def #320 11/26/08
OCEAN COUNTY TO PARTICIPATE IN NATURAL LANDS PURCHASE
TOMS RIVER – Ocean County will provide $500,000 toward the purchase of 614 acres of open space along
Route 532 in Ocean and Lacey townships – property known locally as the Forked River Mountains.
“The New Jersey Conservation Foundation requested a partnership with the Ocean County Natural Lands
Trust Fund in order to assure this property could be acquired,” said Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr., who
serves as liaison to the county’s Natural Lands program. “The county’s Trust Fund will provide the $500,000
needed to make certain the preservation takes place.”
As a result of the funding, Ocean County will acquire almost 30 acres of the property for its natural
lands inventory. This parcel contains about a half mile of road frontage on the south side of Wells Mills Road
in Waretown. The County would also acquire a deed restriction over the entire 614 acres property.
“We are pleased to be able to participate in this purchase,” Bartlett said. “With these additional acres, the
county in combination with other agencies will have preserved about 5,000 acres in this particular area of
Lacey and Ocean townships.
“That is a significant swath of open space that will be preserved as natural lands forever,” Bartlett said.
The Board of Freeholders has scheduled a public hearing on the purchase for its 4 p.m., Dec. 3 meeting in the
Ocean County Administration Building, here.
The 614 acres is close to Ocean County’s largest park, Wells Mills, which boasts nearly 900 acres of Pinelands
in Ocean Township.
According to Conservation Resources, the New Jersey Conservation Foundation has been working for over a decade
to preserve the Forked River Mountain wilderness.
The property, owned by Interboro Holding Co., Hackensack, totals about 620 acres. The property is entirely
forested with no history of development or other significant disruption. Pine Oak forest dominates the property
with some significant stands of Atlantic White Cedar in the lower areas along the North Branch of the Forked
River. This area is known to be habitat for a number of rare and endangered Pine Barrens species such as the
Pine Barrens tree frog, the northern pine snake and the curly grass fern.
The total acquisition price is $2,700,000.
“Our Ocean County Natural Lands Advisory Committee has recommended the partnership with the New Jersey
Conservation Foundation,” Bartlett said. “This is a purchase that meets the requirements of our natural
lands criteria and will provide environmental benefits far into the future.”
