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Abstract
The first purpose of this study was to deter-mine the visual quality of New Jersey Pine Barrens forests according to residents of the area. The goal of the study was to determine how to manage Pine Barrens forests to obtain high visual quality within the framework of residents' preferences, available by the Federal Omnibus Parks Acts of 1978 and proposed New Jersey state legislation establishing a Pinelands Commission and planning region. A small number of long-time residents of Washington Township, Burlington County, in the heart of the Pine Barrens, were asked to map sites of high and low visual quality. These residents took the investigators on field trips to photograph their sites, and the photographs then were shown to 20 township residents who ranked them from highest to lowest visual quality. Forest management techniques, such as various types of cutting, burning, and herbicide applications, were researched. Finally we analyzed the feasibility of employing local residents to manage Pine Barrens forests under the guidance of the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forests, and the Pinelands Commission. Results indicated that lowland forests of Atlantic white cedar, the most difficult forest type to obtain, ranked highest. The most important conclusion, however, is that residents like a diversity of landscapes rather than any one type. Management techniques and costs are much higher and more sophisticated for lowland than up-land forests. We determined that it is feasible to employ local residents to manage forests for visual diversity.
Parent Publication
Citation
Sinton, John W. 1979. Visual resources of the New Jersey Pine Barrens: integrating visual resources into the planning process. In: Elsner, Gary H., and Richard C. Smardon, technical coordinators. 1979. Proceedings of our national landscape: a conference on applied techniques for analysis and management of the visual resource [Incline Village, Nev., April 23-25, 1979]. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-35. Berkeley, CA. Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Exp. Stn., Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture: p. 454-461
