Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge
The Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge is a nature reserve in central New Jersey . At over 30 square kilometers, Great Swamp is New Jersey's largest natural park.
location
Great Swamp is located in Morris and Somerset Counties , New Jersey, approximately 25 miles (40 km) west of New York City / Manhattan . The Passaic River, an industrially extremely heavily used river in northeast New Jersey, has its source in the Great Swamp . Great Swamp is administered by the United States Department of Interior. Great Swamp represents the remains of a huge glacial lake, the glacier of which covered northern New Jersey before the end of the last ice age.
To the southwest of the Great Swamp is Lord Sterling Park in Basking Ridge , which is part of the Somerset County Park System. Lord Sterling Park has an Environmental Education Center on the Great Swamp, as well as hiking and cross-country skiing trails.
history
In the Great Swamp area, a large airport for the New York / New Jersey area was to be built in the 1950s to replace the then small Newark Liberty International Airport . A citizens' initiative fought vehemently against these plans and collected enough money to buy the first 6000 acres (approx. 24,000 m²) and thus protect them. On November 3, 1960, the nature park with 7,600 acres (30.4 km²) was inaugurated.
fauna
Great Swamp is the resting and breeding ground for over 244 species of birds. Foxes , red deer and various species of turtles and snakes are also found in the Great Swamp. In the nature park there is also the "Raptor Trust", a non-profit organization that is dedicated to the rehabilitation of birds of prey.
