Welcome to

Red Hill

Photo Credit of Joseph R. Arsenault 2009

About Red Hill

Welcome to Red Hill! Red Hill is an important ecosystem, located right here in Scotch Plains. Carved out by glacial erosions millions of years ago, Red Hill resembles a pine barrens ecosystem, commonly found in South Jersey. It is surrounded by wetlands but comprises pine trees and sandy soil. This Girl Scout Gold Award project aims to protect the area from invasive species and help promote species such as white pines necessary for a pine forest. As you’ll notice, there are some tubes standing up out of the ground. These tubes are meant to protect the native white pine species and promote growth. Please be respectful of Red Hill and practice leave no trace to help maintain this ecosystem for years to come.

Location of Red Hill

Red Hill is a small, 9‐acre undeveloped knoll within the Union County Ash Brook Reservation. It can be accessed via the path behind Union County Vocational Technical School. Red Hill is a unique pine barren ecosystem.

My Gold Award

My name is Maisie Shimko and a sustainable science student at Union County Vocational Technical School. I was interested to preserve Ashbrook Reservation and the Red Hill area as a student. I loved the area but it needed stewardship.

At first I thought the trail to Red Hill needed a sign so others could easily see it, but after spending so much time back here, I think it's better as a protected destination off the beaten path. Thanks to Union County Parks and Recreation, especially Mr. Daniel Bernier, the path to Red Hill has better access now. Through multiple volunteer days, we've managed to pick up nearly 100 pounds of trash leading into Red Hill.

Mr. Bernier and Dr. Shebitz, ecology professor at Kean University, walked these woods with me and taught me so much about this unique pine barren forest. These experts helped me identify the native species we needed to protect and the invasive species that didn't belong. Each visit to Red Hill taught me more about what the ecosystem needed.

Together with volunteers we removed countless sweetgum saplings, because they don't belong in a pine barren ecosystem. We also discovered that although there are many mature white pines, there is a lack of juvenile white pines. We set out to find infant white pines and protect them from deer and other animals that like to nibble on young trees. My goal was to preserve this pine barren haven.

Another piece of my Gold Award was making a sustainable change. Luckily my teacher and advisor, Mrs. Joanna Knoblauch, has been instrumental in teaching me and my classmates sustainability strategies. It is our hope that Red Hill will continue to serve as an outdoor classroom to future classes of sustainable science students at UCTECH. It teaches the importance of land stewardship and sustainable forestry. It is my hope that there will be a yearly schedule (built into the teacher’s curriculum) to allow for students and advisors to hike the trail, study the ecosystem, and weed invasive species

My Gold Award will be shared with the Scotch Plains Fanwood Girl Scout Council as well as neighboring towns. I have encouraged my friends, family members, volunteers from Girl Scouts, and the town's Green Team to seek out Red Hill not only as a place to volunteer but a place to learn from.

The 2009 RahwayRiver.org study of Red Hill's Ecology, History & Invasive Species Solutions has been a great source of information for this project, and I would like to thank Joseph R. Arsenault for his great study of this land.

removing sweet gum saplings from the entrance to Red Hill

finding white pines to protect

All About Native Species

Native species are crucial to preserving ecosystems and maintaining ecological health. Native plants are vital in supporting food webs in our community and beyond. Native species grow without any human influence, meaning they are drought and flood resistant, and are the strongest survivors of the natural selection process. However, they are typically prone to harm from invasive species and diseases. Invasive species such as Spotted lantern flies are incredibly damaging to native plants, since they are invasive they have no predators to control their population they have the ability to prey on native species.

Native Species Found in Red Hill

White Pine

Highbush Blueberry

American Holly

Spotted Wintergreen

Sassafras

Club Moss

Butterfly weed

Indian Hemp

How to Help Red Hill

Plant native species in your local communities
1. Native plants will attract other native species that can help the Red Hill ecosystem. Make sure that these species are good to plant in a pine-barren ecosystem.
Pick up litter & practice leave no trace
1. Litter is damaging to all ecosystems. Picking up trash is a super easy way to make sure ecosystems are healthy and can prevent animals from getting sick in the process. Be sure not to leave anything behind.
Kill spotted lantern flies
1. Spotted lantern flies are unfortunately a common invasive species in our area. Killing them is easy and helps to keep their population at a minimum, and helps to protect our native species.
2. Photos of spotted lantern flies during their different life stages are shown below.

Nymph

Late Nymph

Adult

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