By Berit Ollestad
This Saturday, Jan. 19, you can help rebuild the battered Jersey Shore. For real, and you can do it with materials from Morristown…while keeping alive the spirit of Christmas!
Volunteers are invited to bury discarded Christmas trees in the dunes at Island Beach State Park, as additional protection against the next Hurricane Sandy. Approximately 300 trees were transported from Morristown this month by the public works department. They are part of a pilot program that could aptly be called “Shoring up the Shore.”
Dunes along the shore were severely damaged during Sandy’s fury last October. With the help of countless volunteers, state officials hope the trees can re-build the dunes to protect the delicate coastline, which is home to many animals and plants.
Christmas trees are a sound alternative to the dune fencing that’s oftentimes used. Not only are trees more cost- effective but they are biodegradable and not as unsightly as the orange plastic fencing can be. When the trees are buried, they provide an anchor for dune grass, which strengthens the dunes.
Island Beach State Park is working in conjunction with Cattus Island County Park in Ocean County, where the donated trees have been stored.
On Saturday, volunteers will strategically place the trees butted up to each-other, along the dunes to act as a barrier and to catch sand in their branches to help alleviate any further erosion.
When the idea was brought to the attention of Morristown First Lady Mary Dougherty via social media, she immediately approached her husband, Mayor Tim Dougherty, to get his feed-back.
Recognizing the positive impact that this could have for our New Jersey shoreline, the Mayor got behind it and contacted the public works department and asked it to hold off mulching the trees, as it usually does.
With a State Police escort, four of Morristown’s trucks were loaded with 300 hand-packed trees destined for the Shore. For the trucks to be allowed on the Garden State Parkway, prior authorization was required by the state; hence the police escort.
The Morristown team was greeted by the Cattus Park Director, Chris Claus , and his staff. The park sustained significant damage to its many trails and roadways from Sandy. Perhaps hardest hit was the park’s visitor exhibition center. The immediate concern when the storm hit was reaching the 30-plus animal exhibits housing fish, reptiles and birds from the region. Fortunately, park employees were able to canoe to the center and they re-located their wildlife with no casualties.
“Without the commitment and support of our volunteers and their tireless efforts, we would have never been able to have the park re-opened just one month after Sandy hit,” said Claus. “People come here for therapy, therefore I recognized the value of getting it open as soon as possible. We are the only park on the barrier islands that have remained undeveloped and in their natural state. It’s because of the dunes we have Barnegat Bay.”
“I have such a renewed hope for the Jersey Shore. We’ve definitely gotten a bad rap recently because of certain references and to see everyone come together from so many different communities is overwhelming” said Youth recreational leader, Patti Perrini.
“I knew as soon as I became aware of what is was these individuals were trying to accomplish over at the Shore, I wanted to figure out how I could somehow get our town involved,” Mary Dougherty said. “My best memories when I was younger were spent over at the Shore during the summer. So, it is an absolute privilege to be a part of such an innovative plan to re-build our coast-line. Prior to Sandy, my husband and I had gotten into the habit of taking vacations to locations outside of NJ. But clearly that will be changing and we are looking forward to once again enjoying our Jersey Shore.”
For more details about how to participate, please call Cattus Island County Park at (732) 270-2703.
