Rewilding in Newport News - Jonas Miller 02/17

During my time in the 2025 Summer Scholars program I visited a number of urban green spaces to observe their viability for wildlife and determine species diversity. One of the sites I frequented was an abandoned stretch of woods and swamp on Denbigh Blvd, behind the Food Lion on the Southern side of Interstate 64. The site totaled 74 acres and featured well-established forest, secondary succession forest, fields wrought by invasive species (Chinese clover, Japanese stilt grass, English ivy, etc.), wetlands, and a shallow central pond totaling about 20 acres. Species of frogs, turtles, and snakes were seen along side deer, coyotes, beaver, and raccoons. Unfortunately, feral cats were also present. As my project progressed I started to wonder about the history of the site. How did it come to be that this relatively healthy green space existed in its unprotected state in the middle of Newport News?

Thankfully, CNU's very own Dr. Gary Whiting was part of the restoration process that occurred during the 1990's. Our story really starts in the 1950's, when VDOT bought a couple different plots of land in the tidewater region to mine sand for the construction of interstate 64. The process of this mining left large, shallow pits that filled with rainwater after the construction was completed. These mines are known as borrow-pits, a popular example being Sandy Bottom Nature Park in Hampton. The main difference between the Denbigh site and Sandy Bottom is, of course, that Sandy Bottom was protected as a nature reserve in the 1980's and Denbigh was left to its own devices. Furthermore, the Denbigh site is 99% surrounded by dense urban development. The only portion of the ecosystem that borders a connective green corridor, which many animals need to navigate the urban environment, is the railroad along side the interstate. Not exactly prime habitat, but animals have been known to travel its wooded borders. (In one instance a black bear made it all the way to Hampton by following the rail from God knows where.) The community uses the site as a common area, where many walk their dogs and some even fish in the borrow lake. What interests me most is the shockingly healthy forest that must not have been cleared during the period of mining. Mature oak, pine, and sycamore trees can be found in two distinct patches on the site, whereas the rest of the forest is dominated by shrubbier species like cedar and maple. Instances of the restoration efforts from the '90's are also visible, especially by the artificially reinforced creek that feeds the lake. There one can find cypress alongside other hydrophilic trees and plants. The animals quickly took advantage of this habitat.

There's a saying in restoration that goes "build it and they will come," which is essentially an artistic way of explaining the gradual animal migration to suitable habitat. Other than the bluegill, bass, catfish, and carp in the lake that had to have been stocked, all the animals that lived in the site made it there on their own accord. The most interesting population I observed was no doubt the strong numbers of Eastern box turtles, a terrestrial turtle species that would seemingly struggle to navigate a dense urban environment. Somehow, these turtles must have persevered through the sand extraction of the mid 20th century and remained genetically diverse enough in the site to maintain a population. Other species must have traveled in after the fact. A single Eastern kingsnake was found in the July, a species that requires healthy populations of snakes (its primary food source) to survive. Both myself and the herpetology professionals at CNU think it is very unlikely that this indicator species was able to survive through the mining process. 

So what's the takeaway here? We have a green space that is partially restored, partially historically healthy, and partially left to its own devices. It is certainly a great study subject for rewilding as a whole. The mammalian fauna appears to be distributed throughout, which is unsurprising considering how easy it is for those species to quickly move through their habitat. The highest density of amphibians, entirely frogs, was found in the "natural" wetlands and seldom the restored creek. The most likely explanation for said observation is that frogs prefer still, vegetative water over the flowing creek water. Box turtles were found primarily in the older, healthy forests, although they're simply harder to spot when the ground cover is thicker. Snakes were found throughout the site, depending on the niche space of the species. Water snakes were seen in the creek, the kingsnake was in a field, and smaller fossorial snakes (worm snakes, ring-necked snakes, etc.) were found anywhere a pile of rocks or asphalt was left behind. What I learned from this is that our restoration efforts do not have to be intensive throughout a space. As long as we can focus our attention on the water (best to have more than one aquatic habitat type) and at least some of the forests, nature will sort out the rest. This habitat is far from healthy, especially considering the massive amounts of invasive plants, feral cats, and run-off pollution. Nonetheless, biodiversity is building. New species are entering the space as the habitat improves, all without the legal protection allotted to parks and preserves. Nature does not care what we consider to be protected, only what offers opportunity. I have hope for our planet's future.