Old York Road Site

About the Program
Old York Road Site is an Ashland Inc. remediated property located in Burlington Township, New Jersey. Since 2012, the site actively manages 7 acres of grassland to prevent erosion and enhance habitat for wildlife. Team members monitor wildlife on-site, and conservation projects aim to increase vegetation and wildlife biodiversity in the habitat. In addition, university students from Rutgers University utilize ecologic conservation education opportunities on site through hands-on activities to cultivate data collection skills. Furthermore, the site actively controls invasive species.

Practices and Impacts

• The site manages 7 acres of grassland habitat using techniques such as annual rotational mowing. Team members inspect and survey the grassland annually for invasive species or signs of erosion and plant diversity. The remediated site enhances habitat for wildlife and protect the land from habitat loss or fragmentation via development or reuse. Vegetative cover increased to 95% by 2021.
• Invasive species are removed site-wide using mechanical and physical pulling. As of 2020, the site actively controls 6.67 acres of habitat to prevent invasive species form overtaking native vegetation.
• Grassland habitat is maintained to increase biodiversity and population of native cavity nesting birds. Six bird boxes are monitored weekly during nesting season and cleaned and repaired as needed. Employees installed predator guards to prevent nest predation or invasion. In 2021, all sex nest boxes were occupied and contained 34 fledglings.
• Bat boxes were installed on-site to provide safe habitat for bats and to assist in studying the use of artificial hibernacula. The boxes were erected facing south/southeast for maximum sun exposure and mounted 12 feet off the ground with a 20-foot, obstruction-free radius.
• Rutgers University students undergo formal hands-on ecology conservation learning opportunities. The students gain experience in conservation ecology, mastery of data collection and management and field observation by conducting nest box monitoring and wildlife and vegetation surveys at the Old York Road remediation site. The program reaches approximately four students per year over 180 hours.
• Since 2019, employees deploy two wildlife cameras for a week each season. Team members download and analyze footage of native mammalian species to increase migratory mammal species diversity and increase wildlife monitoring on site.  
• Employees coordinate annual rotational mowing schedules with community partners to ensure the health of the grassland habitat for wildlife, specifically pollinators. Pollinator surveys are conducted annually to monitor species presence.