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Frankford Township, Sussex County
335 Acres Fee Ownership
166 Acres Management Agreement
Slowly meandering though the rich sandy loam soil, the Papakating
Creek flows though 324 acres of what is now lands preserved by
Trust. Once known as Lewisburg farm, the old dairy farm's silo
still typifies this property, although the barns and farmhouse
were gone long ago. Meadows and pastures offer grassland habitat
for songbirds and hunting opportunity for red-tailed hawks. The
forest lands of ash, maple and hemlock provide cool, shaded conditions
to the slow moving creek. Here, raccoon, mink and possum make
bridges of the numerous fallen trees which cross the creek. A
very old river system, oxbow ponds formed over the decades as
the river twisted to carve a new course and backwaters became
permanent ponds. Wood frog and salamander utilize fringes of some
of the smaller wetlands. Painted turtles and bluegills swim within
the deeper oxbows and pools along the Papakating Creek.
This property was acquired through the efforts of the Green Acres
Program. The Trust, using DEP Wetlands Mitigation Funds, helped
to secure the finances to complete the acquisition. The Trust
envisions carrying out conservation and stewardship practices
to improve habitat at the preserve including grassland field management,
control of invasive plants that may alter important functioning
wetland systems, and possibly creating and restoring wetlands
impacted by past farming practices.
Upstream near the village of Armstrong, 166 acres have been preserved
along the river. Under a special arrangement, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Wallkill National Wildlife Refuge, will assist
the Trust with daily management of this new parcel. Wet meadows
along the future rail-trail turn a pinkish-purple with the flowers
of New York ironweed and Joe Pye weed and brighten up a late summer
day. Woodchucks have dug their dens on the gently sloping edge
between the forest and the old corn field. Someday the Trust would
like to convert these cornfields to permanent grasslands for wildlife
or lease them to local farmers continuing a rural way of life
in Sussex County. This parcel does not have public access.
Another 11 acre parcel, donated in 1992, includes a hillside
of large sugar maples bordered by stone walls. This property has
streamside shrub-shrub wetlands of arrowwood and elderberry, habitat
ideal for wood turtles and yellow-throated warblers. This landlocked
parcel does not have public access.
Public Access and Uses:
Best accessed from Lewisburg Road (dirt), the property has limited
roadside parking. Overgrown farm lanes provide the best means
of access for birders, hikers and others. The Trust allows registration
for deer hunting at
this preserve. No public access is permitted at the property in
Armstrong.
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