Land Stewardship ensures that Schiff Nature Preserve is "preserved in perpetuity for conservation and passive recreational purposes" and follows the Open Space Management Plan, which was written when Schiff Natural Lands Trust, Inc. acquired the property in 1998.

Flowing from this, there are two primary stewardship goals at Schiff Nature Preserve. The first is to provide exemplary public access. We accomplish this through maintaining over 8-miles of trails and supporting the activities of the Schiff Nature Center through creation of demonstration projects and maintenance of a variety of buildings and supporting infrastructure. The second goal is to conserve the maximum amount and variety of native plants and animals that live at Schiff Nature Preserve. We do this by finding creative, cost effective ways to deal with the major problems threatening the ecological health of Schiff Nature Preserve.

The Trails at Schiff Nature Preserve


There are over 8-miles of trails at Schiff Nature Preserve that traverse a number of habitats and historically important areas. They are enjoyed by hundreds of hikers, mountain bikers, and horseback riders every year. The trails are open daily from dawn to dusk. Maintenance of the trails involves keeping them well marked with blazes and directional signs, mowing, and removing of downed trees and branches.

The distances of the trails are as follows:
Red:1.39 miles
Blue Loop (with road sections included): 2.4 miles
White (Great Meadow Loop): 0.7 miles
Green (Green Bar Bill): 1.19 miles
Yellow (Olde Colonial Road): 0.68 miles
Purple (Ann's Trail): 0.84 miles
Orange (Farrelly Trail): 0.88 miles

Demonstration Projects

A woodland garden demonstration project will be created through support of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program. It will showcase the variety of native plants that should be found at Schiff Nature Preserve and illustrate how visitors can make their yard wildlife friendly.

A bluebird trail has also been developed that has significantly increased the breeding population of bluebirds at Schiff Nature Preserve. The bluebird trail is integrated into workshops and educational opportunities for the general public.

Building and Infrastructure Maintenance

There are several buildings at Schiff Nature Preserve as well as a network of woods roads used for public access and emergency purposes. The most important building at Schiff Nature Preserve is the Marge Davidson Administration Building. It houses the Schiff Nature Center and is the heart of the operations and educational programs of Schiff Natural Lands Trust. This building will be undergoing substantial renovations in 2005.

The main entrance road has been resurfaced, made one way, and extended in 2005. It is important to observe the 15 mph speed limit on this road to ensure the safety of our visitors and our wildlife. All of the woods roads on the preserve are monitored and kept open for emergency and management purposes.

Continuing the Open Space Preservation Effort

The primary threat to the future of Schiff Nature Preserve is potential residential development of neighboring properties. Development leads to destruction of forest and grassland habitats and permanent conversion of these habitats to houses, lawns, and pavement. This "habitat fragmentation" in turn results in the other major ecological threats seen at Schiff; introduction of invasive non-native plant species and an overabundant white-tailed deer population.

To address the problem of habitat fragmentation, Schiff Natural Lands Trust has created the "Schiff to Mount Paul Greenway" project in partnership with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Green Acres Program, the Morris County Park Commission, the Morris County Open Space and Farmland Preservation Program and Mendham Township. The goal of this project is to create a permanently protected open space greenway between Schiff Nature Preserve and Mount Paul County Park. Preservation of the greenway adjacent to the 340-acre Schiff Nature preserve will prevent additional residential development and protect mature forests and grasslands. For more information on the numerous benefits of open space greenways visit www.gardenstategreenways.org

Dealing ecological threats at Schiff Nature Preserve: overabundant white tailed deer and invasive non-native plants

White tailed deer densities are perhaps 10x the ecological carrying capacity at Schiff. Overabundant deer are preferably browsing native understory plants. As the native plants are browsed, it provides growing space for less palatable non-native invasive plants to proliferate. There is almost a complete absence of native understory shrubs, wildflowers, and tree seedlings at Schiff Nature Preserve. This has serious implications for the future of the forests at Schiff and for the types of animals that call Schiff home.

As large trees naturally die in a healthy forest, smaller trees should be taking their place. This process is not happening at Schiff Nature Preserve. When trees fall at Schiff, gaps that are formed are filled with non-native invasive species, not new trees. As the structure of the understory is browsed away by overabundant deer, that important habitat layer is lost. The shrub layer that is being lost is especially important for certain migrating songbirds which are becoming less common at Schiff Nature Preserve. To address these serious ecological problems, Schiff Nature Preserve has begun to implement a deer control project.

Another ecological threat to Schiff Nature Preserve is non-native invasive plants. These tend to be plants that were introduced from Europe and Asia and have established themselves in our forests and grasslands. White tailed deer prefer to eat the native plants while the invasives are unpalatable. In addition, non-native invasive plants have other competitive advantages that allow them to proliferate even in areas where deer populations low. As native plants get replaced by non-native invasive plants, entire habitats can change affecting the amount and diversity of wildlife. |

The most wide-ranging and potentially effective measure Schiff Natural Lands Trust is taking to control non-native invasive plants is to lower the population of deer on the nature preserve through our deer control project. Where it is feasible, we are also actively controlling targeted non-native invasive plant species. These include oriental bittersweet, open-grown Russian and Autumn Olive, and the Tree-of-Heaven.

For more information on how to identify and control non-native invasive plant species visit: http://www.invasive.org/eastern/

Maintenance of Grassland Habitat

Not only are the Great Meadow and Farrelly Tract beautiful grassland areas, they play an important ecological role by providing unique wildlife habitat. Schiff Nature Preserve has been working with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, and the Ralston Fire Company to remove non-native invasive plant species and conduct prescribed burns, which maintain these unique grassland habitats. Although prescribed burning is conducted primarily to reduce the danger of a wildfire starting on the Nature Preserve and damaging adjoining homes, it has the added benefit of being a more natural and cost effective way to maintain native grasslands.

For more information on Stewardship at Schiff Nature Preserve or if you are interested in volunteering, please call us at 973-543-6004.