The 14-acre Wildflower and Forest Preserve and other smaller regeneration sites, were constructed in 2008 as part of a 20 year program to restore the understory and ecology of the South Mountain Reservation, by protecting native plants from being over browsed by the high deer populations. In addition to its role in forest restoration, the Preserve serves as a destination to educate and engage people of all ages. It has a simple trail system with informative signage regarding woodland, vernal pond, and meadow ecosystems as well as information on various trees and shrubs. Located adjacent to the dog park and the Wildflower Sculpture Park, the Wildflower and Forest Preserve is a special destination in the park.
See the Preserve Plant Identification Guide.
See general guide to flora and fauna.
Background and History of the Wildflower and Forest Preserve
The Preserve was created as part of a twenty-year, $950,000 forest regeneration program launched in 2008 by the Conservancy and Essex County. This program consists of 42 regeneration sites covering just over one million square feet in the Reservation. The underlying logic is that these sites serve as a seed source for native plants in the reservation. By removing invasive species, planting trees, shrubs, and flowers, building interpretive trails in the Preserve, and (to a lesser extent) helping maintain the other, smaller sites, the Forest Regeneration Corps is a key part of this monumental effort.
Gaining support for the Preserve and its creation took several years. The idea for a deer exclosure, where there once was a deer enclosure or paddock for dwarf European deer, was off-handedly suggested in 2005 by Troy Ettel to conservancy chair, Dennis Percher. Ettel, at the time NJ Audubon’s Conservation Director, was leading a group along Crest Drive to compare the understory growth inside and outside of a fenced pumping area. The comparison was stark — where the vegetation was exposed to the browsing of the over-abundant white-tailed deer population, it was minimal; in the fenced-in area, it was abundant.
Given the clear need for an area protected from deer, Percher informally presented Ettel’s suggestion to the county and publicly advocated for it at the dedication of the dog park at the end of July 2006. Tricia Zimic was in the audience and afterward told Percher that she was interested in helping establish and restore the exclosure. A year later, County Executive Joe DiVincenzo became interested in the Preserve and the idea of distributed forest regeneration sites now being championed by Zimic and Percher. The county executive sought to position the program as a complement to the deer management program he was launching to accelerate forest restoration.
The original idea for distributed sites that would be a seed source for the reservation came from Emile Devito, PhD., manager of science and stewardship at the NJ Conservation Federation. Devito and ecologist Michael Van Clef, PhD, expanded on this initial idea, and final plans for the 20-year program were developed by landscape architect Daniel Dowd and Rutgers’ Center for Urban Restoration Ecology, directed by Steven Handel.
After the county repaired the perimeter fence of the Preserve near the dog park in February 2008, the first Forest Regeneration program began in April. Besides clearing the meadow and removing extensive interior fencing (once used to separate the deer), the Conservancy was able to start installing plants funded through a 2007 DEP Trails Grant. (In 2009, thousands more plants were added professionally to the Preserve as part of the larger forest regeneration project funded through the New Jersey Green Acres program and the County’s Open Space Fund.)