Our week ended in yet another diverse ecosystem at The Pine Tree Center. It was wonderful to see our guides show, and our students remember, the many things they saw and learned this week.
The site was once a Boy Scout camp. It was also a camp for disadvantaged children, and a century ago it was used for cranberry farming. Though much has grown over that century, we could still see how the landscape was changed by decades of cranberry cultivation. This was a week of learning about how humans can interact with nature in mutually beneficial ways, and, of course, the opposite.
Often things came back to beavers this week. On Monday, we learned that after the last Ice Age, there was a species of giant beavers that have now gone extinct; some grew to over 7 feet long and could weigh close to 200 pounds or more, making them rather bear-like in terms of dimensions. We saw (modern) beaver dens on the rivers and lakes. We learned that when a colony is in distress, they produce more offspring; lots of beavers does not suggest health in the community.
At one point on our hike, we stopped at the corner of three properties following different protocols for controlled burns. Right there we could see the impact. One, a working cranberry farm, burns every year. The Pine Tree Center burns every four or so. The state park hasn’t burned in decades. The first burns to create an undergrowth that is easy to maneuver through, but it leaves little for the habitat of flora and fauna. The last is just a few summer sparks from a major fire. Forest management is an important process which must put the health of the forest first.
We finished our day making art from materials collected on our hike. When we finished our creative pursuits, we built a fire and enjoyed a less ecologically determined approach to burning wood. We built it for warmth. And when we tossed the pine cones in, they opened to release their seeds to “spark” new growth in the beautiful Pinelands.
