TU volunteers from our New York City chapter along with their family members including several high school students came out Saturday, November 5th to Asbury, NJ on a local dairy farm to help fence cows out of the stream and to plant native trees and shrubs within the new cattle exclosure to buffer this tributary.
Cows damage the stream banks by trampling on them as well as by eating all vegetation, allowing silt to run into the stream as well as eliminating shade to keep the river cool. Additionally, this stream tested very high for bovine fecal choliform during water quality tests. West Portal Brook is a native brook and wild brown trout stream that flows into the Musconetcong River.
In the spring of 2012, TU and other volunteers will complete the fencing on the opposite side of the stream and plant one final buffer in two smaller sections of former pasture land.
Downstream pasture now taken out of production to better protect this Musky tributary
Many thanks to this wonderful volunteer crew! This is their second fall out helping with a buffer planting on this very same stream. Last year these folks planted an additional 25 foot buffer to an existing 25 foot buffer on the Beatty Farm just next door along the Musconetcong River and an additional 3 acres in pine on West Portal Brook, also on the adjoining Beatty Farm (BSB Holsteins).
