Author Topic: Borgs Woods  (Read 109389 times)

Offline just watching

  • Long-time poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 928
  • Karma: -25
    • View Profile
Re: Borgs Woods
« Reply #90 on: November 01, 2011, 03:29:14 PM »
Storm Damage Report - Borg's Woods.

This rare October snowstorm was extremely selective in what size and species trees were killed.  Only trees between 8" and 18" diameter were lost.  None were large trees or old growth trees, and no trees smaller than 6" diameter were killed. The total count = 9 trees were killed, and countless major limbs down everywhere.

The losses were primarily in the wetland areas where certain trees species were hit hard. Areas along Coles Brook, especially Silver Maples, were very hard hit. 

The stepping stone trail crossing over Coles Brook to Washington Ave, Maywood, is out indefinitely, possibly for years, due to a downed Mulberry with many vines and stickers all over it.  There is no impact to the water flow, but the trail crossing is ruined on the woods side.

Most of the Mulberry (an invasive) in Borg's Woods were lost.  One mulberry fell directly over Fairmount Ave. Another Mulberry, the only one in the middle of the woods, fell directly over the deepest part of the vernal pool.  Nearby a Pin Oak trunk snapped and also fell directly over the deepest water.  The vernal pool has lost some aesthetic appeal, at least temporarily.

Trails are blocked in many spots by major limbs.  A huge amount of major limbs were sheared off trees all around the vernal pool.  Now I know why the vernal pool is open and not forested --- this must happen every few decades.

The damage actually looks worse than it really is, since only 9 trees died, and all were small ones.  Beech have very springy branches and they faired well.  Ash and Cottonwood were not affected at all because they already lost their leaves.  Hardest hit were Red Maple, Mulberry, and Sweetgum.

As always, the recommendation is to clear the trails of fallen trees or limbs, but otherwise leave everything in place.This is a natural event. Also there are large limbs in the creek that drains out of the vernal pool, potentially blocking the water flow. No, Mr. Jerlinski didn't throw them there. It happened naturally. I suppose it would be OK to pull them out.

Offline Editor

  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 4430
  • Karma: 17
    • View Profile
    • Hackensack Now
Re: Borgs Woods
« Reply #91 on: February 10, 2012, 11:08:56 AM »
Warm weather could aid coyote comeback in Hackensack
Last updated: Friday February 10, 2012, 1:24 AM
BY MARK J. BONAMO
MANAGING EDITOR
Hackensack Chronicle

The warm temperatures that hovered around 60 degrees last week might have brought city residents out of their homes. But this year’s relatively mild winter might also be a boon to some of Hackensack’s four-legged denizens: the coyote population.

Residents who live near the Borg’s Woods nature preserve in the northwest corner of the city were alarmed last summer by a noticeable rise in coyote sightings. The coyote comeback is part of a statewide influx attributed in part to stricter hunting laws and the removal of the animals’ natural habitats by development.

The overall warmer pattern in the weather could also boost the coyote population in Hackensack.

After a brutal 2011 winter, this year has seen unseasonably mild temperatures. According to state climatologists, the average temperature last month was 35.1 degrees — approximately four degrees above the average for all Januarys over the past 30 years. A temporary change in the position of the jet stream in recent weeks has contributed to the past 12 months being all above average temperature, ranking as the third warmest of any consecutive 12-month period since 1895, according to climatologists.

Capt. Bill Sheehan, head of the Hackensack Riverkeeper environmental advocacy group, noted that the warmer temperatures should enhance the coyote population’s chances of continued expansion.

"In weather like this, coyotes don’t have to hunker down so much," Sheehan said. "It gives them more opportunity to hunt, and probably to mate. All the mice and other small critters that coyotes eat that would usually be hibernating are also out there running around."

Sheehan, however, pointed out that although nature seems to be stepping outside its normal weather boundaries lately, it also corrects itself.

"There might be a minor explosion in the coyote population, but nature will level that very quickly," Sheehan said. "When there is an overpopulation of any animal within a confined environment, including one like Borg’s Woods, it happens. When there was a boom in the fox population in Overpeck Park, mange set in. Mange is one of nature’s diseases that corrects the course of overpopulation."

Sheehan warned that the effect of dramatic shifts in the weather could continue to have a significant impact on humans and coyotes alike in the years ahead.

"Last year, we were dealing with flooding issues up and down the Hackensack and Passaic rivers. This year, we may be talking about not enough water to go around," Sheehan said. "This is all an indication that the climate is changing. It’s not just happening here in Bergen County. It’s not just happening in Hackensack. It’s happening all over the world."

Email: bonamo@northjersey.com

Offline Editor

  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 4430
  • Karma: 17
    • View Profile
    • Hackensack Now
Re: Borgs Woods/Coyotes
« Reply #92 on: December 16, 2012, 09:42:14 PM »
Coyote advocate defends the predator's presence in suburbia
Sunday December 16, 2012, 8:33 PM
BY  LINDA MOSS
STAFF WRITER
The Record


MAYWOOD — Frank Vincenti pleaded the case in defense of coyotes Sunday, but not everyone in his audience was buying it.
MITSU YASUKAWA / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Frank Vincent discusses coyotes at the Maywood Public Library.

Vincenti, founder of the non-profit Wild Dog Foundation, is a strong advocate for predators such as coyotes all over the United States, including New Jersey. He credited coyotes with being intelligent and “highly adaptable,” able to survive and thrive in suburban and urban environments, such as the Bronx and Queens.

Vincenti had just begun his talk on “The Coyotes Problem” at the Maywood Public Library when a borough resident interrupted him. She complained about the host of coyotes that she said are on her land 24 hours a day.

“I’m used to seeing a lot of baby coyotes, but now I saw one the other day, maybe two days ago, that was as big as a mountain lion,” said the woman, who declined to identify herself. “I don’t live in New Mexico. I pay over $12,000 a year in taxes in Maywood. I think I can sit out on my patio in peace, without encouraging people [about] how to live with coyotes.”

“Well, that’s certainly your right,” said Vincenti, who volunteered to visit the women’s property once he finished his lecture. “Let me at least garner some understanding for them. I’m not looking to win everybody over, because I know that’s impossible.”

Last year, residents voiced concern about the coyotes that were then inhabiting the Borg’s Woods nature preserve in Hackensack. The residents were fearful of the coyotes, and claimed that they were preying on local fauna such as squirrels. Vincenti was involved with residents on the issue, and coyotes are no longer “denning” in that area.

“Rest assured, they’re not in Borg’s Woods anymore,” Vincenti said, but he added that they may have just moved to neighboring towns such as Maywood.

Vincenti started the Mineola, N.Y.-based Wild Dogs education foundation, and for the past two decades has lectured about coyotes. He offers his assistance to towns that are trying to find ways to co-exist with the wild animals.

Coyotes don’t’ just reside in the Southwest, or Hackensack and Maywood for that matter. Vincenti said they now have found homes as far north as Alaska and as far south as Panama, as well as Bergen County. In the audience of roughly 30, people told Vincenti that they had seen coyotes in not only Maywood and Hackensack but towns such as Saddle Brook and Rochelle Park.

There are about 3,000 coyotes in the Garden State, Vincenti said, citing figures from the state.

“New Jersey has a healthy coyote population,” he said.

The way to deal with pesky coyotes is to confront them when you see them, without fear, according to Vincenti. Coyotes are really scaredy-cats who will learn to stay away if you intimidate them, Vincenti said.

“Coyotes are really innately fearful of humans: You can reinforce that,” he added. “They’re really easily frightened.”

He also portrayed coyotes as natural exterminators for vermin, adding that they don’t like human trash, the way a raccoon or bear does. Up to half of their diet are small rodents called voles, as they also like to feast on other pests.

“Coyotes are attracted to the rat population,” Vincenti said.

As for their sometimes chilling howling, it isn’t aimed at human ears, Vincenti said. It’s meant for their fellow coyotes, to mark their territory.

“Coyotes are highly vocal,” he said. “Howling has nothing to do with us.”

Vincenti’s slide show included a picture of Wile E. Coyote, the Warner Bros. cartoon that immortalized the lean wolf-like creatures.

“Warner Bros, really nailed the coyote perfectly,” Vincenti, referring to the animal’s tenacity and adaptability.

“I always was a fan of Wile E.,” he said. “I hated the Road Runner.”

Email: moss@northjersey.com

Offline Editor

  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 4430
  • Karma: 17
    • View Profile
    • Hackensack Now
Re: Borgs Woods
« Reply #93 on: March 03, 2013, 06:37:44 PM »
I received this email today:

****** ACTION ALERT ******

EVERYONE WHO HAS CONTACTS WITH BERGEN COUNTY OFFICIALS NEEDS TO VOICE THEIR CONCERN TO STOP THIS DISASTER

I was astonished and horrified today to see that the Bergen County Parks has begun cutting down mature old-growth trees, some hundreds of years old, along the Main Trail in Borg's Woods.  They started at the south entrance, Byrne Street.  First cut was a perfectly healthy immature Red Oak that was slightly leaning towards Byrne Street. Then a mature Beech was cut, presumably because it was hollow at the base. 4 other trees have been marked with foot-high numbers, in yellow spray paint, to indicate that they are to be cut. They were also ringed with orange tape.  One of the trees marked to be cut is one of the largest trees in Borg's Woods, an immense Tuliptree about 11 feet in circumference, because it is slightly leaning and has some dead upper branches.

This is a NATURE PRESERVE.  This is an OLD-GROWTH FOREST.  If they continue this work, and keep going all the way to Fairmount Ave, there will be essentially nothing left of Borg's Woods. 3/4 of the mature trees in Borg's Woods are either leaning slightly, they have some dead upper branches, or they are hollow at the base. 

Of note:  Not yet cut is the one of landmark trees in Borg's Woods, the leaning Sycamore, which is located where the main path crosses the stream. It's been leaning like that since at least the 1950's, and it has survived all the storms. There are only 4 Sycamore in the entire woods.

I would imagine that the County was alarmed because 14 mature trees, out of hundreds, uprooted or split during Hurricane Sandy.  And now they think they need to "manage" how nature decides which trees dies and when they die.  The old standing trees are also part of the ecosystem; the old limbs can be hollowed out for nests, and woodpeckers need them as a food source.

What we don't know is how Borg's Woods will change and evolve over the decades.  I have maintained tree census since 1987, and despite severe the storm losses in 2010, 2011, and 2012, there are now many more trees over 8 feet in circumference, and over 10 feet in circumference, than in 1987. This indicates that tree growth is outpacing tree mortality. I don't know if this will continue into the future.

Borg's Woods in Hackensack and Beechwood Park (Harrington Park) are the oldest woodlands in Bergen County.  There are no older woodlands in Bergen County or the State of New Jersey; therefore there are no other examples or models to look at to predict the future of Borg's Woods.  We just don't know if most of the mature trees will blow down over the next 30 or 40 years, if a few will become incredibly large, or as I suspect that the woods will be filled with more and more fallen logs even as tree growth outpaces tree mortality. We don't know if Hurricane Sandy was a rare event that won't happen again for 100 years, or if there will be another one this year.  That's the point of Borg's Woods, that is why it is valuable. It has been preserved as an old-growth forest, and we will see how it changes, grows, and develops over time.  The County Parks Department cannot be allowed to micromanage the woods with selective cutting.  If they want to cut something, they should go after the invasives.

- Eric Martindale
  Coordinator of the Borg's Woods Preservation Coaliton, 1986 - 1995

Offline just watching

  • Long-time poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 928
  • Karma: -25
    • View Profile
Re: Borgs Woods
« Reply #94 on: March 04, 2013, 04:23:06 AM »
Word has reached me that the County was over-reacting to the hysterical concerns of a homeowner about an old-growth Beech tree leaning towards her house. 

Instead of cutting that ONE tree, the County has instead decided to wipe out a much larger area, basically every tree that would reach her yard if it fell in that direction.  And other trees even further away.  The trees cut are old-growth Beech over 200 years old, and the one leaning towards her house has been doing that since before her house was built.

The Tuliptree spray-painted "5" is 150' deep into the woods, and probably close to 200' from her house.  Sure, it's old and a little sick and the crown has diminished over the years by small branches dying, but it survived Sandy.  When it's ready, it will fall. We don't need the County helping that along.

To see the trees that were cut, go onto this website's INFORMATION RESOURCES page, and Click on the Borg's Woods Page.  In the upper right area is "Landmarks of Borg's Woods".  The first picture is the entrance trees at Byrne Street, and the second picture is the Tuliptree "5" scheduled to be cut.

http://www.hackensacknow.org/Borgslandmarks.html

Offline njurbanforest

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 9
  • Karma: 0
    • View Profile
Re: Borgs Woods
« Reply #95 on: March 07, 2013, 10:00:31 PM »
This is sad news. I need to pay a visit to the preserve (my last visit was in 2011)