SITE DESCRIPTION: The acquisition of the Franklin Parker Preserve in 2003 by the New Jersey Conservation Foundation was a momentous occasion in conservation. This 9400 acre preserve is a keystone piece of land, linking the expanses of Brendan Byrne, Wharton, and Penn State Forests and creating a more contiguous, and therefore more viable, Pinelands National Reserve. Franklin Parker Preserve offers access to a wide variety of Pine Barrens habitat by way of sand roads. Pitch-pine forests and cedar swamps are joined by blueberry fields, lakes, and pristine tributaries of the Wading River. The former cranberry bogs are currently being restored to a variety of native wetland habits. The preserve is home to an impressive array of rare flora and fauna, including numerous State threatened and endangered species, and even some nationally and globally rare species. This is also a great area for stargazing.