Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge

The Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge is located in New Jersey primarily in Morris County, but extending into Somerset County as well. It is one of more than 544 refuges in the National Wildlife Refuge System. It is administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, which is overseen by the United States Department of Interior. Local administration is conducted by inter-municipal cooperation of the Ten Towns Great Swamp Watershed Management Committee, comprising representatives from the municipalities with territory in the swamp, including Bernards Township, Bernardsville, Chatham Township, Harding Township, Long Hill Township, Madison Borough, Mendham Borough, Mendham Township, Morris Township and Morristown.

History

Geologic

The Great Swamp is the remnant of a lake bottom of a once-mighty glacial lake called Glacial Lake Passaic that about 15,000 to 11,000 years ago extended for 30 miles (48 km) in length and was 10 miles (16 km) wide in what is presently northern New Jersey. The lake was formed by the melting waters of the retreating Wisconsin Glacier at the end of the last Ice Age. The glacier had pushed a moraine ahead of its advance, a rubble of soil and rocks that plugged the existing outlet for the waters that drained into the area normally. As the retreating glacier melted, the waters rose to create the lake before a new outlet began to allow the water to exit at a much higher elevation, hence, the lake became established. [http://www.fws.gov/northeast/greatswamp/history.htm]

Early Settlers

The wildlife refuge includes approximately one-quarter of the fifty-five square mile watershed comprising the Great Swamp that is the source of the Passaic River and its boundaries touch ten different communities, many of which were settled by European colonists long before the American Revolution. Dutch colonists preceded the British displacing the native tribes that hunted, fished, and farmed in the area for ten thousand years. They had arrived in the area and established settlements shortly after the retreat of the glacier and when European explorers discovered the bounty of their hunting, trade became an established interaction with the natives in what the Dutch claimed as part of New Netherlands in 1614 for almost three quarters of a century prior to the pressure for European settlements that ensued after the British established dominion over what they called the province of New Jersey.

The course of the Passaic River that had drained the swamp prior to the formation of the glacial lake, became altered due to the plug of its outlet and the water released as the glacier melted filled the basin before it was able to seek a new path to vent into the sea. A range of mountains to the west of Morristown formed the western boundary of the new lake and the most easterly line of the Watchung Mountains became the eastern boundary. The tops of some of the Watchung range became islands in the great lake. Water that had vented through or to the south of the Watchung range found a new path that altered, forever, the old drainage paths and, when the plug collapsed the river still was forced to travel north through the length of the range before finding a new outlet near present day Patterson where it could manage the eastern turn toward the sea.

Wildlife Refuge Formation

The park that would become the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge was established by an Act of Congress on November 3, 1960, after a year-long legal battle that pitted local residents against New York Port Authority officials who wished to turn the Great Swamp into a major regional airport to replace Newark Airport with one that could accommodate large jet aircraft.

The "Jersey Jetport Site Association" was the first to form in opposition and it was followed closely by the "North American Wildlife Foundation". Between the two organizations, enough property in the core of the swamp quickly was purchased, assembled, and donated to the federal government to qualify for perpetual protection as a park. [http://www.fws.gov/news/historic/1964/19640525b.pdf] As the representative from Arizona, Stewart Udall championed the efforts of these residents, whom he described as having mounted the greatest effort ever made by residents in America to protect a natural habitat, and later, on May 29, 1964 as the Secretary of the Interior, he oversaw its dedication as a park, which was named the M. Hartley Dodge Wildlife Refuge for the son of Geraldine R. Dodge and Marcellus Hartley Dodge, Sr. both being benefactors to the "Jersey Jet Site Association" and the "North American Wildlife Foundation" he being a founding trustee of the latter. The initial donation was 2,600 acres, which assured the protection as a park and the acquisition of a greater continued.

Description

The full extent of the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge now consists of 7,600 acres or almost 12 square miles (30.4 km²) of varied habitats. When the remainder of the area donated was dedicated on September 9, 1968, it was the first refuge to receive wilderness designation. [http://www.friendsofgreatswamp.org/] The Great Swamp is a migration-resting and feeding area or permanent habitat for more than 244 species of birds. The major routes of birds migrating along the easter portion of the United States follow the corridor that includes the Great Swamp as a major stopping place for rest and nutrition. Many species of birds reside permanently in the watershed area. Deer, fish, fox, frogs, muskrat, raccoons, snakes, turtles, as well as many insects and a wide variety of wildflowers and plants call the swamp "home". Some of the animals hunted by the native inhabitants and colonists, such as bear and beaver, are encountered occasionally. Its role in draining the region and absorbing quick floods for gradual release can be critical during extreme weather conditions.

Related Organizations

Thirteen nonprofit organizations have arisen from the communities that border the swamp and each provides oversight of some aspects of or all of the swamp. The Great Swamp Watershed Association, founded in 1981, works to protect and the entire fifty-five square mile watershed that surrounds the swamp. [http://www.greatswamp.org/] Within the Great Swamp there also is a nonprofit bird-rehabilitation center founded in 1977, called the The Raptor Trust, mainly specializing in birds of prey, such as eagles, hawks, and owls. Lord Stirling Park is part of the Somerset County Park System. The park is entered from the community of Sterling that is named after a military officer of the American Revolution who lived in the community, William Alexander. The park is located on the southwestern perimeter of the Great Swamp. The park offers excellent hiking facilities that include trails, boardwalks, observation blinds, and naturalist exhibits displayed in its park office that are related to the swamp.

Gallery

Notes

See Also

National Wildlife Refuge

US Fish and Wildlife Service

External links

* [http://www.fws.gov/northeast/greatswamp/ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge]
* [http://www.friendsofgreatswamp.org/ Friends of the Great Swamp]
* [http://www.greatswamp.org/ Great Swamp Watershed Association]
* [http://www.njskylands.com/odswamp.htm New Jersey's Great Northwest Skylands: The Great Swamp]
* [http://www.tentowns.org/10t/index.htm Ten Towns Great Swamp Watershed Management Committee]