Ponders several hundred years ago Dedicate a Part of Ponders The perfect gift for someone who has everything! Dedicate a bench along the trail at the Ponders tract of the Pemberton Forest Preserve to celebrate a special friend or to memorialize a loved one. For more information, contact Debbie Heaton, Senior Associate Director of Philanthropy, (302) 654-4707 x124.   New parking lot almost complete - Winter 2009.

During the fall of 2007, the Delaware chapter raised $9.8 million to acquire the Pemberton Forest Preserve’s Ponders Tract. Located in Sussex County — one of the fastest growing counties in the nation — the Ponders tract lies near the Redden State Forest, and expands on 450 acres already under protection at the Pemberton Forest Preserve. Its strategic location near existing protected lands and waters provides an opportunity for expanding unbroken forest needed by migrating birds and wide-ranging species. The Ponders tract also contains headwaters for local waterways such as the Broadkill River — which flows into the Delaware Bay.

With acquisition complete, the Conservancy moved forward with restoring habitat and opening portions of Ponders to the public via a new system of hiking trails. Restoring Ponders has included utilizing state-of-the art timber thinning practices to transform 240 acres of loblolly pine plantation into a native coastal forest of oak, hickory, tulip, sassafras, red maple, Virginia pine and other hardwoods. Much of this work has taken place thanks to a generous grant from the Delaware Landowner Incentive Program.

Restoring Ponders secures a little bit of Delaware’s past for the future. Not even a century ago, much of Delaware was swathed in forests characterizing the region’s piedmont and coastal plain ecosystems. With 80 percent of the original forests lost to timber operations and development in subsequent years, projects like those taking place at the Ponders tract represent exciting possibilities for The Nature Conservancy and other organizations.
 
The Conservancy has also embarked on establishing public access that will provide people with opportunities to view and appreciate birds, deer, amphibians, snakes, and an array of dragonflies, damselflies and butterflies located at Ponders. The new trail system will also secure a front row seat to Delaware’s native forests at various stages of growth. The new project will include a parking lot, trail markers and interpretive signs. To learn more about how you can help the Delaware chapter restore and maintain the Ponders tract, contact Debbie Heaton, Senior Associate Director of Philanthropy, at (302) 654-4707, extension 124, or dheaton@tnc.org.

Nature picture credits (top to bottom): Illustration © Mia Bosna; Photo © John Graham (parking lot)