Editing Eastern Prickly Pear (section)

==== Geographic & Historic Overview ====

West Rock Ridge is a prominent traprock ridge in Connecticut that runs in a north-south direction, extending roughly 5 miles from Hamden to northern New Haven and skirting the borders of Woodbridge and Bethany along its western edges.  Although West Rock Ridge is now almost entirely contained within the 1,800-acre West Rock Ridge State Park, this was not always the case.  West Rock Ridge, as a protected parcel of land, began in 1826 as a small 50-acre city park in New Haven (along the southern end of the ridge).  By 1975, the State of Connecticut had established West Rock Ridge State Park on areas of the ridge which were not owned by New Haven.  By 1982, New Haven's city park on West Rock Ridge had grown to encompass roughly 600 acres of land, all of which was donated to the state that year to be incorporated into West Rock Ridge State Park.  Further parcels of land were added to the state park whenever they became available, swelling the park grounds to the roughly 1,800 acres that it encompasses today.<ref name="historywestrock">"History of the Park." ''West Rock Ridge Park Association''. West Rock Ridge Park Association, n.d. Web. 7 May 2012. <http://westrockpark.wordpress.com/history/>.</ref>