Living in the Sourlands: A Guide for Responsible Stewardship
Introduction
The Sourland Mountain is a beautiful place to live, surrounded by the intricate colors of the wild landscape, birdsong, and clear streams. It is this way because people have had a relatively light touch on the landscape. It will remain this way only if we become active stewards of the rich natural heritage which surrounds us.
As the surrounding area grows and changes rapidly, the Sourlands are increasingly in jeopardy. Those of us who have chosen to make our homes in this ecologically sensitive area recognize that we have a special responsibility to preserve and protect the Sourlands, both from outside threats and through the choices we make in our own everyday lives. In the end, if we are to save the Sourlands, we must look to ourselves.
Living In the Sourlands is a print and online resource for all of us who are stewards of the Sourlands landscape. Download the entire publication here. Special thanks to our sponsors and donors!
Select one of the following sections for online and print resources, as well as PDF versions of individual chapters.
Native Plants // Invasive Plants // Wildlife // Deer Management // Water Resources // Forestry
Native Plants in the Sourlands Landscape
Native plants are beautiful, hardy and well-adapted to conditions in this region. They require less maintenance, watering and chemical care than exotic plants. Plants indigenous to New Jersey are absolutely essential to the survival of native wildlife from birds to butterflies. [Download Native_Plants]
Online Resources
Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve: bookstore, classes, walks and lectures
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Native Plant Information Network
Print Resources
Wildflowers and Native Trees, Shrubs & Vines. By William Cullina. Two books with beautifully written descriptions and photos of native plants. Excellent planting, propagation and seed collection information.
Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants. Douglas W. Tallamy. A beautifully written plan and rationale for saving our wildife by planting the native plants they co-evolved with.
Noah’s Garden: Restoring the Ecology of Our Own Backyards. By Sarah Stern
Sarah Stern reconciles gardening and ecology in by talking about her personal experiences transforming her home landscape.
Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. By L. Newcomb
A great beginner’s plant guide. If you get only one– get this one. Astonishing key system actually works to ID unknown flowers!
The Once and Future Forest: A Guide to Forest Restoration Strategies. Leslie Jones Sauer
A comprehensive and powerfully written guide to healing the eastern forest.
Sources for Native Plants:
Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve Spring and autumn native plant sale; more limited selection available during the growing season. Seeds available year-round. New Hope, PA. (215) 862-2924
D&R Greenway Native Plant Nursery Spring and autumn native plant sale of local ecotypes. Many plants are grown from seeds collected in the Sourlands. Princeton, NJ. (609) 924-4646
Pinelands Nursery. A fabulous source of New Jersey natives. Wholesale only. Columbus, NJ.
Kales Nursery and Landscaping. Ask for native plants specifically. Princeton, NJ. (609) 921-9248
Toadshade Wildflower Farm. Phone, fax, and online orders only. Frenchtown, NJ. (908) 996-7500
Invasive Plants
Invasive plants disrupt the ecological balance and diminish the natural heritage of the Sourlands. Invasive plants are from other parts of the globe and are often introduced as horticultural plantings. Many are widely planted in our gardens and landscaping—Japanese barberry and winged euonymus are two examples.
Though these plants may seem “well-behaved” in the garden, they are readily dispersed to natural areas by wind, water and wildlife, sometimes far from the original plantings. Overabundant white-tailed deer preferentially browse our native flora, giving less palatable invasive species a competitive advantage. [Download Invasive_Plants]
Online Resources
Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas
Central Jersey Invasive Species Strike Team
Weeds Gone Wild
Bugwood Network
Print Resources
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden has published two excellent, inexpensive guides to invasive plants:
Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants by C. Colston Burrell
Invasive Plants: Weeds of the Global Garden by John M. Randall and Janet Marinelli
See also:
Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas. published by the National Park Service and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Features invasive plants and native alternatives for the home and garden. 82 pp. Downloadable in sections at http://www.invasive.org/eastern/midatlantic/
Providing for Wildlife
The Sourlands region is home to a remarkable diversity of wildlife: mammals, large and small, reptiles and amphibians, butterflies and bees and, perhaps most notably, scores of bird species, some found nesting nowhere else in central New Jersey.
Intact habitat is critical for these animals. Every time we clear a patch of woodland or turn a farm into a development, we are diminishing the breeding and feeding resources available to these creatures. We can take some simple steps to help compensate for that loss by providing for birds and other wildlife around our homes and, at the same time, increase our own enjoyment of nature. [Download Providing_for_Wildlife]
Online Resources
Birds
Audubon Society on Feeding Birds
Cornell Lab of Ornithology on Feeding Birds
Bird Habitat Necessities from the Audubon Society
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Bird Houses
Insects
Native Bee Conservation from the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
Bee Houses
Backyard Habitat
Natural Resources Conservation Service's Backyard Conservation Tipsheet
Cats Indoors!
More About Cats Indoors
Amphibians
Toad Conservation
Managing the Deer Population
Browsing by the oversized herd is literally destroying the understory of the Sourland forest, and, with it, the future viability of the forest itself. The saplings that represent the next generation of trees are continually eradicated. Native shrubs and herbaceous plants are being consumed to the point of extirpation (that is, local extinction). Deer are destroying the habitat and food sources of countless other species, as well as the long-term prospects of their own habitat.
The Sourland Planning Council strongly advocates a diverse and healthy wildlife population in the Sourlands. Indeed, preservation and restoration of wildlife habitat are central to our mission.
In the case of the white-tail deer, responsible stewardship requires responsible and sustained thinning of the herd. Human activity created the conditions that allowed this crisis to develop. It is now up to us to restore balance to the Sourland ecosystem. [Download Managing_the_Deer_Population]
Online Resources
Deer in Balance. Advocacy, management, and the science behind balancing deer with New Jersey's wild and human habitats
Deer Impact on Local Forests
N.J. Division of Fish & Wildlife. Hunting rules and regulations.
Tickborne Diseases: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Protecting Water Resources
Groundwater is an inherently fleeting and finite resource in the Sourlands. The clay soils and hard rocks of the Mountain cannot readily absorb rainfall and snow melt, creating increased stormwater runoff and poor recharge of groundwater. These inherent limitations of the region’s geology have implications for Sourland residents who depend upon on wells for drinking water, as well as for the region’s ecosystems.
Understanding the land and water connection is the key to protecting the water supply for human uses as well as the ecological integrity of aquatic and semi-aquatic habitats. [Download Protecting_Water_Resources]
Online resources:
Rodale's on Reducing Chemical Applications on Lawns
Rain Gardens - Native Plant Society of NJ
Restoring Riparian Forest Buffers
NJ Division of Fish & Wildlife on Vernal Pools
Septic System Management - Hunterdon County's Division of Environmental Health
Stony Brook Millstone Watershed Association’s River-Friendly Certification Program
Restoration Forestry For The Sourlands
Restoration-oriented forestry will be different from the forestry of the past. It will not remove trees without assuring that the forest can regenerate. It will manage primarily for native plant and wildlife diversity, not for timber value. It will tread carefully in the more ancient groves, where many conservative species make their last stand. It might help our forests recover their shrub and wildflower layers after decades of overbrowse by deer. Most of all, restoration forestry will help restore our living systems to full health even in the midst of homes and roads, by teaching an art and ethic of stewardship to landowners. [Download Restoration_Forestry]
Online Resources:
Overview of the New Jersey Forest Stewardship Law
Photo credits from top:
Pawpaw one of the Sourland's endangered plants, Jared Rosenbaum
Oriental bittersweet invading a forest, Jared Rosenbaum
Deer browsed sapling, Rachel Mackow
False hellebore in wetlands forest, Rachel Mackow
Sassafras hedgerow in autumn, Jared Rosenbaum
