Cattus Island County Park, also known as Cattus Island is a passive recreational park located in Toms River,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. Cattus Island is a park of the Ocean County Department of Parks and Recreation. Cattus Island is home to the Cooper Environmental Center, an educational center which displays collections of local wildlife including

birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

, reptiles, and aquatic animals. The center also provides educational programs and presentations to the public and organized groups.

History

Early history

The first European explorer to set foot on what became Ocean County soil was Captain

Cornelius Hendrickson Cornelius Hendrickson was a Dutch mariner and explorer who charted the North American coastline near present-day New Jersey. Early life Cornelius Hendrickson was born around 1572, the son of Lambert Barrentje Hendrickson, an admiral in the Dutch ...

, who, in 1615, explored the New Jersey coast in his ship, the ''Onrust'' (or ''Restless''), between the latitudes 38 and 40 degrees. He sailed down

Barnegat Bay Barnegat Bay is a small brackish arm of the Atlantic Ocean, approximately long, along the coast of Ocean County, New Jersey in the United States. It is separated from the Atlantic by the long Island Beach State Park (colloquially called a "ba ...

and located the that makes of over half of the current park.

William Dockwra William Dockwra (c. 1635–1716) was an English merchant who along with his partner Robert Murray (financier), Robert Murray created the first London Penny Post, Penny Post in London in 1680. In latter 17th century London there was no official p ...

, Secretary and Registrar for the Board of Proprietors in England, bought the land in the 1680s. The land has remained a single parcel since 1690, when the Board of Proprietors of the Province of East Jersey divided this coastal region. In 1758, Joseph Page purchased the land. The Page family had settled the island by 1763, farming

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. Textiles made from flax are known in ...

, and

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

crops. Timothy Page, born on the island during that year, served in the local militia during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

. During the American Revolution, local residents used the area to bring British vessels that had been captured, or had run aground in the deceptive shallows of the

, into the Toms River to offload their cargoes. Homesteaders also used the island for farming. After the death of Timothy Page, the family house burned down, and the property was sold to Lewis Applegate. He moved there in 1842, and developed the southeastern section of the island, now named for him. He built a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

and a port for lumber boats. The island was sold again in 1867, and was slated to be developed as a resort, but the 1873 depression canceled the project.

Cattus ownership to present

John V. A. Cattus, a New York importer and Olympic class athlete, bought the land and developed it as a retreat in 1895.

Hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

were the favorite sports of Cattus and his friends. He built a hunting lodge on the island, along with a farm, boat house and boat dock. When Cattus died in 1964, his sons sold the land to local developers. In the 1970s, the

New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry In the state of New Jersey, the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry is an administrative division of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. In its most visible role, the Division is directly responsible for the management and ...

pushed for laws to limit development in

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

and along the coast. In 1973, Ocean County purchased this land. The property was acquired with county tax money and state "Green Acres" funds. In 1980, the park opened to the public with the county's first environmental center. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy struck and the park sustained significant damage. Thousands of hours of labor were required to remove downed trees and debris that littered the park. In the immediate years following, several local

boy scouts Boy Scouts may refer to: * Boy Scout, a participant in the Boy Scout Movement. * Scouting, also known as the Boy Scout Movement. * An organisation in the Scouting Movement, although many of these organizations also have female members. There are ...

cleaned up the park and built sections of

boardwalk A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway built with wooden planks that enables pedestrians to cross wet, fragile, or marshy land. They are also in effect a low type of bridge ...

and benches for park patrons as part of their

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Sc ...

projects.

Park ecosystems

Cattus Island Park has within it a number of different

ecosystems An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

, though a majority is considered a maritime upland forest. This forest consists mostly of

oak tree An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably '' ...

s and

pine trees A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...

, such as the

pitch pine ''Pinus rigida'', the pitch pine, is a small-to-medium-sized pine. It is native to eastern North America, primarily from central Maine south to Georgia and as far west as Kentucky. It is found in environments which other species would find unsuit ...

and the

shortleaf pine ''Pinus echinata'', the shortleaf pine, is a species of pine native to the southeastern United States. Description The tree is variable in form, sometimes straight, sometimes crooked, with an irregular crown. The tree reaches heights of with a ...

. Even though Cattus Island Park is a maritime forest, within it, one can find many of the same shrubs and animal species that are native to the

Pine Barrens Pine barrens, pine plains, sand plains, or pineland areas occur throughout the U.S. from Florida to Maine (see Atlantic coastal pine barrens) as well as the Midwest, West, and Canada and parts of Eurasia. Perhaps the most well known pine-barre ...

. The park also contains freshwater wetlands. These wetlands are dominated by hardwood trees such as

Red Maple ''Acer rubrum'', the red maple, also known as swamp maple, water maple, or soft maple, is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern and central North America. The U.S. Forest Service recognizes it as the most abundant nativ ...

Swamp Maple ''Acer rubrum'', the red maple, also known as swamp maple, water maple, or soft maple, is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern and central North America. The U.S. Forest Service recognizes it as the most abundant nativ ...

, Black Gum, and a wide variety of others. There are a few small stands of living

Atlantic White Cedar ''Chamaecyparis thyoides'' (Atlantic white cedar, Atlantic white cypress, southern white cedar, whitecedar, or false-cypress), a species of ''Cupressaceae'', is native to the Atlantic coast of North America and is found from southern Maine to Geo ...

located in some of the wetland areas. However, in this area, large stands of dead Atlantic white cedar also exist. They have been standing dead since the 1930s. Prior to the 1930s, the northern part of the Barnegat Bay, where Cattus Island is located, was mainly fresh water. After the

Point Pleasant Canal The Point Pleasant Canal is a canal in Point Pleasant, New Jersey. It was completed in 1925 to connect the Manasquan Inlet and Manasquan River with Bay Head Harbor on the northern end of Barnegat Bay. The canal is part of the Intracoastal Waterwa ...

was constructed and the

Manasquan Inlet The Manasquan Inlet is an inlet that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Manasquan River, dividing the counties of Ocean County and Monmouth County in the state of New Jersey. Passage to Bay Head Harbor and the Barnegat Bay is possible via the ...

improved, saltwater from the ocean infiltrated into the Northern portion of the bay. As a result, the Atlantic white cedar, which is an obligate freshwater species, was killed. Another ecosystem that thrives within the park is a vast track of

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...

, which contains several species of Spartina grasses. It is from these salt marshes that Cattus Island gets part of its name. Several times a year the marshes

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

as a result of snowmelt, storms, or high tides. During the floods, the second bit of upland is completely inaccessible; hence, it becomes an 'island'.

Cooper Environmental Center

The Cooper Environmental Center, named for a well-known county environmentalist, A. Morton Cooper, is an educational facility and resource for conservation and education, featuring a building with an eighty-seat meeting room, interactive exhibit area, and live native reptiles and fish. File:FrontoftheCooperEnvironmentalCenter.JPG File:Animalwall1.jpg File:Childrenplayingwithapuzzle.jpg

References

External links

Cattus Island History - NY/NJ/CT Botany WebsiteCattus Island Park
*http://facebook.com/Cattus.Island.County.Park {{Nature centers in New Jersey County parks in New Jersey Parks in Ocean County, New Jersey Nature centers in New Jersey Toms River, New Jersey