News
Mettlers Woods is officially added to the old growth forest network!
Mettlers woods, the old growth forest portion of Hutcheson Memorial Forest, has just been officially accepted into the Old growth forest network! The Old-Growth Forest Network is the only national network in the U.S. of protected, old-growth, native forests and their goal is to identify and preserve old growth forests around the country. HMF will be holding a walk through the woods and a ceremony for the official induction on November 18th 2024. Sign up for the celebration and read more here
Hutcheson Memorial Forest Volunteers Plant Native Trees in Forest Canopy Restoration Effort
Rutgers University PhD student, Samantha E. Gigliotti, and HMF Director and Rutgers University professor, Dr. Myla F.J. Aronson, welcome the community to support research in forest canopy gap restoration by planting native trees. Rutgers NJ Agricultural Experiment Station & School of Environmental and Biological Sciences – Read more here
HMF Deer Hunting Program Can Help Struggling Farm Families
Former HMF Land Manager and current Deer Program Manager Joe Paulin spoke to the Franklin Township Open Space Committee about the struggles farming families can face due to deer over-population and how hunters can provide relief. Read more about what Joe had to say.
White-Tailed Deer and the Hidden Costs to Farmers’ Livelihoods: A Case Study of New Jersey Stories
A new study unveiled by Rutgers Cooperative Extension (RCE) and the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES) estimated the financial costs of deer damage in 2019 at nearly $1.3 million among a sample group of 27 New Jersey farmers. Read “White-Tailed Deer and the Hidden Costs to Farmers’ Livelihoods: A Case Study of New Jersey Stories”.
Through stories that date back to the 1960s, farmers highlighted the environmental damage, safety concerns, management challenges and impacts to their operations as deer numbers in the state grew.
The Changing Bird Communities at HMF
Jeff Brown, PhD Candidate in Julie Lockwood’s lab, looks at 40 years of bird of forest bird diversity. Read the story on the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources website and in Rutgers Today.
HMF hits the airwaves on The Pulse!
This past May the HMF Center received a special visit from Philadelphia’s WHYY-FM’s The Pulse.
“A small patch of old growth forest with big lessons in conservation.”
The Nature of Cities on HMF
Dr. Myla Aroson’s reflects on HMF and the conservation and management challenges of our regions forest and natural areas. “As I walk through the William L. Hutcheson Memorial Forest in Somerset, New Jersey, on this unseasonably warm March morning, I admire the 250 year-old oaks, towering above, reaching to the sky…” Check out the full article “A Threatened Old Forest Tells a Story Relevant to Every Urban Forest“.
HMF in Dig It!
Visitors from the Dig It!, the online gardening and outdoors enthusiast magazine, share their experiences on a recent tour of the Mettler’s woods. See the full story “A New Jersey Primeval Wood“.