Musconetcong River in Hackettstown
I am really disgusted by what the town has let happen along this river. Walking along the river at the old Sandbar and driving along Mountain Avenue used to be beautiful when you could see the river. Now, all you see are horrible looking trees and weeds. I do not know how the Watershed Authority has been allowed to do this. I have heard that it is better for the fish, but what about what us residents used to enjoy? I know that I am “wishing upon a star,” but I hope that someday this mess is cleared out and we will once again be able to enjoy the river!
SportUgh. It's not "the town" .
This has been in the works for quite some time. There is all sorts of information online about restoring natural buffers. The one along the river near the Union cemetery is another great example. It is always better to have natural habitat than clear cut just so one can have "nice view" of the river. I say get out of the car and stroll one of the many parks or hike any of the local areas if one wants a nice vista to enjoy.
A quick search:
New Jersey supports and encourages natural habitats along the Musconetcong River through efforts like the Musconetcong Watershed Association (MWA) and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), which focus on preserving natural resources and restoring riparian buffers. The area is a nationally significant landscape, a vital wildlife corridor, and home to New Jersey Natural Heritage Priority Sites containing critical habitats and rare species.
Greg Greg, I can tell by your response that you did not grow up here with those gorgeous views. Down at the Sandbar, you have to “get out of the car” to see the river, however now that is not possible with all the weeds and things that are there.
Sport... you totally missed the point.
What you 'grew up with' was harmful to the ecosystem.
What is there now is fixing that problem.
So yea- take a hike. :)
Josh I'm scarred for life because I actually liked the old river. I need to woke up.
Have a DQ, sit by the river. Park at the diner and enjoy the river. Have a bagel and enjoy it on a bench by the river.
BTW: I've been here for 44 years and am curious to know where on Mountain Ave you could view the river ?
EVV You could see the river driving down Mt Ave past the cemetery, also, you could sit and watch it on the other in the field.
Along those same lines, views from roads, promenades are all mostly being allowed to fill in with trees and brush. The promenade in Quebec City used to have panoramic views of the St. Lawrence - in Maine an esker (Glacial gravel ridge) on Rt #9 (the Whalesback) is mostly obscured by trees and brush.
Not everyone has the youth or vitality to hike in to see vistas or an open stretch of river. In Quebec City the cost and effort of maintaining what had been grass and low growing vegetation is the real reason for the city to abandon upkeep of viewsheds - I suspect that occasional openings near roads would not greatly impact aquatic life along the Musconetcong.
bill Sport- I have spent the entire 60 years of my life living on or very near the Musconetcong River. A radius of just 10 miles or so from Hackettstown. I am quite aware of what was here as well as what may be here moving forward. In addition, I have had and continue to have an appreciation and respect for our rich, healthy, natural environment in our area.
As Josh stated: "Take a hike". LOL ! Trust me, it will change your perspective.
Well freakin woopdie doo I used to live in a van down by the river. Matt Foley
rob the roofer Bill - the entire effort to create "brushy" riparian borders here on the Musconetcong (and other riverbanks in our region) is to prevent erosion, help mitigate flooding, and encourage native species- birds, fish, and other river critters that require a natural landscape to thrive. This also helps prevent Canada Geese from congregating on grassy slopes above the water and damaging the area for both people and ecology with overgrazing, copious amounts of waste, and pushing out other waterfowl. Geese are more of a problem now then they were in the Sandbar heyday. So is flooding, eutrophication and associated effects like algae growth and native species loss.
The Musconetcong was designated as a Wild and Scenic River decades ago which signifies its ecological importance especially in a somewhat developed landscape.
I totally get that views change and we miss it, but on the other hand without these protections a strip mall could be blocking the view, too.
https://www.musconetcong.org/mission-history
I agree with Bill and suggest that they should go for the win-win and provide some scenic overlooks. Could have a nice one at the cemetery.
One downfall when you block the river like this is that the blue herring will not go where their line of site is limited. Eyesight is their primary defense against predators, and if blocked by greenery, they will find a more open space.
I wondered about this because I would often see them in the middle of 100 acre field, and that seemed to be quite dangerous. Apparently it is not, they could see me before I could see them. Secondly, I live on a tributary to one of our rivers, and we will get blue heron in our tributary. But only in the spring, once the greenery grows up they disappear.
Babbit There is a group called PEACENJ (People enjoying active conservation of the environment) that you can find online or Facebook. They are making the park areas more accessible for folks. Perhaps you might reach out with your concerns.
Best of luck!
MAN Correct MAN. PeaceNJ will be conducting more work at Alumni. They have been in front of council a few times with updates. They recently received some grant monies.
Some info on their work on their website.
https://www.peacenj.org/
It's about the road in....so you can enter, park, and walk or hike...just saying
4catmom 
ianimal Environmentalist driven agendas will only assure only the young, fit, and healthy Americans will be permitted to commune with nature.
Cute iman; and they are woke to Inclusion for Equality for birds of all Diverse colors :>)
Bill, that's just not true. You wouldn't even have a lot of the newer park areas in NW NJ if not for environmentalists. Sounds like PeaceNJ gets it.
Seriously iman: you no not of the Blue Heron?
AI says: "Yes, Great Blue Herons can be found in New Jersey, including in wetlands like the Great Meadows area, as they are common wading birds that are often spotted near water. They are often seen wading in water, perched on rocks or trees, or flying across marshes and lakes. The Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is a specific location where they have been observed, and other similar habitats throughout New Jersey are also suitable."
Nesting grounds are on a ridge above the Pequest. They come in at night, go out at day and it's great fun to watch em soar.
They are really cool, but hard to get close to because of that eyesight thing. In my creek, without weeds, their heads are just above the banks and if I don't look threating, I can get pretty close. Hate to scare em off though, so cool.
frank stetson frank stetson/Hackettstown Harold/mistergoogle/Babbit... read your first sentence in your second paragraph under your Babbit persona above.
So now you've moved on from Google to AI, huh? Isn't technology awesome?
I'd recognize your "voice" anywhere, irrespective of whatever handle you use.Take care, buddy... I almost miss those week-long back and forth P*ssing contests we used to have..."almost" (-;
"Seriously iman: you no not of the Blue Heron" ... There's another name for them --- starts with "s" then 3 letters ending with "poke". Blue Herons are everywhere. I BTW had a career in outdoor recreation for 45 plus years - starting along the Musconetcong. I have dozens of examples of environmental groups clashing with sensible outdoor recreational - especially ignoring the elderly or infirm. Buy up land, shutter farms, put up gates, prohibit traditional uses of the purchased land.
Ah, different frank stetson I think. Not sure where that came from. Came to my iphone with some stupid wedding party picture.
You missed the AI punchline: there is no Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in NJ. It’s in CT.
Ain’t technology awesome?
Now you can piss with Bill. Heh, heh.
I've seen the Great Blue Heron in a few places, along with views of the river. As EVV mentioned, There are views from the benches behind the DQ, where I've seen the GBH from perhaps 20-25' away. I've also seen both the GBH and families of ducks in a number of areas within Stephen's State Park along the river which are easily in reach from the parking lot.
I don't know if they measured the erosion level where you could "see the river while driving by" on Mt. Ave., but the acute, looping angle of the bend spells out "movement" of the river every time it becomes rain or snowmelt-swollen. The river will erode on the outside of the loop (towards Mt. Ave.) faster than it would normally. In time, the river will get closer and closer to the roadway, until barriers are needed. Plantings slow that erosion down.
Obviously, it's difficult to say what kind of timetable river movement will happen on, but "erosion, aka "mass-wasting" is an inexorable process, which can either occur slowly over time, or in the case of local events, happen much more rapidly than we'd like. One case in point is the remnants of Hurricane Helene, (by then a Tropical Storm) that passed through Western North Carolina in 2024. Erosion occurred extremely quickly then, but fortunately, the Musconetcong has a relatively gentle slope.
If the plantings help, then I'm good with it. If you just want to see the river whilst driving by, sorry, but just stop and park in the cemetery, or one of the places already mentioned. You can watch it all you want during daytime hours, AND it's easily accessible.
Phil D. Leave a Reply
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