Hardyston - Practically unnoticed, the Old Rudetown Fen is sandwiched between Crystal Springs Golf Club and the Tannery Hill neighborhood of The Village at Crystal Springs. A fen is a type of wetland fed by springs and seeps that bubble up through alkaline rich limestone. Very few plants and animals can survive and thrive in the bitter brew, but the federally endangered Bog Turtle just loves it. Recently, the sun loving limestone fen was quickly becoming overgrown by pioneering trees and shrubs. If allowed to revert to a forested wetland, the Bog Turtle would inevitably disappear. And, even though the fen is surrounded by development, it has not been forgotten. The management and staff of Crystal Springs Resort have now included managing habitat for an endangered species to the daily activities of maintaining a golf course. As part of the resort’s Landowner Incentive Program contract with the New Jersey Non-Game Program, the resort naturalist directs the staff to cut the invading sumacs, viburnums and autumn olives down to the trunk. Afterwards, an herbicide is sparingly applied upon the exposed trunk tops prevent re-growth in the spring season. Additionally, recent work on clearing a two acre area began to allow for the tussock sedges and wildflowers to gain as much sun as nature intended them to have. The Old Rudetown Fen is a 50+ acre limestone fen that is recognized by the New Jersey Landscape Project and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service as a major breeding area for the federally endangered Bog Turtle, New Jersey State endangered Spreading Globeflower and Shrubby Cinquefoil. As a testimony to the ubiquitous nature of the Bog Turtle, last spring Jason Tesauso, a herpetologist with the Environmental Defense, inspected the Old Rudetown Fen and within ten minutes recovered an adult and a yearling from the muck. With the help of Crystal Springs Resort, the population of the endangered Bog Turtle is expected to thrive and grow.