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Pine Barrens of New
Jersey |
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Cedar Swamp at the
Tracker School Primitive Camp
(Page 1 of 5)
This website has no official or informal
connection to the Tracker School or Tom Brown Jr. whatsoever.
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Behind the Tracker Primitive Camp is (or was) a large cedar
swamp. Filled with towering ancient cedar trees in the days when Tom was
young, much of it has been clearcut logged over the years.
The following pages present both the beauty and
destruction of this area.
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A small road leads along the edge of the cedar swamp
from the main area of the Tracker Camp. The
clearcut areas are visible to the right. |
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Further along the road.
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Looking to the right, you can't miss the areas that
have been wiped clean of the giant trees over the years.
This picture was taken at the Caretaker class in
2001. |
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The most recent clearcut area (2000).
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Another view of the most
recent clearcut (2000). The devastation is virtually complete.
Yes, shrubs and trees will grow in this area
again, but it will take Nature hundreds of years, perhaps thousands,
to grow a cedar swamp full of huge ancient trees once again.
A cedar forest is not merely a bunch of trees
growing, like a field of corn. It is an entire ecosystem, with many
different types of plants, animals, insects, fungi, microclimates,
mosses, birds, etc etc. It takes a lot of years to build all
this up into a true cedar swamp like it once was.
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A close look at the ground
of the recent clearcut area.
What is growing up first are the small shrubs,
such as blueberry, dogwood, and bayberry. Left to themselves, they
will overshadow and crowd out any young cedars that manage to start
growing.
Note also that the sun will have a significant
drying effect on the soil. This in turn will help to
"pull" moisture out from the still-existent mature cedar
swamp forest, drying it out.
So it's not enough to just leave the remainder of
the cedar swamp alone....it is being heavily impacted by the mere
existence of the clearcut areas.
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Some of these photos were taken at the
Caretaker class in Nov 2001, others in Oct 2001
Copyright © Walter Muma
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