GREAT PIECE MEADOWS
Lincoln Park Township, Morris County, NJ  and Fairfield, Essex County, NJ
4,275 acres

Directions:

US 87; 26 US 287; 47 Exit 47 Route 202N; cross RR tracks; right onto Pine Brook Road; immediate left onto Two Bridges Road/Peace Valley Road/Pine Brook Road; bear right Pine Brook Road/Two Bridges Road.

Great Piece Meadows lies to the north of Troy Meadows.

Geology:

Part of ancient Lake Passaic; the Passaic Meadows includes the Great Swamp, Black Meadows, Troy Meadows, Hatfield Swamp, Lee Meadows, Little Piece Meadows, Great Piece Meadows, and Bog and Vly Meadows (much of it drained to create Lincoln Park).

The two largest remaining wetland complexes in the Passaic River Basin are the 4275 acre Great Piece Meadow owned by various private parties and the 3100 acre Troy Meadows owned by Wildlife Preserves Inc. The latter has indicated the need to sell soon. (The Impact of Federal Programs on Wetlands - Vol. II; http://www.doi.gov/oepc/wetlands2/ v2ch17.html).

The Newark based, private nonprofit Wildlife Preserves Inc. dedicates itself to conservation, education and research. It owns and protects more than 5,000 acres of wildlife sanctuary land in New Jersey, including land in Troy Meadows, Great Piece Meadows and Hatfield Swamp in Morris County and elsewhere.

The Army Corps of Engineers intends to purchase the privately owned property to prevent its development and to mitigate flooding of the Passaic River.

The site had been utilized for a sand mining operation and large portions of the site were filled or degraded.

1985  --  beginning date of project planning.

1998  --  beginning date of implementation.

Restoration:

The objectives of the restoration plan are to:

1) Restore the site to a mixed open water, emergent, shrub/scrub and forested wetland community;
2) restore approximately 1 million cubic yards of flood storage capacity; and
3) restore wildlife habitat and enhance nutrient removal capacity within the watershed.
The project has sbeen fuinded by C & C Builders.

It is an Approved Mitigation Bank by the Wetlands Mitigation Council of NJ.
(http://www.nj.gov/dep/landuse/fww/mitigate/banks.html#bank7)

Source:

Environmental Protection Agency: Office of Water: Put Your Project on the Map
http://yosemite.epa.gov/water/restorat.nsf/0/439136b86f66e9dc85256696005b6b68?OpenDocument

Trails:

There is not much parking here. I finally found a spot to pull off into. 

There are no formal trails.  The place is obviously used by fishermen, judging by the litter.

This is a great floodplain. Many of the classic floodplain trees are here. It is worth visiting, but wonder what it could be combined with to make a full day tour.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney

7/10/97 = plant found in bloom on date of field trip, 7/10/97

Trees:
Acer saccharinum (silver maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Betula nigra (river birch)
Carya cordiformis (bitternut hickory)
Catalpa sp. (catalpa)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fraxinus nigra (black ash)
Fraxinus pensylvanica (red ash)
Liquidambar styraciflua (sweetgum)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)

Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Cephalanthus occidentalis (buttonbush)
Cornus alternifolia (alternate leaved dogwood)
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood) whole bunch of it
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus sp. (black berry)
Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)
Viburnum dentatum (arrowwood viburnum)

Vines:
Cuscuta sp. (dodder)
Dioscorea villosa (wild yam root)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaved greenbrier)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis aestivalis (summer grape)
Vitis labrusca (fox grape)

Herbs:
Allium vineale (field garlic)
Ambrosia trifida (giant ragweed)
Apocynum sp. (dogbane)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed) 7/10/97
Bidens sp. (beggar ticks)
Commelina communis (Asiatic dayflower)
Galium palustre (marsh bedstraw)
Hypericum perforatum (common St. Johnswort) 7/10/97
Impatiens sp. (jewelweed)
Iris sp. (blue or yellow flag iris)
Lepidium virginicum (wild pepperweed) 7/10/97
Lysimachia ciliata (fringed loosestrife) 7/10/97
Lysimachia nummularia (moneywort)
Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife)
Myosotis laxa (smaller forget-me-not) 7/10/97
Nymphaea variegata (spatterdock)
Oxalis stricta (yellow wood sorrel)
Peltandra virginica (arrow arum)
Pilea pumila (clearweed)
Plantago major (common plantain)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose knotweed) 7/10/97
Polygonum virginianum (jumpseed)
Pontederia cordata (pickerelweed) 7/10/97
Potentilla canadensis (dwarf cinquefoil)
Potentilla norvegica (rough cinquefoil)
Potentilla simplex (common cinquefoil)
Typha angustifolia (narrow-leaved cattail)
Viola sp. (violet)

Rushes and Sedges:
Carex lupulina (sedge)
Carex rosea (sedge)
Juncus effusus (soft rush)
Juncus tenuis (path rush)
Scirpus atrovirens (dark green bulrush)

Grasses:
Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stilt grass)
Panicum sp. (panic grass)
Phalaris arundinacea (reed canary grass) all over the place
Phragmites australis (giant reed grass)
Setaria sp. (foxtail grass)

Ferns and Fern Allies:
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)

* source: Morris County Planning Board. 2000. A Natural Resource Management Guide for the County of Morris.
button-bush dodder *
cattail sedge *
Louisiana sedge *