this endeavor,” Katmann said.
The American Woodcock Habitat Restoration Project is sponsored by the Sourland Conservancy, Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space and the Mercer County Park Commission.
For more information about the project, visit sourland.org.
Volunteers planted 500 native flowers, grasses, shrubs and trees in Hopewell Borough Park in conjunction with the American Woodcock Habitat Restoration Project. (Photo by Laurie Cleveland),
