A UVM blog Phenology at the Redstone Pines

While I could not find too much information regarding the human history at my specific location of Redstone Pines on UVM campus, I do have quite a bit of knowledge of the human history of my place I visited over Thanksgiving break.

In 1913, Laurel Springs became a town in south Jersey, about 15 miles east of Philadelphia. It was known at the time for its lake resort getaway on Laurel Lake. Although this town has about 2,000 people now and is only about half a square mile, it’s railroad helped to bring visitors attracted to a lake vacation. In 1878, The Crystal Inn was in business, allowing more visitors to this area for swimming, boating, and fishing. There are springs all around this tiny area of nature situated in the middle of a couple of towns, that contained pickerel, bass, catfish, sunfish, perch, and snappers. As well as summer enjoyment on the lake, the cold temperatures in the winter allowed for the lake to freeze and people to ice skate! Unfortunately now, climate change has made a large impact on this area in New Jersey, with very little snow for the past five years, and pollution has caused a decrease in the diversity of organisms within the lake.

Along with the general vacationing history of Crystal Springs, it also had another use for someone special. Walt Whitman (1819-1892), an influential American poet, spent a few of his summers in Laurel Springs, visiting Crystal Springs and Laurel Lake. Between 1876 and 1884, he would visit Stafford Farm located in town, and on his visits to Crystal Springs, he gained inspiration for two of his most famous poems: “Leaves of Grass” and “Specimen Days.” Parts of this is seen in this photo below:

According to Whitman, Laurel Lake was “the
prettiest lake in: either America or Europe.” Unfortunately, as someone who grew up in this town for 19 years, I do not believe any person on Earth would describe Laurel Lake as that due to human interference and neglectfulness.

Although this town and its natural area have a strong human history and Crystal Springs is now a preserved land through Camden County, there is so much work to be done in order to restore the beauty of this place. South Jersey and the suburbs of Philadelphia are so densely populated, that the thought of nature seems to have been forgotten when these towns and farms were built within the last two centuries. Now, humans do not think of Laurel Springs, NJ as a resort town nor can they even go swimming in the lake due to mass amounts of pollution. There are small boardwalks and trails throughout Crystal Springs today that were put in place for the centennial anniversary of the town in 2013, actually by my father, Mike Brown! He tried to tie together the impact Walt Whitman had on this town through quotes of his on the boardwalks and cleaning and maintaining a healthier environment there. These are some photos of what Crystal Springs looks like today!

This photo above is where Walt Whitman would sometimes shower to be more with nature!

Citation:

The Borough of Laurel Springs. Whitman History (1). Retrieved from https://www.laurelsprings-nj.com/home/pages/laurel-springs-history.

I am now home in southern New Jersey, and although I live in a suburb of Philadelphia with very little natural area, I do luckily live right down the street from a natural spring area. There is a little lake and some walking trails. Fun fact also, Walt Whitman used to vacation here and wrote a couple of his poems inspired by the nature in these photos!

The ecology and phenology here is quite different than in Vermont, so I am not 100% sure about the trees I saw. There are definitely some Red Oaks, Sweet Birches, and American Holly trees. These trees do not experience the same weather conditions as those at Redstone Pines on UVM campus. The climate in New Jersey has drastically changed in the past twenty years due to climate change. The temperatures in the winter do not get as cold, causing some trees to bloom earlier in the year and then die due to random cold days sprinkled throughout the spring season. There are also way less pines due to this!

Here are some photos of the lake and ecology near me!

I have also included a close up of where this is located and a further out screenshot to show the closeness to other major towns and cities!

Here is my event map of the Redstone Pines. As I walked along the fence and edge at first, there was some trash and mostly just fallen pine cones. While heading into the pines, I noticed signs of humans through more litter and a hammock that seemed to have been left there unattended. The trees have not changed much due to them being pines, and only their cones have fallen. There was some action of squirrels around, as they were climbing the trees and looking for food. Overall this area has not changed too much, especially because the temperatures have not drastically or significantly dropped yet.

Citation for all photos:

Brown, L. (2020). [Photograph] Publisher: Lizzy Brown

The Redstone Pines haven’t changed much in the past two weeks, other than more of the needles from the eastern white pines falling due to the colder weather. This is a sketch of the most prominent trees located in this location.

Brown, L. (2020). [Photograph] Publisher: Lizzy Brown