Wild New Jersey Exclusive: WNJ Tours the Highland Woods Environmental Education Reserve
Highland Woods Environmental Education Reserve.
All photos by David Wheeler, Edison Wetlands Association
By Jillian Weislo, WNJ Correspondent
Hidden at the end of an industrial road in South Plainfield is the 35-acre Highland Woods Environmental Education Reserve. The Reserve, managed by the Friends of the Woods, includes streams, uplands, and wetlands that provide habitat for over eighty species of birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. WildNewJersey.tv’s David Wheeler and Jill Weislo recently visited Friends of the Woods learn more about this environmental education sanctuary.
Back in 1995, Dorothy Miele and Alice Temple started leading guided walks through the Reserve for school environmental clubs and birding groups. Their passion for nature and the area grew, and ten years later they were able to get a Middlesex Recreation Grant to open an education center.
Having gotten to know the area so well, Dorothy and Alice have put together a truly impressive nature center. From huge, self-made binders filled with diverse plant identifications, to different mammal skulls, to the mortar and pestles that the Lenape Indians used for grinding grain, the nature center has a wealth of information and real-life learning specimens.
A mortar and pestles that the Lenape Indians used.
“The reason I love this job is because it gives kids interesting opportunities to learn," Miele told us. "It’s amazing when you see how enthusiastic they get about learning. Some kids that come in here have never held a worm or have never taken a walk in the woods. Being able to give them that experience is why I love what I do.”
Visits to Friends of the Woods are by appointment only, which can be made by e-mailing spnaturetrails@verizon.net. Boy and Girl Scout Groups, class trips, and individual visits are all welcome. Open Houses are held monthly on Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. and include free guided walks. Visit Friends of the Woods or send an e-mail to the address above for more information.
Mammal skulls along with facts are displayed.
Many species of birds can be found at the Reserve.
Creative displays, such as the one above, line the walls of the nature center.
Visitors can enjoy birding on an outside deck.
Posted by WILDNEWJERSEY at 6/30/2010 1:00 PM 
Categories: WNJ Exclusives
Tags: environmental education South Plainfield Highland Woods Environmental Education Reserve Friends of the Woods
Categories: WNJ Exclusives
Tags: environmental education South Plainfield Highland Woods Environmental Education Reserve Friends of the Woods
Please let me know if there are any activities planned for this Spring (2012) RE Higland Woods/other nature area/clean-up/maintenace/etc. As always I look forward to participate.
Thanks, E. Zappi (send email). I will also try to call the Env. Commission directly.
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