My Pine Barrens Land

<v Narrator>Pinelands is not an English garden. <v Narrator>Its beauty is wild, primeval, complex and anything but barren. <v Narrator>Its unique chemistry of water and soil produce a variety of plant and animal life <v Narrator>found almost nowhere else in the world. <v Narrator>Often misunderstood by outsiders, this region is perhaps best explored through <v Narrator>the eyes of those whose lives are so intrinsically a part of the land. <v Speaker>[folk song] <v Narrator>The Menantico, like many of the rivers of the Pinelands, the Menantico

<v Narrator>is a precious jewel prized for the purity of its water, the wealth of natural <v Narrator>resources on the mainland. <v Tom Brown>On the Menantico I spent many an hour in rain, snow and icy showers <v Tom Brown>setting my trap when not really able to put food for my family <v Tom Brown>on the table. I never accumulated in the way of wealth. <v Tom Brown>In traveling the Manatiko I gained back my health. <v Tom Brown>On the Menantico to me so dear, you'll find the herring run <v Tom Brown>in the spring of the year. The otter, beaver, fox, coon, <v Tom Brown>mush, rat and deer. And here you will find the track of a mink <v Tom Brown>on polluted streams they are now extinct. <v Tom Brown>In spring and summer, my what a change. <v Tom Brown>The magnolias and honeysuckle vine, wild roses higher than <v Tom Brown>my head. The water hyacinths and water lillies and swamp iris <v Tom Brown>beds.

<v Narrator>In his lifetime, Tom Brown has been many things. <v Narrator>Farmer, fisherman, trapper, and last but certainly not least, <v Narrator>?poke?. <v Tom Brown>Now, this stream here has not had any building since I <v Tom Brown>was a boy, except for Barwin Kirby's home among the pine barrens. <v Tom Brown>And there's so many springs along that stream that fuel water that <v Tom Brown>at low tide you can dip your cup down, get a good drink of water today. <v Tom Brown>Now, that is really saying something when the pollution and all. <v Tom Brown>Being so close to it, that has been my main love. <v Tom Brown>I caught my first bite there. <v Tom Brown>And first muskrat there, first raccoon, first fox, name it. <v Tom Brown>And that's been it. <v Tom Brown>Snapping turtles, rising from the mud. <v Tom Brown>This is Menantico, the stream I love. <v Narrator>To the non discerning, it is easy to write off the New Jersey Pine Barrens <v Narrator>as a flat sandy wasteland.

<v Narrator>The name itself, Pine Barrens, connotes emptiness, <v Narrator>infertility, but barren it is not. <v Narrator>Given a new name in recent time, the Pinelands comprise one million acres <v Narrator>of the forests, farms and scenic town. <v Narrator>Upland pine, old forest, lowland pine, forest, hardwood <v Narrator>swamps, bilandic, white cedar bogs, both natural and manmade. <v Narrator>And the lakes and streams which filter into the bay make the Pinelands <v Narrator>the largest remaining stretch of open space in the midst of what has been deemed the <v Narrator>great unbroken eastern city, located less <v Narrator>than 100 miles from New York City to the north. <v Narrator>And only 15 miles from Philadelphia to the west. <v Narrator>This vast area contains an underground reservoir known as the Cohansey <v Narrator>formation, with an estimated 17 trillion gallons of the

<v Narrator>purest water in the northeastern United States. <v Narrator>However, in a state that is more densely populated and industrialized than any other <v Narrator>in the union, the pressures upon this fragile environment mount. <v Narrator>Evidence of human encroachment can be found through the pines. <v Narrator>Even in the more desolate area. <v Narrator>In the last 200 years, the landscape has changed little except where a fire <v Narrator>has struck or people have met it. <v Narrator>But for the broken remains of a few ghost towns, it is difficult to imagine <v Narrator>that for a period of time, the 17 and 1800s, this hinterland <v Narrator>was a bustling center for shipbuilding and iron and glass industry. <v Narrator>Most of the early industries folded leaving behind a ravaged forest <v Narrator>that could no longer supply enough fuel.

<v Narrator>As the workers abandoned the area, the Pinelands was left alone. <v Narrator>Once again, let's use and reclaim its wild and primitive state. <v Robert Zampelo>One of our better sites. A nice transition from uplands down to <v Robert Zampelo>a lowlands. <v Narrator>Robert Zampelo, a biologist of the New Jersey Pinelands Commission, <v Narrator>has spent many days working in these woods. <v Narrator>With the assistance of student botanist Jerry Moore, he attempts to explore <v Narrator>the key factors which shape the Pinelands ecosystem. <v Robert Zampelo>When talking about the Pinelands ecosystem, you have to talk about water. <v Robert Zampelo>The quality of water and the quantity of water. <v Robert Zampelo>What's unusual about the Pine Barrens are the acid nutrient poor <v Robert Zampelo>surface and groundwater's that we find in the region. <v Robert Zampelo>The acid nutrient poor waters in the Pine Barrens are responsible for maintaining <v Robert Zampelo>the unique character of the area.

<v Robert Zampelo>The plants, the animals are adapted to acid conditions. <v Robert Zampelo>The PH in the Pine Barrens is atypical for <v Robert Zampelo>New Jersey. Very low PHs, ranging from four <v Robert Zampelo>to four and a half. <v Robert Zampelo>The scrub oak, when we came into the dry lowland the scrub scrub oak <v Robert Zampelo>petered out. <v Robert Zampelo>Let's get a measurement on this well, the water table is much closer to the surface here <v Robert Zampelo>than it was in either the uplant or the dry pitch pine lowland. <v Robert Zampelo>What I'm attempting to answer is why do we get the gradients in vegetation? <v Robert Zampelo>Water is the driving force there. <v Robert Zampelo>But there are a whole series of other things that also affect the changes that you may <v Robert Zampelo>see as you walk from uplands down to lowlands. <v Robert Zampelo>The response that I was seeing was due to fire is due to water. <v Robert Zampelo>It was due to the soils. What I'm trying to do now is take a look at different <v Robert Zampelo>vegetation types and then try and figure out is it the soils? <v Robert Zampelo>Are the changes dependent on the amount of nutrients in the soil?

<v Robert Zampelo>Are the changes related to water table fluctuations? <v Robert Zampelo>The quantity of water is as critical as the quality of water for maintaining <v Robert Zampelo>pineland stream flows. <v Robert Zampelo>And for also maintaining wetland systems. <v Robert Zampelo>If water tables drop, then the species composition and those swamps will <v Robert Zampelo>change. <v Robert Zampelo>What we're trying to do here is actually quantify the changes in vegetation, <v Robert Zampelo>along with the changes in watertable. <v Robert Zampelo>One of the mannerable issues that we're faced with if you lower the water table, so <v Robert Zampelo>what? If we pump water from the Cohansey for water supply purposes, what <v Robert Zampelo>effect would that have on the system? <v Robert Zampelo>We don't know that right now. So it's a simple question, trying to get simple answers, <v Robert Zampelo>which could be important, making some management decisions. <v Narrator>Careful, intelligent planning is essential to protecting the Pinelands from development <v Narrator>that has already impacted the fringes of this sensitive area. <v Narrator>In every season, water is the life under the Pinelands sending forth nourishment

<v Narrator>to all forms of life. <v Narrator>In winter, the earth lies frozen beneath its snowy covers. <v Narrator>The river breathed a sigh of relief. <v Narrator>It has earned its rest. <v Narrator>This is a quiet time. <v Narrator>Time to replenish its store, gathering strength at the busy months ahead. <v Narrator>The earth waits patiently, knowing from years gone by, its time will come. <v Narrator>If you really want to get to know the Pinelands, it is best explored by water. <v Narrator>The Oswego River is a canoeist paradise. <v Narrator>One of its most striking feature is its color, best described <v Narrator>as similar to that of tea. <v Narrator>Elizabeth Woodford is an environmentalist, botanist and teacher. <v Narrator>Because she believes in understanding the Pinelands is so vital, she takes time <v Narrator>out from her round the clock schedule to offer classes to the public.

<v Elizabeth Woodford>The Oswego River is actually the east branch of the Wading River, but it's <v Elizabeth Woodford>now continuously being marked in maps as Oswego. <v Elizabeth Woodford>To me, it's one of the finest canoe streams that we have in New Jersey and certainly one <v Elizabeth Woodford>of the most popular. <v Elizabeth Woodford>Its history, its botany, <v Elizabeth Woodford>its wild animals. And its aquatic animals as well. <v Elizabeth Woodford>And every time of the year that I've gone down one of these streams, there's always <v Elizabeth Woodford>something it's a little bit different. <v Elizabeth Woodford>It's a personal pleasure knowing that they're learning something special. <v Elizabeth Woodford>That they might not have known. And the fact that it means more support for supporting <v Elizabeth Woodford>the Pine Barrens. <v Elizabeth Woodford>And it's just pure pleasure to have someone enjoy something and share with you <v Elizabeth Woodford>something that you enjoy yourself. And the Pine Barrens is a place of beauty. <v Elizabeth Woodford>It can't be described unless you see it personally.

<v Elizabeth Woodford>But to get into that deep Pine Barrens when you know you're miles from anywhere. <v Elizabeth Woodford>That is a feeling in wilderness that you can only find in a certain place in the world. <v Elizabeth Woodford>And a little state of New Jersey is one of them. <v Elizabeth Woodford>I feel a sense of closeness with nature and with God. <v Elizabeth Woodford>It's such a beautiful thing to see the Pine Barrens as they are untouched because it's <v Elizabeth Woodford>a rare and special piece of buildings. <v Elizabeth Woodford>And I think mankind needs wilderness in his life <v Elizabeth Woodford>to enjoy and to appreciate and to know that it's part of what <v Elizabeth Woodford>has always been there. <v Narrator>In this part of the world where a natural habitat is at a premium, many forms of <v Narrator>animal life have come to depend on this territory, to raise their young men, hunt and <v Narrator>forage and find shelter from the elements and their enemies. <v Narrator>Herpetologist Robert Zapelordi and his assistant studied the behavior of endangered <v Narrator>reptiles and amphibians.

<v Robert Zapelordi>A lot of the southern species reached their northern limit in the Pine Barrens. <v Robert Zapelordi>And that's because of the unique conditions of the water, the types of soil <v Robert Zapelordi>and the types of vegetation that grows here. <v Robert Zapelordi>It's very similar to areas you could find 300 miles down south. <v Robert Zapelordi>We have some amphibians. Most notably is the famous Pine Barrens tree frog. <v Robert Zapelordi>We also have the southern gray tree frog, which reaches its northern limit in south <v Robert Zapelordi>Jersey. We have some northern species coming down <v Robert Zapelordi>the tiger salamander come down into southern New Jersey. <v Robert Zapelordi>One of the things we needed to learn about was the activity range of some of these <v Robert Zapelordi>endangered and threatened snakes. <v Robert Zapelordi>The most effective way of doing that was to use radio telemetry. <v Robert Zapelordi>That means taking a small transmitter and implanting it in the snake's body <v Robert Zapelordi>and then using a handheld antenna. <v Robert Zapelordi>You're able to locate that snake. <v Robert Zapelordi>The timber rattlesnake was really fascinating and learning how far they actually

<v Robert Zapelordi>moved from the place where they hibernate. <v Robert Zapelordi>The radio tracking revealed that they do, in fact, hibernate like edges of the cedar <v Robert Zapelordi>swamps near the streams. <v Robert Zapelordi>The reason being that the moving water along the edge of the stream prevented them from <v Robert Zapelordi>freezing. They were insulated by the roots of the trees and the thick mass of sphagnum <v Robert Zapelordi>moss. You find out these cedar swamps, that was truly a significant <v Robert Zapelordi>discovery. <v Robert Zapelordi>There is, right thereabouts. <v Assistant>Look at that. <v Narrator>Zapelordi's research has revealed that like many endangered species, timber rattlesnakes <v Narrator>depend on a much wider range of territory than was previously suspected. <v Narrator>Based upon this information, wise decisions can be made as far as purchasing <v Narrator>lands most critical for animal habitat and management. <v Robert Zapelordi>All wildlife plays an important role in the balance of any community. <v Robert Zapelordi>In the Pine Barrens, all these animals that we've been studying are very important, <v Robert Zapelordi>either as a food source for some other animal or predators to control the balance

<v Robert Zapelordi>in nature. <v Assistant>It doesn't matter whether she stretched out or not. <v Robert Zapelordi>There's a dynamic equilibrium there in the Pine Barrens and that's balanced <v Robert Zapelordi>by nature and the animals that live there. <v Robert Zapelordi>The final length is one hundred and eight centimeters. <v Robert Zapelordi>Boy, she grew. <v Robert Zapelordi>Almost eight- she grew- she was 100 when we released her last fall. <v Robert Zapelordi>If the wildlife is surviving nicely, then the human population could survive. <v Robert Zapelordi>That's what it's all about. The bottom line is everything. <v Robert Zapelordi>Surviving nicely in the Pine Barrens. <v Narrator>Within the fragile grasp of the wetlands hangs the survival of some of the plane lands <v Narrator>most unusual and colorful plants. <v Narrator>Out of the bogs and swamps grow a profusion of orchids in a dazzling array of hues. <v Narrator>Botanical interest dates back the 17th and 18th when important biologists

<v Narrator>sought out the mysterious plant life so different from what they were accustomed to in <v Narrator>Europe. <v Narrator>Even today, botanists from all over the world come to see the curly grass <v Narrator>fern. <v Narrator>In this day and age, it is fairly remarkable to find a river as pristine as <v Narrator>the Basto. <v Narrator>This is fresh water. <v Narrator>This fresh water flows out of the bay, mingles with the saltwater to create <v Narrator>the perfect balance for the breeding oyster. <v Narrator>There is no single geographic point that marks the passage from freshwater to salt. <v Narrator>This is Great Bay, the confluence of river and ocean, an <v Narrator>alliance that makes these waters most agreeable for shellfish of all sorts. <v Narrator>People who make their living from the resources of the bay are known as baymen. <v Narrator>Phil Anderson is a bayman.

<v Narrator>Most of his family members are baymen, working the waters in one way or another. <v Narrator>It is a tradition. <v Phil Anderson>Well I originally start to get into crabbing and claiming commercially about 10 years <v Phil Anderson>ago, sort of lived and grew up on the water and fished and claimed <v Phil Anderson>it was the natural thing to get into this. <v Phil Anderson>There is a relationship to freshwater and all the things in the crabs <v Phil Anderson>migrate to up to river and see less sailing water in the summer <v Phil Anderson>and migrate back in the fall. <v Phil Anderson>Oysters are very dependent on a lot of freshwater being in the river. <v Phil Anderson>Clams are not affected quite as much. <v Phil Anderson>Clean water is a substitute for and also. <v Narrator>Anderson is acutely aware of the importance of this great freshwater supply for his <v Narrator>livelihood, as well as the preservation of an environment he holds in such reverent <v Narrator>esteem. <v Phil Anderson>Everyone needs water to drink.

<v Phil Anderson>Farmers needs to grow their plants, so everyone takes fresh water and all that <v Phil Anderson>development that's going on in the area. <v Phil Anderson>Everyone that drives, well, it takes a little bit more water out of the river. <v Phil Anderson>There's less fresh water reaching the bay. <v Phil Anderson>Population certainly increased. <v Phil Anderson>And people have to have a place to live. <v Phil Anderson>But I think there's an intelligent way of. <v Phil Anderson>And there's a haphazard way of developing an area where a lot <v Phil Anderson>of things to consider and someone may say that clam <v Phil Anderson>or crab is not important. <v Phil Anderson>What they don't realize that one thing relates to everything else <v Phil Anderson>in our total environment and that almost every fish is <v Phil Anderson>actually born in the salt matters that surround the bays. <v Phil Anderson>And it's just a part of the food chain. <v Phil Anderson>So you did away with just one link out of that food chain. <v Narrator>What is at stake in the Pinelands is not just an environment. <v Narrator>It is a centuries old way of life.

<v Narrator>For the people of Port Republicm it is a way of life worth saving and celebrating. <v Narrator>Located on the Nacote Creek tributary of the Mullica River, Port Republic <v Narrator>grew out of the shipbuilding industry, drawing upon the once abundant white cedars of <v Narrator>nearby swamps. <v Narrator>Now celebrating its 350th birthday, that is one of the oldest <v Narrator>settlements in the East Coast. <v Narrator>Gary Giberson, the town's affable mayor, is one of the Port Republic's staunchest <v Narrator>champions. He is also its resident decoy carver, <v Narrator>working in cedar as his family has for decades. <v Gary Gilberson>I learned many things from my grandfather. <v Gary Gilberson>But the most wonderful thing astride his knee was learning when you had a stroke a <v Gary Gilberson>draw knife across the piece of cedar to create a duck decoy, a stool duck, as <v Gary Gilberson>they were known in South Jersey. <v Narrator>As mayor, of Port Republic, Giberson has many concerns.

<v Narrator>There is a lifestyle among the people here that is as practiced and polished <v Narrator>as any art form passed on from one generation to the next year is our legacy. <v Narrator>It is the art of self sufficient jouni of this town depending upon nothing and <v Narrator>sometimes no one other than Mother Earth and what she provides. <v Gary Gilberson>Before charcoal, before fishing. <v Gary Gilberson>The Pine Barrens is sort of a life blood thing to the community <v Gary Gilberson>for its character, because if we lose the Pine Barrens, then these rural communities <v Gary Gilberson>lose their character. Our area's changing rapidly because of development <v Gary Gilberson>and environmentally, it's a very sensitive area, the Pine <v Gary Gilberson>Barrens. <v Singer>[singing] And I love to watch the forest as it changes through the seasons. It's so alive, <v Singer>it's just the way it ought to be. <v Singer>If it would be left alone it could survive forever. <v Gary Gilberson>But we know that there will be change and we know there will be growth.

<v Gary Gilberson>But we must do it at a controlled level, thinking of our past, thinking of our history <v Gary Gilberson>and thinking of the Pine Barrens. <v Narrator>Today, Whitesbog village, the turn-of-the-century farming settlement is an important <v Narrator>historic site. <v Narrator>Originally, this tract of land started out as an experimental cranberry farm. <v Narrator>Cranberries grow wild along the streams. <v Narrator>But in the 1960s and 70s, people began to transplant <v Narrator>and thus began commercial cranberry cultivation. <v Narrator>Under the direction of J.J. White, Whitesblog became the largest cranberry <v Narrator>farm in New Jersey during the early 1900s. <v Narrator>In 1911, Elizabeth White, J.J. <v Narrator>White's oldest daughter, became interested in the possibilities of cultivating the wild <v Narrator>blueberries. She invited Dr. Frederick Kovil of the US Department of Agriculture <v Narrator>to Whitesbog to help her conduct experiments.

<v Narrator>She and Dr. Kovil develop the cultivated high bush blueberries that we have today. <v Narrator>While the industry has grown enormously, the people involved cling to their family roots. <v Narrator>They have learned from their parents and their parents before them how the earth moves <v Narrator>through its seasons. <v Bill Haynes Jr>They've got them all out of the bog. <v Narrator>Bill Haynes Jr is a cranberry and blueberry farmer. <v Narrator>His family run business dates back to just after the Civil War. <v Bill Haynes Jr>I farm with my dad. My dad's been here for forty years. <v Bill Haynes Jr>His father and his uncle had the business before he did. <v Bill Haynes Jr>His great grandfather before he did. <v Bill Haynes Jr>I never really imagined myself doing anything else. <v Narrator>As with every other aspect of cranberry cultivation, irrigations throws production. <v Narrator>A large clean supply of water is vital for this reason. <v Narrator>Like other cranberry growers. <v Narrator>He has built his own water supply. <v Bill Haynes Jr>You have to keep growing cranberries in the water supply.

<v Bill Haynes Jr>It has to be clean water to irrigate to cool <v Bill Haynes Jr>for us, protection is very important in cranberries because the low lying and they're <v Bill Haynes Jr>susceptible to frost late into the summer. <v Bill Haynes Jr>You have a shallow root system, so you have to cover them with water to keep <v Bill Haynes Jr>the soil from freezing below the roots and killing the plant. <v Bill Haynes Jr>And then finally, which is unique to cranberries we harvest in the water. <v Bill Haynes Jr>So the biggest single factor, why this field area to grow cranberries is water. <v Bill Haynes Jr>That's the absolute lifeblood of our business. <v Narrator>Because of their dependance on water, berry farmers are among the Pinelands most <v Narrator>outspoken in conservation. <v Bill Haynes Jr>It's really tough to farm in an urban state. <v Bill Haynes Jr>Farmers are small in numbers. Cranberry and blueberry are a small part of a small <v Bill Haynes Jr>segment of New Jersey. The mass of people out there don't understand what we do. <v Bill Haynes Jr>I mean, this is the best place in New Jersey. Why? <v Bill Haynes Jr>Because we're as far away from people as you can get and still be in New Jersey. <v Bill Haynes Jr>We're in competition for water.

<v Bill Haynes Jr>Rest of New Jersey wants water. <v Bill Haynes Jr>We need it here. The whole Pinelands system depends on water, as was <v Bill Haynes Jr>cranberries. The thing to remember is that they drew a line around the Pinelands <v Bill Haynes Jr>who were still part of the world. <v Narrator>Some people claim that the greatest threat to the Pinelands is that it is being <v Narrator>loved to death, that someday, like many of our national parks, access <v Narrator>would have to be restricted. <v Narrator>Fortunately for now, the great outdoors is open and free to all who care to <v Narrator>partake of it. Joe Casper is a fishing guide by trade. <v Narrator>He also writes and teaches about the outdoors. <v Narrator>But his happiest moments are just being out there on the water alone with his thoughts. <v Joe Casper>It's a place that you can get out there and hear yourself think. <v Joe Casper>Can't do that in a city unless you build yourself a cubicle and block out all the sounds. <v Joe Casper>Out there you can listen to the wind blowing and hear the birds became frogs. <v Joe Casper>You can actually see the sunrise come off without looking over top of rooftops. <v Joe Casper>And in times you can hear the sounds that are made by natural things

<v Joe Casper>that artificial things like man. <v Joe Casper>The lakes we are fishing today were originally streams or damed up, they were depressions <v Joe Casper>and then the water was allowed to fill in. <v Joe Casper>And in most cases they take out the trees or using a tree just rotted and fell and this <v Joe Casper>makes an ideal habitat not only for the fish, but for the turtles of frogs, snakes, just <v Joe Casper>about anything else. <v Joe Casper>Very fragile ecologically, but there are species out there that are close to endangered, <v Joe Casper>that you won't find in other areas. <v Joe Casper>The waters in the Pine Barrens are very conducive to certain species of fish because of <v Joe Casper>the acidity, because of the physical makeup of the land and the water combination. <v Joe Casper>?Tecror? are best suited for the Pine Barrens because they can take the hardness of the <v Joe Casper>water acid count. <v Narrator>Being a fishing guide, Casper certainly encourages people to come <v Narrator>to the Pinelands and enjoy its recreational privileges.

<v Narrator>But with one caveat. <v Joe Casper>Mark Twain once said, when you leave the banks of a river or a lake <v Joe Casper>only leave your footprints. And that's it. <v Narrator>In 1978, after years of effort, the Pinelands was declared a national reserve, <v Narrator>giving federal, state and local governments a share in its protection. <v Narrator>The following year, the state of New Jersey established the Pinelands Commission, <v Narrator>giving it the responsibility of devising a plan to preserve some areas <v Narrator>while allowing for development in others. <v Narrator>What resulted is a plan currently being implemented to maintain the integrity <v Narrator>of the environment. <v Narrator>Artist Glenn Mulsberry has been a lifelong resident of the Pinelands. <v Narrator>Growing up in these surroundings, his impressions have become a vital component <v Narrator>of his work. <v Glenn Mulsberry>Having lived and grown up on the edge of the Pinelands when I was younger, it was <v Glenn Mulsberry>always a source of fascination as I've grown a little bit older. <v Glenn Mulsberry>That source of fascination has been enhanced by what I found out about the Pinelands, how

<v Glenn Mulsberry>unique it is. I hope through my art that I can act as a medium <v Glenn Mulsberry>for the people who on other occasions don't take the time to look <v Glenn Mulsberry>at what's unique about. <v Glenn Mulsberry>Perhaps by looking at a piece of work that I've done that they can <v Glenn Mulsberry>appreciate a little bit more about what makes it so special. <v Narrator>But ultimately, perhaps the saving grace of the Pinelands will be the fulfillment <v Narrator>of a particular human need, not for housing or drinking water, <v Narrator>but for wilderness. The spirit needs nourishment to. <v Singer>[singing] And I love to watch the forest as it changes through <v Singer>the seasons. It's so alive. <v Singer>It's just the way it ought to be. <v Bill Haynes Jr>I like to be the last one to go home at night, because when all the machinery is <v Bill Haynes Jr>shut down and everybody else goes home, I've got it to myself. <v Bill Haynes Jr>It has to be the most quiet, most peaceful place that you could imagine.

<v Bill Haynes Jr>And it's beautiful. It's not the Grand Canyon. <v Bill Haynes Jr>It's not the Rocky Mountains. It's much more subdued than that, but it grows on <v Bill Haynes Jr>you.