Avalon Plants Native Vegetation at Armacost Park

AVALON – The Avalon Department of Public Works completed the second phase of a pilot project at the Borough’s maritime forest, Armacost Park, April 7. The Department planted 300 native plants in the northeastern side of the park in an effort to replace trees damaged by invasive native and non-native vines.
The plantings included 100 seedlings each of Persimmon, Beach Plum, and Sweet Gum. The planting areas were designated in the two-acre section of the park where the vines were cut during the last week of February. The pilot project will now evolve to monitoring the progress of the new plantings. Lomax and Associates, the Borough’s environmental consultant, will monitor the growth of the newly planted native vegetation in the Park and determine if the native vegetation is able to naturally out compete the vines in the pilot project area.
The plants were obtained by the Borough of Avalon from the New Jersey Forest Nursery and are included on Avalon’s acceptable plant list authorized by the Avalon Environmental Commission. The 300 plants were all grown in New Jersey which provide adaptability to coastal conditions. Biological studies conducted at Armacost Park revealed that the greatest diversity of birds, the principal group of wildlife utilizing the Park, occur during the fall migration period. The spring planting was recommended by various environmental experts due to a favorable spring planting season due in part to excellent precipitation.
In 2014, the Avalon Environmental Commission approved a Healthy Forestry Initiative encompassing this pilot project. The initiative called for cutting of six different species of invasive vines with hand held mechanized equipment at the park both at ground level and approximately five feet into trees. The vines grew unfettered into the high canopy of the trees killing or stressing many of the trees in this section of the Park. The vines were cut and left for natural decomposition. The native trees and shrubs that were able to grow in this section of the Park were identified and not cut during this initiative, and no healthy or dead trees were removed.
This Healthy Forestry Initiative at Armacost Park follows another pilot project where three circular test plots were cut in the Park to see if native vegetation would grow naturally once the vines were cut. In two of the three circular test plots, native vegetation rebounded and began to grow on its own.
The Borough of Avalon has utilized the services of three environmental consultants to study the ecosystem at Armacost Park. This research has been vetted at more than 20 meetings of the Avalon Environmental Commission and the Avalon Borough Council. It has received the endorsement of the Avalon Home and Land Owners Association which represents over 1,000 property owners in Avalon.
The Borough has had many partners involved in this process who have been in Avalon to meet with officials and consultants on the plan. They include the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the Federal Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA), the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and other local agencies.