The Maurice River watershed, pronounced Morris, covers 386 square miles and includes part of the Pinelands National Reserve, other pine, cedar, and maple woodlands, agricultural lands, and urban and suburban properties. The river runs for 50 miles through Cumberland County to the Delaware Bay and includes five major tributaries and about 20 lakes. Below Union Lake in Millville, it becomes tidal and winds through salt marshes and historic riverside communities before emptying into the bay. This system provides critical habitat for diverse plant and animal life and protects the underlying aquifer. The Maurice River system and its fresh and tidal wetlands support a diverse population of migratory and resident species, and as part of the Atlantic Flyway, the river lies within an internationally significant region that supports millions of migrating birds each year. In 1993, the Maurice River and several tributaries, including the Menantico and Muskee Creeks and the Manumuskin River, were added to the National Wild and Scenic River System. Its natural habitats support rare plant and animal species including sensitive joint vetch, bald eagles, striped bass, other fish, shorebirds, shortnose sturgeon, and wild rice or wild oats, which feed the sora rail, or mud hen, on its way south. Phragmites, which can grow up to 13 feet and spread 30 feet a year, choke out native marsh vegetation and the animals that depend on native grasses.