Maureen Ogden Reserve

Willow Place, East Hanover, Morris County, New Jersey

Directions:

From George Washington Bridge: take Route 80 West to Route 287 South; get off at Exit 39A for  Route 10 East; proceed on Route 10 East for 2.8 miles.  When you see Novartis on the right side of the corner of Ridgedale Ave, go another ½ mile to a U-Turn at jug handle (just before the next light at the Sony Movie Theater). Make U-Turn to Route 10 West. Proceed to a right turn onto Littel Road and shortly a right onto Ridgedale Avenue; drive around 2.6 miles to just before Lurker Park and Eagle Rock Avenue (Sunoco on left) and make a left onto Willow Place. Park along the road.

History:

Maureen Ogden was a New Jersey Conservation Association Foundation (NJCF) Advisory Council member and former Chair of the Garden State Preservation Trust. The NJCF (founded 1960) is one of the nation's premier land conservation organizations.  She was conservation chair of the New Jersey chapters of the Garden Clubs of America.

She was also an assembly woman from Essex County. 

In 1995 Assemblywoman Ogden received the Highlands Heritage Award.   For decades, Maureen Ogden put her stamp on practically every piece of "green" legislation coming out of Trenton.  (http://www.gsenet.org/library/14njs/actvt507.php)

ANJEC gives a Maureen Ogden Award for extraordinary public service for New Jersey's people and environment.

Habitats:

The land was sensitive wetlands near Troy Meadows, Morris County, which NJCF named in her honor.

Trails:

11/11/04.  I had visited the Joseph G. Lurker Park on Ridgedale Avenue in the early morning and hiked the Patriot's Path heading east over into Essex County.  After finishing with that park I started looking for the Patriot's Path heading west.  I drove down Willow Place and saw the signs for the Maureen Ogden Reserve on the left opposite a row of houses on the right. 

The power cut I found at Lurker Park extends west across the Ogden Reserve.  I did not see any trails per se, but did notice a very narrow opening through the Phragmites australis (giant reed grass).  So I will go back and go through this hole in the Phragmites wall to investigate the Reserve and to see if they have extended the Patriot's Path to the west.

4/20/2005.  Ceferino Santana, dog Sonar and I parked along the street.  We went through the wall of Phragmites via a very narrow path.  The way was open to a wide causeway with swampy ground on either side.  We were hoping that the causeway would go a long way, maybe even into next-door Troy Meadows, but the path very shortly dead-ended at more swamp.  We could have only proceeded if we wore our boots/hiking shoes instead of our sneakers.  We did not stay long.  Dr. Patrick L. Cooney. 

Source:

Jay Biskup {[email protected]}1 Nov 2000, NJCF CELEBRATES 40 YEARS OF LAND PRESERVATION LEADERSHIP
NAMES PRESERVE IN HONOR OF MAUREEN OGDEN AT ANNIVERSARY DINNER. http://www.gsenet.org/library/11gsn/2000/gs01101a.php

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
* = plant found in bloom on date of field trip, 04/20/2005

Trees:
Acer platanoides (Norway maple) *
Acer rubrum (red maple) *
Amelanchier arborea (shadbush) *
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Pyrus sp. (crab apple) *soon
Quercus palustris (pin oak)
Salix alba var. (weeping willow)
Ulmus americana (American elm)

Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry) 
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush) *
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus phoenicolasius (black raspberry)
Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)
Viburnum prunifolium (blackhaw viburnum)

Vines:
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)

Herbs:
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Allium vineale (field garlic)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Geum canadense (white avens)
Impatiens sp. (jewelweed)
Lemna sp. (duckweed)
Polygonum virginianum (jumpseed)
Rumex crispus (curled dock)
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Typha latifolia (broad-leaved cattail)
Verbascum thapsus (common mullein)
Viola sororia (common blue violet) *

Sedges:
Carex pensylvanica (Pennsylvania sedge)

Grasses:
Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stilt grass)
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue grass)
Phragmites australis (giant reed grass)

Ferns and fern allies:
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)