The 24th annual Pinelands Short Course will feature 33 presentations, including 18 new programs that will explore the region’s unique history, ecology, culture and music.
“The Pinelands Commission is proud to present this outstanding lineup of educational programs,” said Nancy Wittenberg, the commission’s executive director. “Each year, this event raises awareness and appreciation of this special part of New Jersey.”
According to a press release, the Pinelands Short Course is sponsored by the New Jersey Pinelands Commission and Burlington County College’s Pinelands Institute for Natural and Environmental Studies. The program will be held on March 23 at Burlington County College’s Pemberton Township campus. It is open to everyone who is interested in learning about the Pinelands. Last year’s event attracted more than 600 people.
This year’s event includes two live musical performances and four field trips, including a guided canoe tour along a 3.3-mile section of the Rancocas Creek.
The new courses include a presentation with live hawks, owls and falcons, as well as programs on container gardening with carnivorous plants, the Pinelands and its role in the Revolutionary War, roadsides and rare plants, conservation issues in the Pinelands, preserving land to protect bog turtles, Barnegat Bay shellfish, cranberries, the Invasive Species Strike Team, estuaries and the Pine Barrens, pathogens in New Jersey amphibians, Eastern fence lizards, Island Beach State Park, an ecotour of the Great Bay Boulevard Peninsula, the wetlands environment, orienteering, capturing the beauty of the Pinelands through photography, and a hike of the Dot and Brooks Evert Trail in the Franklin Parker Preserve.
The event also will feature popular courses from previous years, including a discussion about New Jersey’s biodiversity and presentations on Pinelands frogs, toads and fish, current research on the Northern Pine Snake, the secret world of plants and pollinators, forest modeling, a pictorial journey of the Pine Barrens, early advocates of the Pinelands, wilderness survival, Double Trouble State Park and Whitesbog Village Living History.
Canoes, paddles and life jackets will be provided for participants who register for the Rancocas Creek canoe tour. Participants should have some canoeing experience, and registration will be limited.
Discounted registration fees are offered to senior citizens and students. The Short Course brochure and registration form includes complete, detailed descriptions of every program and presenter.
To request an event brochure/registration form or for more information, call 609-894- 7300, ext. 125. The registration form can be printed from the Pinelands Commission’s website at www.nj.gov/pinelands.