Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Conservancy plants native species, removes invasive plants from Essex County preserve.
Local volunteers kicked off a project to restore several acres of woodland at the Essex County Hilltop Reservation earlier this month. Led by the Hilltop Conservancy, the group planted, mulched and fenced 10 deer exclosures and removed thousands of invasive wineberry and privet plants, according to Theresa Trapp, treasurer of the conservancy. These projects, Trapp explained, are part of a master plan to regenerate seven acres of the forest understory at the reservation, which straddles North Caldwell, Verona and Cedar Grove. In early April, native plants — such as redbud, serviceberry, arrowwood and summersweet — were planted and then protected from deer with eight-foot fencing. The conservancy also spread tons of wood chips from recent …
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Hilltop Conservancy Treasurer Theresa Trapp pens Patch Letter to the Editor on deer control.
- OPINION
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Tuesday, March 19
Anti-culling activists insist there are economical and effective non-lethal alternatives to control local deer populations. A previous letter explored the high cost ($3,000+ per deer) and low effectiveness of immuno-contraceptives like GonaCon. Surgical sterilization (either tubal ligation or ovariectomy) would be less expensive (~$1,800 per deer) and far more effective – however, given New Jersey’s current regulations, neither method is operationally feasible. Under statute N.J.S.A. 23:4-42.4, a municipality wishing to conduct any kind of deer management program must first obtain a community-based deer management program permit from the DEP. Imbedded in this statute’s language is the requirement for prior written consent from surrounding …
Monday, January 21, 2013
Do you think the county should continue the annual hunt?
Let the hunt begin. The sixth year of Essex County's deer management program begins Tuesday. The hunt will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays until Feb. 7. Hunting will take place at South Mountain Reservation in South Orange on Tuesday and Thursday, and Jan. 29 in the afternoon only. In addition, hunters will be allowed to track trails in the Hilltop Reservation and the old Essex County Hospital Center site in North Caldwell in the mornings and afternoons on Jan 31, as well as on Feb. 5 and 7. The hunt has been scaled back this year. The program has been reduced from 24 hunting sessions in 12 days in 2012 to nine sessions in six days this year. Open/Closed During the deer hunt, the reservations and Fairview Avenue in Cedar Grove will …
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Essex County scales back deer management program.
The sixth year of Essex County's deer management program—slated to begin Jan. 22—has been scaled back from previous years, County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. said Tuesday. The program has been reduced from last year's 24 hunting sessions in 12 days to nine sessions in six days. It will run from Jan. 22 to Feb. 7 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Also this year, there will be no hunting in Eagle Rock Reservation. "This program, in my mind, is more of a maintenance program each and every year just to maintain what we have," DiVincenzo said. "The numbers speak for themselves." On county roadways, the number of deer carcases removed last year was down to 201, from 363 in 2011. North Caldwell Borough Administrator Mel Levine said although the …
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
The letter writers represent Hilltop and South Mountain reservations in Essex County.
- OPINION
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Tuesday, September 11, 2012
The South Mountain and Hilltop Conservancies are mobilizing a petition drive for supporters of the Hilltop, South Mountain and Eagle Rock Reservations to counter a possible end to the County's deer management program. After several years of culling deer densities in our area have been reduced somewhat, but are nowhere near the 10-per-square-mile number needed to allow the forests and their ecosystems to regenerate. We believe that stopping the culling, even for a year, is extremely ill-advised. With no natural predators in our area (wolves, mountain lions, black bears), deer populations will continue to expand unless the County actively reduces the herds. We've set up an online petition for voting-age residents to tell Essex County …
Thursday, August 23, 2012
3rd Annual Hilltop Grasshopper Kids Bike Race attracted dozens of riders to North Caldwell Saturday.
- SPORTS
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Thursday, August 23, 2012
The Hilltop Reservation in North Caldwell was once again the site of the annual Hilltop Grasshopper Kids Bike Race on Saturday. Racers from kindergarten through 8th grade blazed through the dedicated Kid's Korse, a challenging track designed for youth racing and general use throughout the year. Mountain bikers and their families came from all over New Jersey, as well as New York and Pennsylvania, to compete for medals and bragging rights in the third annual event. The day started with a light rain, but by the beginning of the first race for K-1st grade riders, the skies were clearing and racers were smiling. Seven-year-old Jason of Warren finished first in the kindergarten through first grade category, racing once around the 0.6 mile …
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Outdoorsman’s Eagle project may help bats fight white nose syndrome.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
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Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Kevin Stocker, son of West Caldwell residents Robert and Colleen Stocker, and member of Boy Scout Troop 6, Caldwell, has achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. His achievement was recognized on both Sunday, July 17, at a Court of Honor Ceremony at Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Church, Roseland, and on Jan. 16, at the Caldwell-West Caldwell Board of Education meeting. More than 150 people, including Troop 6 scouts, friends, family, clergy and more, attended the ceremony, led by Scoutmaster Stan Rogacki. Stocker attained the Eagle Scout rank by fulfilling the requirements in areas of leadership, community service, outdoor skills, and more, including the advancement through the ranks of Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star Scout, Life …
Saturday, February 4, 2012
As the annual deer management program reaches the midway point, we'd like to know your thoughts.
Essex County is midway through its annual winter deer hunt that started on Jan. 17 in the hopes of curbing the whitetail deer population. Since 2008, volunteer sharpshooters have stationed themselves at platforms in county reservations to cull deer. Last year, the county reported that the efforts had curbed 1,089 deer since the program's beginning. In 2010, the deer hunt spread to three reservations - South Mountain, Eagle Rock and Hilltop. In addition, the county has installed traffic deflectors and started replanting the undergrowth in some of the reservations as additional methods to curb deer. This year's hunt will finish on Feb. 23. Even after four years, some people object to the hunt and say it's inhumane and ineffective. We'd like …
Essex Hiker
10:21 am on Tuesday, February 5, 2013
We now have 50% more deer in New Jersey than we had before European settlement, even with 8 million more inhabitants. So development (all those nice homes with their juicy landscaping) hasn't had the negative impact on deer population that some might think. Development has, however, removed deer's natural predators (mountain lions, wolves). Up until the 1970's, subsistence and recreational … more ›