Trout Brook, a Pequest River tributary which ultimately flows into the Delaware River in western New Jersey, received restoration adjacent to this Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) native wildflower meadow that was once a grazing pasture for dairy cows. This working farm now has cattle fenced out of the meadow and stream, and restoration of approximately 1,500′ of the banks and in-stream habitat could commence without further trampling by cows. Trout Scapes performed the survey and design and construction of this project in Warren County on Hope Farm for our client. We also planted hundreds of dormant willow, dogwood, and nine bark cuttings into restored banks and supervised the planting and protective tree tube installation of 200 native trees and shrubs in containers adjacent to the left bank in an area being reforested.
This project was funded by the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), a part of the US Agriculture Department and the WRP easement ensures that this native wildflower meadow and Trout Brook which flows through it will be in permanent preservation. Wood turtles and wild trout call this stream home. The planting work was completed in November 2020 after in-stream construction was completed in early October.