Loantaka Brook Reservation

Hi everyone. Are any of you familiar with Loantaka? I am. Its a small fragile, beautiful ecosystem, not even 7 miles end to end...I have witnessed snakes mating there , and regularly see snakes, turtles and frogs...wood frogs and others. TodayI saw two herons in the pond. But things have changed the last year or so...alot has been cut down, and now they are planning on doing "construction" to the pond this summer..or sooner, and are planning on dredging it and doing some work to the dam. The brook is the main artery...and the patient is on life support, and is dieing. With the dredging will come silt and mud, which will permanently damage and harm many species, down to the very simple algae that provide the food for the minnows, which bring in the herons... you get the picture. I am VERY concerned about the beautiful frogs and turtles and snakes I see..I have seen it over and over in this state where they disappear, and are gone FOREVER. World wide, amphibians are on a rapid decline...I am humbled and grateful when I see one in the wild..and yes, this is bothering me. What legacy are we leaving the children? Lets do something about this...if we can.

Hi Rich,
I have biked at Loantaka and it is indeed beautiful there. You raise some good points. Please come to our meeting and share your ideas and we'll see if we can help. It's this Thu Apr 23rd at Frank's Pizza in Mt Arlington.