Creating a Greener County Requires Elbow Grease and a Click of the Mouse

Golfers would have a tough time getting a drive down the former fairway of the Ponderlodge Golf Course AKA The Villas Wildlife Refuge. Thanks to the Earth Day (and every day efforts) of biologists from New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife and the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey and dozens of hardworking volunteers from Lower Cape Regional High School and West Cape May Boy Scout Troop 73, the golf green is on its way to being a much greener place.
This week, young volunteers planted 800 seedlings on just over an acre of the state reserve, in the hopes that someday their children and grandchildren will walk in the shade of a sylvan wonderland at the site. Trees planted included bayberry, white and short leaf pine, pitch pine, and a variety of oaks.
There is still a lot of work to do at the 255 acre site, but lending a hand there is as simple as the click of a mouse.
Biologist, Ben Wurst of Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey has applied for a $50,000 Greater Outdoors Project Grant in hopes of replenishing native plants in more acres of the reserve. The project was chosen as one of five finalists that could win the grant, based on its potential to preserve, protect and provide access to the great American outdoors. But the final winner has yet to chosen.
If Wurst’s proposal wins, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey will create 34 more acres of wildlife habitat on the former fairways of the now defunct golf course, including 16 acres of trees and eight acres of transitional scrub-shrub habitat. Wildlife, especially migratory birds, will be attracted to this habitat, and wildlife watchers and other outdoor enthusiasts will be drawn to peaceful trails that wind through it.
To win the grant, the project must receive the most votes cast via text message or online at http://www.blazethetrail.com/greatoutdoors/vote/ between now and May 31. It’s one way to make Cape May County greener without even getting your hands dirty.