Batsto trees pictures

[edfrank]

I have a ton of pictures of the trees that were taken down at Batsto, from closeups to full views. And with most of the trees I took a picture of my father in front of each one. Somewhere I have a piece of paper with all the circumferences written down. When I find this piece of paper I will sort the pictures a little and post the best of each tree.

[Barry Caselli]

I just put up a photo album on my Ghost Towns of Southern NJ Facebook page, with a link to it on the ENTS Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.185821374843530.42660.132932896799045&type=1 . The album shows the trees my father and I measured on 1/31/09. Most of them are gone now. The vine covered Buttonwood was the first of these to go, a while ago. I informed ENTS soon after. The rest of the removals were sometime this summer or Fall. The CBH is in the caption under each photo. You can use your left and right arrow keys to navigate through the album.
If the photos aren't viewable to some of you, I might have to put up an album on my Flickr or Webshots account.
Here's the text of the email I received from the DEP after I complained to them a week or two ago:
(I left off the guy's name.)

"I was asked to respond to your e-mail concerning the removal of trees in the Batsto Village area of Wharton State Forest.  The decision to remove the trees in the Batsto Village area was not a decision that was made lightly and each individual tree was evaluated by state foresters and a NJ Certified Ttree Expert to determine whether it posed a high risk for injuring or damaging property.   The safety of our visitors and the protection of historic buildings and the built infrastructure has to come first when making decisions regarding tree resources at state facilities.  Unfortunately, sometimes trees have to be removed because they are structurally unsound and pose too great a threat.  The trees that were removed fit that criteria.

Please be aware that the trees in the Batsto Village were not there when the village was active and becoming part of New Jersey's history but represent plantings that were done decades later.  There have been discussions concerning replacing some of the trees with species and in locations that are historically accurate for the period of village activity.  While this is not a substitute for the mature trees that were taken down, we will continue to try and replace some of the canopy and shade that was removed with the trees.

Thank you for voicing your concerns and we hope you will continue to enjoy the historic site as we move forward with our plans."

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[edfrank]

Barry Caselli's Album on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.185821374843530.42660.132932896799045&type=3

               

                       

                                       

               

               

                       

                                       

               

               

                       

                                       

               

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