A New Buffer Zone in Burnham Park

This past weekend, a wonderful group of volunteers from the Burnham Park Association and the Morristown Shade Tree Commission installed a new riparian buffer zone barrier in Burnham Park - adding wooden stakes and rope along the southern edges of the Lower Pond in Burnham Park. This zone will protect the pollinators against mowers, especially in the early spring when they are very active and the project was approved by the Town to help preserve the native riparian buffer.

What is a riparian buffer? 

A riparian buffer is the land area bordering a body of water. The health of a riparian buffer directly impacts water quality of its neighboring body of water. Healthy riparian buffer zones include deep rooted and native perennial plants, shrubs and trees. These deep roots provide many benefits including :

• filtering nutrients, pesticides, sediment and animal waste from land runoff; 

• stabilizing eroding banks; 

• providing shade, shelter, and food for fish and other aquatic life; 

• providing wildlife habitat and corridors for terrestrial organisms - especially beneficial pollinators - ; and

• protecting  downstream communities from flood damage as it absorbs and holds more rainwater runoff (Source: USDA Forest Service)

In addition, a healthy riparian buffer zone improves water quality by filtering runoff (good for fish) and discourages geese - who fear predators that might lurk in the vegetation (so the geese and might seek more open access waters to inhabit). 

The posts and rope have been installed as a guide for mowing but those who fish and

other park visitors can navigate around them if desired. If you have any questions, please reach out to the Burnham Park Association (pz.stc.morristown@gmail.com).

Dominic Cheng, Kristin Ace, Paula Zimin, Don Siebert, Rick Bye, Suzanne Mutz Darwell, Scott Wild, pictured above.

• The other volunteers included Mark and Mary Walmsley, Douglas Vorolieff, Ken MacBain, and many more!

Interested in seeing more?

Check out some lovely photos of all of our volunteers as they help protect the ecosystems of our park.