Day Three
We first went to the Black Run Preserve, which is right next to Marlton, yet most people don’t know about it. We met with John Volpa, who heads the group chiefly involved with the area. He was our guide and teacher for the day. The Black Run is part of an old cranberry bog that hasn’t been used since the 60s. We hiked down two of the trails. We saw an old cranberry boat that had been left there. We saw many pieces of trash that people had left, including a car, truck (which was located in the water), shot gun shells, tires, and a refrigerator. Trash dumping is a major maintenance issue associated with the Pines. Though many volunteers help with cleanup, the ready access to this area fosters continued dumping. We were trying to get a more complete sense of this issue and learning about how we can help.
For lunch, we stopped by the Promenade because it was so close to the Black Run Preserve. Many of us did not know how close the Black Run Preserve was to the Promenade, so it was almost like a unknown area. At the Promenade we split up and some of us went to Chipotle and the others went to Panera Bread. It was nice because it wasn’t a bag lunch for a change and we got to sit down at tables.
After lunch we went to the Black Run Preserve and helped to maintain a biking/walking trail. We clipped back intrusive branches and got rid of many greenbriars. Towards the end of one of the paths we saw an old beaver dam that was built between two of the defunct cranberry bogs. Unfortunately, part of it had been washed away by heavy rains. We also saw another small controlled burn on our way out of the Pine Barrens and back to school.
Overall, it’s interesting to see how close we are to protected areas. We always run the risk of changing a very delicate ecosystem, so it makes us feel more connected to the area to help preserve it.
