Pine Barrens (New Jersey)
The Pine Barrens or Pinelands are a place in New Jersey in the eastern United States. They are in the southern part of the state.[1][2][3] Sometimes the word "Pinelands" only means the Pinelands Natural Reserve.[4]
Size
The Pinelands Natural Reserve is a large part of the Pine Barrens. It is 1.1 million acres in size. They are 22 percent of all New Jersey's area.[1] Not all of the Pine Barrens are in the Pinelands Natural Reserve.[4]
Ecology
The United States Congress made the Pine Barrens Natural Reserve in 1988.[1]
Because there is so much sand and acid in the soil, people did not want to make farms in the Pine Barrens. But the water in the Pine Barrens was very pure. Sea captains liked to take water from the Pine Barrens with them on long trips because it did not go bad quickly. The iron in the soil and tannin chemicals from the cedar trees kept bacteria from turning the water bad.[1]
Sometimes the Atlantic white cedar trees die. This is because salt water rises into the Pine Barrens. It has happened many times, but the trees eventually come back. Scientists think that climate change might mean the trees will die and not grow back.[3]
History
Some of the people who moved to the Pine Barrens in the 1700s were Quakers who had fought in the American Revolution. The other Quakers had thrown them out because Quakers are not supposed to kill other human beings. British loyalists also came to the Pine Barrens in the 1700s. Outlaws and other criminals came too.[1]
In 1913, Elizabeth Kite wrote about the pine barrens, saying the people there were uneducated and many were criminals. Later, she said she regretted writing this because instead of helping the people in the pine barrens, newspapers made things worse.[1]
In 1954, the Chatsworth Fire burned 19,500 acres of the Pine Barrens.[1]
Industry
People in the Pine Barrens made charcoal, glass, cabinets,[1] paper, and bricks. In the 1800s and 1900s, people came to the Pine Barrens to find jobs.[2]
Legends
Legends say that a creature called the Jersey Devil lives in the Pine Barrens.[1]
Pine Barrens (New Jersey) Media
View north from a fire tower on Apple Pie Hill in Wharton State Forest, the highest point in the New Jersey Pine Barrens
Pinelands National Reserve (N.J.)--Map. Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, 2008
Large open area with beaver dams on the Mullica River southeast of Lake Atsion
A dense Atlantic white cedar swamp in the New Jersey Pine Barrens
The 2007 forest fire viewed from Barnegat Light
Water lily and reflected Atlantic white cedar trunks on the Oswego River
- Lake_Atsion
- Batsto_River
Kayaking on the Mullica River
Fire tower on Apple Pie Hill
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Hingston, Sandy (2016-02-16). "13 Things You Might Not Know About the Pine Barrens". Philladelphia (Metrocorp). https://www.phillymag.com/news/2016/02/12/pine-barrens-new-jersey/. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Amanda Hoover (May 15, 2019). "Inside the 'ghost towns' of N.J.'s Pine Barrens". NJ.com. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Michael Sol Warren (June 29, 2017). "Why sections of the Pine Barrens are turning into 'ghost forests'". NJ.com. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Pine Barrens vs. Pinelands: What's the Difference?". Pinelands Preservation Alliance. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
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