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Posted: Wednesday, September 9, 2015 6:21 pm
A lone pine tree
stands in the middle of a deep circle of tire ruts from off road
vehicles, the result of drivers doing “donuts” in the middle of a
historic Pine Barrens settlement near Quaker Bridge in Wharton State
Forest.
“It looks like an ORV park,” said
Superintendent Rob Auermuller, of Little Egg Harbor Township, as he
scanned the area from one set of tire tracks to another.
ORVs are street-legal four-wheel-
or all-wheel-drive vehicles and dirt-bike motorcycles. They are driven
off road for fun, and many are modified with huge tires to go through
water and mud.
Wharton's paths are as old as settlement in South Jersey
They have left their mark on both
natural areas and roads throughout the forest, which at 122,800 acres
is the largest single tract of land within the New Jersey State Park
System.
Auermuller and the State Park
Service have worked with the New Jersey Forest Fire Service to develop a
draft Motorized Access Plan for Wharton that would leave about 225
miles of mostly dirt roads open to motor vehicles.
Another 275 miles of mostly fire
breaks and other small routes traditionally used by motor vehicles would
be closed to them, but continue to be open to hikers, bicyclists and
horseback riders.
TO LEARN MORE
No part of the forest or other
state lands is open to all terrain vehicles, or ATVs, although they too
are driven in the forest illegally, Auermuller said.
Supporters say the plan, which
may change and will not be finalized until after a series of stakeholder
meetings this fall, will preserve and protect the forest while giving
plenty of access to motor vehicles.
But opponents say it penalizes
everyone for the bad actions of a few, and unnecessarily restricts
motorists’ access to the woods.
* * *
ABOUT WHARTON STATE FOREST
The plan will keep vehicle
traffic on roads that are best able to handle it, thus minimizing “go
arounds” that develop, especially on smaller routes, said Auermuller.
“Go arounds” are where vehicles
plow around a deep puddle or other obstacle, creating new road sections
and disturbing forest when the original route becomes a problem.
Auermuller and DEP officials are
taking the plan to the public, and getting a lot of pushback from the
ORV community. Dozens of its members have attended municipal meetings on
the plan in Hammonton, Washington Township and other nearby towns to
fight the move.
Several speakers at an August
meeting in Hammonton said the process has not been transparent, and
pointed out that governing bodies in Medford and Medford Lakes have
already voted against supporting the plan.
They suggested some firebreaks
will disappear once vehicles stop driving on them, and said the new
rules will prevent them from getting to some of their favorite forest
spots.
WHARTON BY THE NUMBERS
Auermuller said supporters of the plan are less vocal, but he believes they are large in number.
“We have 700,000 visitors at Wharton a year,” he said. “A lot of people call and say, ‘Thank God you are doing something.’”
Wharton received a $600,000
federal grant this year to improve motor vehicle roads in the forest,
and has spent about half of it on about 10 miles of road repair,
purchase of a dump truck and grading and trimming tree limbs on another
90 miles of roadways, said Auermuller.
As part of the grant, Wharton had to print a map of official roads, he said.
No part of the forest, other than
one tiny sliver, is more than one mile from any road that motor
vehicles could continue to use, Auermuller said.
* * *
There are some points of agreement between the two sides.
Crackdown on illegal dumping a big help to South Jersey
Off-road enthusiast Dave Demsey,
34, of Waterford Township, advocates for almost unlimited access to use
of the park’s traditional roads and trails by motor vehicles. He started
a group called Open Trails New Jersey to fight to keep most of
Wharton’s routes open.
But he agrees that highly
sensitive ecological or historic areas of the forest should be closed to
motor vehicle traffic. Those areas are a tiny fraction of what the MAP
plan would close, he said.
One area he acknowledged should
be closed to motor vehicles is Jemima Mount, a thousands-year-old hill
that is part of a ridge that rises to more than 100 feet above sea
level.
Deposits of gravel from the last ice age are believed to have been deposited there, creating the ridge, said Auermuller.
Both sides agree it has been
severely eroded from ORV activity just in the last 16 years, turning
what was a verdant hillside to mucky dirt.
“There is no reason for that,” Demsey said of damage to historic or sensitive ecological areas.
But he said the MAP plan won’t solve the problem.
“It only keeps out law-abiding
citizens,” said Demsey, who grew up on the border of the forest in the
Atco section of Waterford Township and now takes his four sons there
regularly.
* * *
The people who are doing the damage will continue to drive where they shouldn’t, he said.
“They know what they are doing is
illegal,” he said. But they don’t care, and enforcement by New Jersey
State Park Police has not been effective, he said.
He cited as an example Quarter
Mile Bogs, a large wetland adjacent to the Batsto Natural Area that has
been practically destroyed by ORVs. The area was officially closed to
motorized vehicles years ago, but some drivers have continued to use it
and have done further damage.
New Jersey Forest Fire Service
Section Forest Fire Warden Samuel Moore III, a sixth-generation resident
of Tabernacle Township in the Pinelands, said his main concern is for
public safety and fire prevention.
Moore helped develop the plan,
and said he often sees evidence of illegal campfires in areas used
improperly by ORV drivers. He also sees evidence they are driving over
vegetation with vehicles whose undersides are hot and could spark a
fire, especially during dry times.
ORVs also have damaged some roads
to the point that fire trucks and other first responders get stuck,
Moore said, threatening public safety.
Demsey said he doesn’t believe ORVs are to blame for all of the damage. He also blames a lack of maintenance over the years.
But he is hopeful the two sides can get together and come up with a better plan for all concerned.
“In the long run I would love to
help with education and rehabilitation,” said Demsey. “I’ve participated
in cleanups for 14 years. I’ve taken out two cubic yards of trash a
year, and hundreds of tires.”
He has dragged downed trees to block spots where drivers have driven into wetlands, he said.
“I feel very protective of the
forest,” said Demsey. “My childhood is back there, and I want it to be
my sons’ childhood as well.”
Contact: 609-272-7219
Twitter @MichelleBPost
Photos at
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/wharton-state-forest-officials-weigh-access-vs-preservation/article_2b67318a-5741-11e5-886b-ffbe15a6078b.htmlPhotos at
1 comment:
again.... bad win ..good loss!!!! what makes them think the poles are going to stop these guys & kids.. my answer more cops
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