I bet very few of you blog readers would surmise that the state where I grew up, New Jersey, is still 40% forested despite being the 5th smallest in land mass and most densely human populated.........."Indeed,the Garden State(NJ nickname) while often maligned for its Turnpike-strewn array of industrial plants, still retains 2 million acres of woodland"........... "Ownership is evenly distributed among private (47 percent) and public (53 percent)"..........A healthy Black Bear, Eastern Coyote, Red and Gray Fox, Whitetail Deer, Wild Turkey, Beaver, River Otter, Mink, Muskrat, Opossum, skunk, Weasel, gray squirrel, chipmunk and a wide array of other smaller mammals carve out a living in Jersey's open space habitat...........And I am happy to report that the state is wild and healthy enough to now also harbor a growing Bobcat and Eastern Fisher population.............Ecologist Emily Southgate Russell is noted for her pre-colonial research on THE VEGETATION OF NORTHERN NEW JERSEY BEFORE EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT............And you can clearly visualize why there was a cornucopia of wildlife roaming the full of New Jersey's landmass as you read her descriptions of the diversity and density of fauna(then and now) that blanketed the region........."The land was forested except for scattered lowland meadows and clearings made by the Indians"............"Several Oak species dominated the forests"........"Chestnut was common in steeper areas and Hickory was common throughout".........."Hemlock and the northern hardwoods such as Sugar Maple and Beech wwere present but not abundant"............"Overall, the dominants of the 17th and early 18th century upland forests were similar to those in todays forests, but with more Chestnut and Hickory and less Birch and Maple"

New Jersey

Most Densely Populated U.S. States

Rank	State	People Per Square Mile
1	New Jersey	1,210
2	Rhode island	1,022
3	Massachusetts	871
4	Connecticut	742

THE HUDSON SKYLANDS(ORANGE

 ON ABOVE MAP) OF NEW JERSEY, WHICH

REMINDED THE EARLY EUROPEAN SETTLERS OF THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS OF EUROPE.....BOBCAT, WHITETAIL DEER, EASTERN COYOTE, GRAY AND RED FOXES AND BLACK BEARS CALL THE SKYLANDS AND ALL THE FORESTED REGIONS OF THE STATE HOME