Tuckahoe Wildlife Management Area - Aerial Seeding Operations

June 1, 2021 Located in Atlantic and Cape May counties, Tuckahoe Wildlife Management Area (WMA) comprises 18,205 acres of tidal marsh, shorelines, woodlands, and fields. An important feature of Tuckahoe WMA is its six coastal waterfowl impoundments, totaling 941 acres. These impoundments are a critical tool in the Division of Fish and Wildlife's ability to manage habitat for New Jersey's waterfowl. The Division will be conducting aerial seeding operations in the Tuckahoe WMA impoundments this year. In 2019, impoundments Lester and Mallard were seeded with great success. Following up on this success, in 2021 impoundments Yellow-legs will be seeded and Lester will be reseeded, for a total of 255 acres of impoundment surface area. The impoundments will be seeded with a mixture that includes annual and perennial moist-soil vegetation, to ensure high quality waterfowl foraging habitat is available over the course of several years. This operation is one among several habitat restoration efforts the Division of Fish and Wildlife is engaged in within the Tuckahoe WMA impoundments. These efforts support our mission of maintaining healthy and abundant wildlife populations in New Jersey, and quality wildlife related recreational opportunities for all New Jerseyans. These efforts were made possible when, in 2013, the Division worked with Ducks Unlimited to obtain North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) grant funding to refurbish the Tuckahoe wildlife management area impoundments. The NAWCA grant funds were used to enhance these impoundments from stagnant lake systems into palustrine, emergent habitat to meet bird habitat and population goals. As part of this work, the water control structures were replaced. These enhancements improved habitat conditions and management capabilities to produce critical forage availability for migrating waterfowl and shorebirds.

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June, 2019 - Contract vendor spreading aquatic seed mixture over a barren mudflat in impoundment Mallard Click to enlarge

August 2019 - Annual vegetation growth in impoundment Mallard just months after seeding. Click to enlarge

August 2019 - Seed heads produced by the moist-soil vegetation provide waterfowl with high quality forage. Click to enlarge

Tuckahoe WMA Impoundment Management (May 23, 2018)
Tuckahoe Impoundment Video (May, 2018)
Tuckahoe WMA Topo Map (pdf, )
Tuckahoe WMA Roads Map (pdf, )