The Joint Base McGuire/Dix/Lakehurst is about to become the newest beneficiary of a unique conservation project in Burlington County, Freeholder director Joe Donnelly announced, saying that the base will soon be home to a major share of 4,000 new trees.
“We have always prided ourselves in working closely with the Joint Base, its active military, and of course, those veterans who decide to call Burlington County home,” said Donnelly. “We’re now expanding into new territory, by arranging for trees to be planted on the base.
“The locations of the plantings still have to be decided,” he continued, “but it stands to reason that trees bring esthetic value to any setting, particularly the residential housing areas on the base.”
Thousands of trees already have been planted in Burlington County under the state’s No Net Loss Restoration Act, to make up for the more than 130 acres of trees cleared for the New Jersey Turnpike’s widening project in Bordentown Township, Chesterfield and Mansfield.
The County’s involvement in the tree replanting program dates back to early 2011, when Mansfield was awarded $1.9 million in state funds to replant trees in and around the municipality. The County then entered into a shared services agreement with Mansfield to provide technical assistance with the design, bidding and inspection of the plantings in the township.
In exchange, the County received 3,500 trees and shrubs, most of which were planted in County parks, including Crystal Lake in Mansfield, and the new County fairgrounds on Route 206 in Springfield.
“Logically, you would say ‘nice project, end of story,’” said Donnelly. “But actually, it doesn’t end there. The story gets better, in that when all the bills were paid, including trees, planting services, and engineering costs, we wound up with cost-savings of $600,000.”
He said those leftover grant dollars, coupled with another $1.1 million for the final phase of the program, is making it possible to include the Joint Base in the plantings. The funds will pay for another 4,000 trees and the equipment needed to maintain the plantings long-term.
The engineering responsibility for this massive undertaking will go to Taylor Design Group, which freeholders awarded a $248,670 contract, which is also covered by State grant dollars. The bid for the trees will come later in the year, in anticipation of a 2014 planting.
