Today's Chronicle:
Clean-up in Borg's Woods debated
Friday, April 2, 2010
BY MARK J. BONAMO
Hackensack Chronicle
MANAGING EDITOR
HACKENSACK — Nature or nurture?
The question of whether to physically clear the landscape of Borg’s Woods in Hackensack following last month’s violent storm has stirred a familiar debate: should park enthusiasts support a clean-up effort following a destructive environmental event, or should nature simply be allowed to take its course?
Located just behind Summit Avenue where the municipalities of Hackensack, Maywood and Paramus come together, Borg’s Woods is named after John Borg, the grandfather of Malcolm Borg, chairman of the board for North Jersey Media Group, parent company of Hackensack Chronicle. Formerly owned by the Borg family, the 14.2 acre site, a unique old growth remnant of deciduous forest, became a part of the Bergen County park system in 1994.
During a March 13 storm that led to many downed trees and power outages throughout Bergen County, a large cluster of trees, mostly fully mature beech that were reportedly all over 200 years old, fell in the southeast corner of the park. Two trees also crashed into a house on adjacent Brook Street. Close to an acre of the park was all but leveled by the storm.
As is often the case following powerful storms in which a significant number of trees were downed, park authorities such as the Bergen County Department of Parks step in to clear the damage, work that includes chopping up large fallen trees into smaller logs.
But local environmentalists hope to thwart any such attempt at Borg’s Woods, believing that nature’s handiwork is all that is required.
"Trees blocking major trails should be cleared, but otherwise, fallen trees are characteristic of an old growth forest," said Eric Martindale, lead organizer of the former Borg’s Woods Preservation Coalition that helped transform the area into a park. "The trees aren’t blocking the trails. In addition, large fallen trees provide habitat niches for various types of wildlife."
"Any time that you bring heavy equipment into the woods, you risk creating further damage to shrubbery and wildflowers all over the area," added Martindale. "It also creates an unnecessary expense in a time of budgetary shortfall."
Raymond Dressler, acting director of the Bergen County Department of Parks, could not be reached immediately for comment. But Capt. Bill Sheehan, head of the Hackensack Riverkeeper environmental advocacy group, believed that from the storm’s damage comes needed regeneration.
"Bugs and other small critters will take care of the trees in good time, and that’s how you replenish the soil of the forest," Sheehan said. "Things die, they fall down, they biodegrade, and new things grow up. If a tree falls in the woods, it should probably stay there."
Sheehan’s Hackensack Riverkeeper colleague, development director Diane Saccoccia, concurred with his conclusion.
"That is Mother Nature cleaning house," Saccoccia said. "That is what she does."
E-mail: bonamo@northjersey.com
