NJ Pine Barrens Maritime-Culture-Landscape 1 1 2024

Human Impacts on the Pine Barrens and PLNR Reference: Richard Forman, Pine Barrens Landscapes, 1979
Count Niemcewicz* In 1799 traveled from Philadelphia to Batsto. Recorded a century plus or
more of human’s exploitation of the Pine Barrens. His comments appreciate a devastation of
the forested woodlands of the NJ Pine Barrens.
Atlantic white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) was extensively logged. Lumber was exported
to NYC, Philadelphia and the West Indies directly from major landings on Pine Barren rivers
(see Nelson).
In 1749, Peter Kalm a student of Linnaeus and Samuel Smith in 1765 record the cedars were
worked out.
By 1823 hundreds of men worked the cedar swamps around Little Egg Harbor. By the end of
the 19 th century cedar and Pine Barrens lumbering ended.
* Polish poet, playwright and statesman. sailed on the ship Adriana from Bristol, in England, in the company of the Portuguese
abbot and botanist, José Correia da Serra who served as the chaplain on ship for Niemcewicz and w Tadeusz Kościuszko (American
Revoultionary General). Arrived in Philadelphia on August 18, 1797. During his stay, he visited South Jersey and New York State. In
1798, elected a member of the American Philosophical Society. He chronicled his travels in his published work the Vine and Fig
Tree: Travels through America in 1797-1799, with account of life in New Jersey
Rancocas Pathways 105