The AssunpiWhere wildlife reigns

The AssunpiWhere wildlife reigns

JERRY WOLKOWITZ A fisherman waits for a bite along the banks of Assunpink Lake in the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area. The 5,600-acre area includes parts of Upper Freehold, Millstone and Roosevelt.

Hunters, anglers horse people all share Assunpink

By linda denicola

Staff Writernk Wildlife Management Area, located in western Monmouth and eastern Mercer counties, is one of the most natural, pristine settings in the area.

Growing on the lush green land, which encompasses 5,600 acres of fields, hedgerows and woods, is the typical vegetation of central New Jersey: maple and pine trees, as well as wetland trees like sweet gum and red maple. Upland are the oaks and hickory, said Raymond J. Porutski, regional superintendent for the state Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Central Region Office, located in Assunpink.

PHOTOS BY JERRY WOLKOWITZ Regional Superintendent Raymond J. Porutski stands outside the Central Region Office, located on Clarksburg-Robbinsville Road.

The area, which forms Upper Freehold’s northern border with Millstone and Roosevelt, is home to fox, deer, wild turkeys, geese, ducks, quail, hawks, possum, pheasant and a variety of birds. Driving down one of the dirt roads, Porutski looked for a wild turkey that he said usually hung around the area eating bugs, but the turkey was either gone or hiding.

A brown fox also peeked out From the side of an unpaved road, but quickly disappeared.

On this particular midweek day in late June, it was a quiet wildlife paradise, except for the buzz of remote-control airplanes owned by members of the Mercer County Radio Control Club, which has leased a field not far from the regional office for approximately 30 years.

"Fish and wildlife areas are not really compatible with model airplane flying. Our main objective here is fishing and hunting," Porutski noted.

The land remains dedicated to natural wildlife and not to sports fields for games like soccer or baseball. There are no tennis courts or swimming pools. There is a bow-and-arrow range with hay bales and a shotgun area for clay bird shooting. There are no tours and no naturalist on hand.

"But there may be in the future," Porutski said. "Eventually, if we ever get a good source of general funding, we would probably consider getting into camping."

The area did have camping about 30-40 years ago, he said, but it was eliminated because of lack of funding, and there is no proposal to bring it back.

The Central Region Office is currently located in an old farmhouse at 386 Clarksburg-Robbinsville Road, but will move to a new facility being constructed near the Herbert Road entrance. "The new office will open in about a year," Porutski said.

The current office building and two vacant houses in the Roosevelt section of the wildlife area are being evaluated for historic significance. If they are not deemed historic, they will be demolished.

There are very few buildings in Assunpink. Besides the office building, there’s the Assunpink Conservation Center, built in 1985 and located near the new central office construction site. Used by sportsmen’s clubs and other groups, it seats 50 people and has a kitchen and restrooms.

There are also another three houses where people live. Two are occupied by Division of Fish and Wildlife security personnel. The occupants of the third, the Stillwell house, retain lifetime rights, Porutski said.

Approximately 1,000 acres, or about a fifth of the Assunpink area, is farmed by a handful of farmers who, in exchange for their leases, have to leave 15 percent of their crops of corn, soybeans and winter wheat standing for the animals to forage.

"They all provide seed products that animals will utilize," Porutski said.

Porutski, whose father was a sportsman, double majored in wildlife and fisheries management at Cook College, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, and then became a fisheries biologist for five years. Seventeen years ago he took on the busy position of regional supervisor of the central region of the Division of Fish and Wildlife. "I thought it would be a neat career to go into," he said.

The Trenton-based Fish and Wildlife arm of the Department of Environmental Protection has three regional offices, north, south and central, and manages more than 234,000 acres of land. Founded in 1892, the division purchased its first 100,000 acres with hunting and fishing license money. The oldest wildlife area, in Sussex County, was acquired in 1932.

Today the state manages 99 wildlife areas which provide fishing, crabbing, hawk watching, hunting, outdoor photography, dog training, nature hikes, wildlife observation, outdoor education, and bow-and-arrow, shotgun and rifle training. The division has re-established the wild turkey, bobcat and bear populations and maintains an aggressive deer management program, stocks 50,000 pheasant and 5,000 quail each year, and has an active black bear research project to monitor population and habitat.

According to Porutski, 20-25 people work out of the office in the Assunpink. There are 12-14 conservation officers. "They used to be called game wardens and they have county-wide responsibilities. They are the law enforcement officers of hunting and fishing," he explained. The state police also patrol the area, he added.

"Most of the problem is the kids coming out and drinking and whipping around" with their all-terrain vehicles, he said.

Alcohol is illegal in the wildlife area. "If we catch a fisherman with beer, they’re going to get a summons," he said, and the same applies to anyone who uses the park, whether they be hunters, horse riders or bird watchers.

Generally, Porutski said, there are few problems in Assunpink, and that’s the way he likes it.

"Boring, less headaches for me," he said.

Except for a drowning several years ago when a vehicle rolled into Rising Sun Lake, Porutski said he is unaware of any serious accidents occurring in Assunpink. Things are pretty much routine, he said.

Some of the horse people complain about litter and tend to blame the hunters, but Porutski said, "it’s not a serious problem."

There’s nothing seasonal about it either. "We have litter all year round," he said.

There have been conflicts between the hunters and horse people. For that reason, Porutski said, they have put out additional information to horse people and "advised they ride on Sundays when no hunting is allowed."

They also make sure people applying for bridle trail permits are aware of popular hunting season dates.

Of the 14 wildlife management areas where horseback riding is permitted by permit in designated areas, Assunpink is the most popular.

"[We] now have stables surrounding the place," he said.

The wildlife management area supports a substantial deer herd and upland game population that offers excellent hunting opportunities for both the bow and shotgun enthusiast, he said. The principal native species of upland game are quail and rabbits. Squirrels, woodcock and grouse are also present. The division’s stocking program ensures a supply of pheasants and quail during the hunting season.

Porutski said he has no idea how many people use the Assunpink property. The last study of park users was done about 30 years ago, he said.

They also "don’t really have a handle on the numbers [of hunters] who are coming in," he said, but estimates there are about 750 to 1,000 for the small game season, which begins in early November.

Deer season, which includes bow, firearm and shotgun seasons, "really goes for three or four months," he said, from about the second week in October to the first week in February.

The most popular hunting seasons are the six-day firearm season in early December; the permit deer shotgun season, tentatively scheduled for three days in mid December and again for most of the month of January; and the pheasant and quail season, tentatively scheduled for Nov. 10 to Feb. 11, according to information issued to horseback permit applicants.

Assunpink consists mostly of dirt roads devoid of signs, and while some visitors would like to have trail markings "at this point, we really haven’t gotten into it," Porutski said.

The wooded eastern part of the wildlife area has a number of trails and unrestricted riding areas.

"People do get lost in here occasionally," said Porutski, who is responsible for managing this Eden-like setting as well as 24 other wildlife management areas that add up to 80,000 acres and extend south to Smithville. He does this with a staff of seven people.

"We have to maintain the roads, manage the fields and all of the visitors, most of whom are hunters and fishermen," he said.

The fields are an ongoing maintenance problem, Porutski said. "The biggest shrub problems are the autumn or Russian olive, and multiflora rose. They were both introduced in the 1960s as a wildlife food plant because they produce berries. They are great wildlife berry plants, but they spread so fast that they take over. If we’d known that the control of the harvest was so difficult, we would never have introduced them. Now we have to live with it. The fields have to be mowed every two or three years," he said.

The Russian olive trees have enclosed areas that were formerly trails. Several Horse Association of Millstone Township members are involved with trail clearing, including the removal of the trees.

"After you get land from [the state] Green Acres [Program], you have to maintain it. All our money comes from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses," he said. Hunting licenses run $28 per year and fishing licenses $22. There is also a $28 permit fee for each of the various deer hunting seasons. Deer quotas are established in the spring for the fall, he said.

The Assunpink is the state’s main field trial area for bird dogs. They are judged on their pointing and retrieving. Field trials are primarily conducted during the spring and fall. Also the Monmouth Hunt organization, which has a lease with the state Fish and Wildlife Division, has jumps on various trails in Assunpink.

The area is considered one of the best for bird watching in central New Jersey.

Now that the DEP’s Green Acres Program has closed on the Notterman tract in Roosevelt, it will become part of the Assunpink Wildlife Area to be managed by the Division of Fish and Wildlife. The tract includes 109 acres of open farmland and woodlands on Eleanor Lane and North Valley Road. It adjoins Empty Box Brook which drains into the Assunpink.

Roosevelt Mayor Michael Hamilton, who lives on Pine Drive right next to the Assunpink, says it is wonderful to be so close. He said he sees all kinds of wildlife and birds, including heron.

Access can be gained via routes 524, 571, 539 and Exit 11 off Route 195.

For information, call the Central Region Office of the Division of Fish and Wildlife at (609) 259-2132. The Internet address is: www.njfishandwildlife.com.