FISH HOUSE TODAY: A HAVEN
by Kevin W. Frost

In the mid 1980s, Pennsauken Township purchased and transformed Tippin’s Pond and the Fish House Cove into a wildlife sanctuary and park. This was a prophetic move. Over a decade later, Fish House Cove was designated a Natural Heritage Priority Site. Natural Heritage Priority Sites indicate areas that contain some of the best and most viable occurrences of endangered and threatened species and natural communities. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Office of Natural Lands Management, which identifies these critically important natural areas in the interest of conserving New Jersey’s biological diversity, selects these priority sites.

Fish House Cove is one of the largest and most diverse freshwater tidal marshes remaining in New Jersey. A total of 261 different species of birds have been identified at the cove including several endangered species. In addition to birds, numerous animals including Red Fox and White Tail Deer inhabit the cove and the surrounding uplands. The Cove is the home of the last stand of wild rice in Camden County as well as rare forms of River Bulrush and Arrowhead.