Low tides reveal enduring cedar stumps, reflecting Meadowlands' ecological past
Atlantic white cedar trees were once ubiquitous in the Meadowlands, but were largely wiped out by the 1920s.
James M. O'Neill
Twice each day, at low tide, the New Jersey Meadowlands pulls back its watery veil to reveal the dark, twisted remnants of its ecological past.
Someone scanning the barren, soggy mudflats when the tide is out can see the low stumps and fallen trunks of Atlantic white cedar trees, which once covered as much as a third of the Meadowlands.
Because cedar wood is so durable, those stumps have lasted, despite being covered with water for decades. They dot the mudflats today, in bizarre and elegant shapes, natural sculptures jutting out of the marshland.
Atlantic white cedars grow in freshwater wetlands along the coasts from Maine to Florida. New Jersey once had as many as 115,000 acres of Atlantic white cedar stands, but a variety of factors have contributed to their decline, including illegal harvesting, wildfire, deer browsing and a rise in sea level. Today, only about 30,000 acres remain statewide, mainly in the Pinelands, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.
They are largely wiped out in the Meadowlands.
Because it was so sturdy, cedar wood was valued by early British and Dutch settlers. They harvested many of the trees in northern New Jersey and used the wood to make railroad ties, barrels, roof shingles and even roadway planks, including those for the original Paterson Plank Road.
The presence of pirates in the Meadowlands also played a role in the demise of the cedar trees. Pirates maintained numerous hideouts in the marshland, and had become such a nuisance that in 1797 officials staged a raid to clear them out. As the pirates retreated deeper into the marshes, according to some accounts, officials set the meadow grass on fire.
The fire swept up through the Meadowlands as far as Little Ferry, and burned for several days. A number of pirates were killed, and stands of Atlantic cedars were destroyed.
The final blow for Atlantic cedars in the Meadowlands came in 1923, when the Oradell Reservoir dam on the upper Hackensack River was completed, said Bill Sheehan, the Hackensack Riverkeeper. The dam held back some of the Hackensack’s freshwater flow, which allowed salt water from New York Harbor and Newark Bay to reach farther into the Meadowlands.
As a result, the Meadowlands was transformed from a freshwater marsh into a tidal saltwater one, destroying the cedars’ habitat.
Still, the cedar stumps remain, like ghostly sentinels of the region’s past. They can easily be seen when hiking at low tide along the Mill Creek Marsh Trail in Secaucus, as well as along the Saw Mill Creek Trail in DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst, along the base of the 1-E Landfill.
The Mill Creek Marsh Trail extends in a loop of about 1.5 miles through the 209-acre Mill Creek Marsh, which the now-defunct Meadowlands Commission bought for preservation in 1996. The area was going to be developed with about 2,750 townhomes, but the state protected the area and remediated it, in the process uncovering dozens of old cedar stumps.
FILM STAR:North Jersey's swamplands are the star of state film festival
ENVIRO CONFLICT:Meadowlands gas pipeline plans criticized by environmentalists
Despite its location near the eastern spur of the New Jersey Turnpike and a retail shopping area, the marsh has become a favorite for birders, who can see snowy egrets, green-winged teal, kestrels and many other birds. As many as 200 bird species have been spotted in the marsh. The Meadowlands is a key stopping point for migrating birds along the Atlantic Flyway in spring and early fall.
A walk on the trail provides a striking, distinctive juxtaposition. The old, twisted cedar stumps dot the mudflats in the foreground, while the shimmering metal spire of the Empire State Building rises in the distance.
Email: oneillj@northjersey.com