Penn State Forest

rdf:langString Penn State Forest

rdf:langString Penn State Forest

rdf:langString Atlantic white cedar trees with light gray trunks grow in a dense group along the banks of the Oswego River—a narrow, twisting, and slow-flowing river. The trees are reflected in the rippled water. Grass grows along the riverbank around the trees.

rdf:langString Atlantic white cedars along the banks of the Oswego River

rdf:langString Location in the United States##Location in New Jersey

rdf:langString Penn State Forest

rdf:langString Penn State Forest is a 3,366-acre (5.259 sq mi) state park in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. The forest is protected as a section of the environmentally sensitive Pine Barrens. Various recreational resources are available to visitors including Oswego Lake and the Oswego River for swimming, boating, and fishing. The lake has a picnic area with a boat launch, swimming area, and primitive restrooms. Miles of unpaved roads composed of gravel, dirt, and sand traverse all areas of the forest. The roads are open for hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, and cross-country skiing, as well as four-wheel driving. Hunting for deer, wild turkey, water fowl, and small game is permitted in season. A section of the Pine Barren Plains, a globally rare dwarf forest ecosystem that reaches a mature canopy height of about 4 ft (1.2 m), is located in the northeastern portion of the park. Penn State Forest is operated and maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry. The nearest settled areas include the unincorporated communities of Jenkins Neck in Washington Township to the southwest, Chatsworth in Woodland Township to the northwest, and Warren Grove, Manakawkin and Long Beach Island in Ocean County to the east-southeast. The northern section of Bass River State Forest is located to the north while the easternmost portions of Wharton State Forest and the main portion of Bass River State Forest are located to the south. The first recorded inhabitants of the area were a branch of the Lenape tribe of Indians. Europeans built a small settlement called Penn Place on the Oswego River in the 19th century. The state purchased the land in 1910 and created what was initially called Penn Reserve. The Civilian Conservation Corps began building the park's gravel roads in 1933. A large-scale military exercise involving a division of army troops from Fort Dix participated in a mock invasion in 1941, prior to the US entry to World War II. Penn State Forest served as the temporary division headquarters during the exercise. In 1971, a supersonic jet on military bombing practice runs crashed through the park's fire lookout tower creating a 1 mi (1.6 km) long path of destruction. From the 1950s to the 1970s, many proposals for a massive jetport spanning much of Burlington County failed to materialize due to increasing environmental concerns. In 1978, the federal government designated the New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve, further protecting Penn, Wharton, and Byrne state forests as well as all the surrounding Pine Barrens from future development efforts.

rdf:langString Jenkins Neck and Chatsworth