In a very disappointing turn of events, Wharton State Forest Superintendent Rob Auermuller and a team of volunteers have been posting “No Motorized Vehicles” signs on many of the forest sand roads that have been open to traffic for decades. According to Auermuller, this action is being taken to stop the environmental destruction caused by off-road vehicles.
It is true, there are many places were
irresponsible use of ORV’s has caused damage to the environment. This
has been a major, ongoing problem in Wharton and other state forests and
wildlife management areas. In 2003 the DEP closed access to the woods
for all non-street legal ORV’s – meaning that if you can’t legally drive
one on a road in New Jersey, and it cannot be operated on state land.
This includes quads, dirt bikes, and any vehicle that is not registered
and insured. Today, twelve years later, you can still see people riding
them in the woods.
Now, some of the roads are being closed
to “Class 1 ORV’s”, which includes all vehicles that are licensed,
registered, insured, and inspected, and can therefore legally operate on
any road or highway of the State designated for vehicle traffic. That
means your car, your truck, and your SUV and means that law-abiding
citizens who have always driven through Wharton on some of these roads
to explore, hunt, photograph, launch a canoe, or geocache won’t be able
to unless they want to risk being cited and have to pay a costly fine.
Entire article at
More information at
http://gadfly01.blogspot.com/2015/08/information-about-wharton-state-forest.html
Opposition to closures
http://gadfly01.blogspot.com/2015/08/wharton-state-forest-road-closure.html
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