We’re gearing up for another invasive species treatment event at Roebling Park!
Located in Hamilton Township, New Jersey, Mercer County’s John A. Roebling Memorial Park offers residents in the surrounding area a freshwater marsh with river fishing, kayaking, hiking, and wildlife-watching. The park contains the northernmost freshwater tidal marsh on the Delaware River, Abbott Marshland. Since the mid-1990s, many public and private partnerships have developed to help support the preservation of this important and significant marsh.
Our Field Operations Team was recently at the project site assessing present invasive species and re-evaluating access points for our treatment equipment. Check out these photos from their visit!
- The Abbott Marshlands.
- Princeton Hydro’s airboat.
- Our Director of Aquatic Operations, Scott Churm, operating the airboat.
- Mercer County’s Naturalist, Jennifer Rogers, and Princeton Hydro’s Director of Aquatic Operations, Scott Churm, aboard Princeton Hydro’s airboat.
- Spadderdock is an invasive aquatic plant found in lakes and ponds throughout the Eastern US.
- Phragmites australis (tall reed in the background), the invasive species of target to be removed during this restoration project. It forms dense thickets of vegetation unsuitable for native fauna.
- When left unchecked, Phragmites australis out competes native vegetation and lowers local plant diversity. The phrag in this photo has started to grow back after it was treated last season. This area will be a target for round two of treatments.
- Spadderdock can eliminate important, native plant species and clog waterways.
- Spadderdock can grow quickly and reach large populations totally covering the water surface and shading the bottom so that nothing else can grow.
- View from aboard the airboat.
- View of the marsh from the back of the airboat.
For more information on this marsh restoration project at John A. Roebling Park, visit our original project blog:
Restoring the Northernmost Freshwater Tidal Marsh on the Delaware River