| This important 77-acre property lies within NJCF’s Raccoon-Oldmans Creeks Project Area, an agricultural region which is under immense development pressure. Located along the south bank of the Oldmans Creek, the property takes in nearly one mile of shoreline. It features a diverse landcover of cultivated farmland, forested wetlands, upland forests, steep slopes, and emergent wetlands. This segment of the Oldmans Creek has recently been proposed by NJDEP for Category One designation based on exceptional ecological significance, including habitat of federally threatened, State-endangered bog turtle and State-threatened triangle pond floater mussel. South Jersey’s most researched and managed bog turtle site is located a short distance upstream of this property.
Upland portions of the property have locally important groundwater recharge rates of 11 to 15 inches a year. Straddling two geologic outcrops, the western end of the property is an outcrop of the Mount Laurel-Wenonah Aquifer and the eastern end is in the Kirkwood-Cohansey Aquifer System. An approximately 15-acre wetland complex at the west end of the property is typically flooded by beavers and serves as important migratory bird habitat, especially for egrets and other wading birds.
Contiguous with a 175-acre preserved farm to the north, preservation of the Licciardello property would present good opportunities for ecological restoration, including:
- establishing enhanced upland forested buffers to the Oldmans creek for both water quality and wildlife corridors;
- restoring local bog turtle habitat; and
- controlling invasive species, such as mile-a-minute weed.
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