Introducing East Brunswick Green

The Friends of the East Brunswick Environmental Commission and the East Brunswick Patch are pleased to announce a new online series, East Brunswick Green.

The series will spotlight nature and environmental topics around our town. The best part of this new forum is that we want you to be the authors by submitting your own stories, poetry and art about nature and the environment in our parks, open spaces, backyards or anywhere else in East Brunswick. Anything and everything environmental is open as a topic and children are welcome and encouraged to submit.

We will feature these on the Friends website (www.friendsebec.com) and right here on East Brunswick Patch. Help us chronicle the wonderful biodiversity and all things environmental in our town.

As East Brunswick residents we are fortunate to have wonderful parks and open spaces to explore. East Brunswick is located along two rivers, in the eastern migratory flyway for birds, butterflies, moths and dragonflies and at the transition zone between northern and southern habitats and species. Geologically, East Brunswick is in the Inner Coastal Plain, an area marked by fertile soils and rolling topography. Our weather is moderate with cold winters, sometimes snowy, sometimes not, and warm, humid summers. All four seasons are pronounced. Precipitation is generally evenly distributed throughout the year and droughts and hurricanes are infrequent. Winter Nor’easter’s with heavy snow and wind occur regularly. All of these factors combine to create a wonderful diversity of habitats and excellent biodiversity.

Even with the heavy development of the past 30 years, East Brunswick has retained an abundance of incredible wildlife habitats including freshwater tidal creeks and marshes, floodplains, vernal pools, farmland, mature forests, all kinds of wetlands, scrubby fields, streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, and the most northern extent of the Pine Barrens vegetation outlier. East Brunswick also has numerous parks and open spaces. The Friends of the East Brunswick Environmental Commission and the Environmental Commission are very active in town and have developed many award-winning and innovative programs including Butterfly Park, the first municipal butterfly park in the country, the annual salamander migration protection plan, Moth Nights, Big Tree and Raptor Nest contests, the Community Garden and many more. So, let’s explore these wonderful areas in our town together and share what we find, spotlighting all things about the environment in our own backyard.

Submit your nature and environmental stories to friends.ebec@gmail.com or to john.saccenti@patch.com.