Brendan T. Byrne State Forest
Encyclopedia
Burlington County, New Jersey
There were 154,371 households out of which 34.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.70% were married couples living together, 10.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.70% were non-families. 22.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.50% had...
and Ocean
Ocean County, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 510,916 people, 200,402 households, and 137,876 families residing in the county. The population density was 803 people per square mile . There were 248,711 housing units at an average density of 151/km²...
Counties, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
.
Description
The Brendan T. Byrne State Forest is the state's second largest state forest (after Wharton State ForestWharton State Forest
Wharton State Forest is a state park in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The largest single tract of land in the state park system of New Jersey, it encompasses approximately of the Pinelands northwest of Hammonton, in Burlington, Camden, and Atlantic counties. The entire park is located within ...
). There are 25 miles (40.2 km) of hiking trails and a camping area. The park is operated and maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry
New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry
The New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry is responsible for the management and operation of New Jersey's 42 parks, 11 forests and 3 recreation areas, as well as for the more than 50 historic sites and districts...
.
The forest lies within the Atlantic coastal pine barrens
Atlantic coastal pine barrens
The Atlantic coastal pine barrens is a temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of the northeastern United States.-Setting:This ecoregion covers a disjunct area of 8,975 km² including the New Jersey Pine Barrens on the coastal plain of New Jersey, and smaller areas of southern Long Island in New...
ecoregion
Ecoregion
An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...
. It includes the 735 acres (3 km²) Cedar Swamp Natural Area: with upland pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
-oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
forest, oak-pine forest, pitch pine
Pitch Pine
The Pitch Pine, Pinus rigida, is a small-to-medium sized pine, native to eastern North America. This species occasionally hybridizes with other pine species such as Loblolly Pine , Shortleaf Pine , and Pond Pine The Pitch Pine, Pinus rigida, is a small-to-medium sized (6-30 meters or 20-100 feet)...
lowland forest, and Atlantic white cedar swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
forest plant communities. The Natural Area protects habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
of the threatened Swamp pink and other endangered plant species.
Trails
The Mount Misery Trail is a multi-use trail and allows mountain biking. The Cranberry Trail is wheelchair-accessible. The Batona TrailBatona Trail
The Batona Trail is a hiking trail through New Jersey's Pine Barrens. The trail is the fourth longest in the state behind the Delaware and Raritan Canal Trail, the section of the Appalachian Trail within the state, and the completed section of the Highlands Trail in the state. The trail begins...
, designed for hiking
Hiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
, cross country skiing, and snowshoe
Snowshoe
A snowshoe is footwear for walking over the snow. Snowshoes work by distributing the weight of the person over a larger area so that the person's foot does not sink completely into the snow, a quality called "flotation"....
ing, is almost 50 miles (80 km) in length; it links the Brendan T. Byrne, Wharton, and Bass River State Forest
Bass River State Forest
Bass River State Forest is a 23,563-acre state park in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. The park, named for the Bass River which crosses through it, shelters a portion of the environmentally sensitive Pine Barrens but also provides a variety of recreational resources to vistiors...
s. There is a loop trail of about two miles (3.2 km), starting at the forest office, and a one-mile (1.6 km) loop at Pakim Pond. By combining different trails with the Batona Trail, loops of 6 miles (9.6 km) and 14 miles (23 km) provide day hikes.
Blueberry history
The forest also contains Whitesbog Village, an historic company townCompany town
A company town is a town or city in which much or all real estate, buildings , utilities, hospitals, small businesses such as grocery stores and gas stations, and other necessities or luxuries of life within its borders are owned by a single company...
, founded in the 1870s by Joseph J. White which was once one of the largest cranberry
Cranberry
Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus Oxycoccus of the genus Vaccinium. In some methods of classification, Oxycoccus is regarded as a genus in its own right...
and blueberry
Blueberry
Blueberries are flowering plants of the genus Vaccinium with dark-blue berries and are perennial...
farms in the state, active through the mid-20th century. The cultivated blueberry, a hybrid of the native
Native plant
Native plant is a term to describe plants endemic or naturalized to a given area in geologic time.This includes plants that have developed, occur naturally, or existed for many years in an area...
Vaccinium caesariense
Vaccinium caesariense
Vaccinium caesariense, New Jersey Blueberry, is native to the Eastern United States. It is a species in the genus Vaccinium, which includes blueberries, cranberries, huckleberry, and bilberries, all flowering plants or angiosperms.-Range:...
, was developed and commercialized here by Elizabeth Coleman White
Elizabeth Coleman White
Elizabeth Coleman White was a New Jersey agricultural specialist who collaborated with Frank Coville to develop and commercialize a cultivated blueberry. -Biography:...
and Frank Coville
Frederick Vernon Coville
Frederick Vernon Coville was an American botanist who careered in the United States Department of Agriculture , where he became Chief Botanist, and was the first director of the United States National Arboretum...
. The now silent Whitesbog Village exemplifies the changes in agriculture in this state. The site is presently leased to the nonprofit Whitesbog Preservation Trust for restoration.