Scientists at the Meadowlands Commission's research arm, the Meadowlands Environmental Research Institute, found a nifty Eastern Milk Snake at the Riverbend Wetland Preserve in Secaucus this week.
   For more on Eastern Milk Snakes and other snakes of New Jersey, click here.
   More on MERI here.
   MERI's photo of this non-poisonous snake is on the "jump."

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    The Meadowlands Commission's Angelo Urato reports that a roadway on the closed 1-E landfill in North Arlington was literally crawling with land snails on Thursday.
   More on land snails here.

   
Mill Creek Marsh Park in Secaucus has reopened. The 209-acre park had been  closed since mid-March because of extensive storm damage. 
   For the public's safety, the Meadowlands Commission has put up protective fencing in areas where the footing by the trail had eroded.
   The park was once a phragmites marsh slated to become a development of 2,750 townhomes.
   In 1998, NJMC began wetlands enhancement activities at the site, including the re-establishment of tidal flows, creation of open water impoundments, grading to create low, high and upland marsh areas, and native replantings to attract a diversity of aquatic life and birds.
   It was the first wetlands enhancement project NJMC managed.  This area is important for breeding and migratory waterfowl and shorebirds.
   For a link to pix of the park before and immediately after the storm, click here.