Essex County Greenbelt Association

PROPERTY DESCRIPTION
The Julia Bird Reservation is a good illustration of the effects of different kinds of forest and open field management upon the landscape. The forest in the front area is organically rich bottom-land that supports mature swamp white oak, red oak and red maple, including some trees with a diameter of nearly four feet. This area has not been harvested, and supports breeding birds that prefer a mature forest canopy. A number of standing dead snags also provide habitat for woodpeckers. As you walk further into the property, you will enter an open forest area that has been managed for timber. In 1982, Greenbelt conducted an experimental cordwood cut here, a test to evaluate the feasibility of forest management that does not infringe on other forest uses. Since the cut, we've noticed an increase in the deer population. The is also a contrast in the management of the two fields on this property. The front field has been bulldozed flat and is intensively mowed and fertilized for polo use. The back field shows unaltered topography of a naturally flat glacial outwash plain, and is only mowed once a year.