Petition to Restore Public Access to West Mills Road

We, the undersigned citizens of the state of New Jersey, request restoration of vehicular access to the southwestern section of Wharton State Forest, in particular to that area bounded by Nescohague Creek on the southwest, and the Sleeper Branch on the northeast. Here, there are over 6,000 acres currently shut off to public use for outdoor activities requiring a vehicle, such as hunting, fishing, exploring, canoeing, photography, animal and bird watching, nature studies, etc.

 For over 15 years, vehicle access to the southeastern section of Wharton State Forest from the eastern side has been blocked by a condemned bridge over Nescohague Creek at Pleasant Mills. And now, West Mills Road, the western public access road from NJ Route 206 and managed by the Town of Hammonton, has been temporarily vacated by said town and granted to a private landowner in the form of an exclusive license agreement. This has given said landowner exclusive rights to use the road for a fee, even though the road does not pass through the landowners property. The landowner has gated this road, barring public access by vehicles. In granting this exclusive right to this individual, the Town of Hammonton has specifically stated in the license agreement that West Mills Road is not necessary for public purposes. But this premise is false, as the public has been using West Mills Road to access the forest in this area for over 100 years. Additionally, the Town of Hammonton’s action has also effectively blocked access to West Mills Road as it continues for 3 additional miles beyond its own municipal border into the Township of Mullica, which is outrageous and grossly unfair to forest users.

We request that New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection quickly explore all avenues for restoring public access to this area. Several hunting and fishing seasons have already been missed.

Delay is denying access to all forest users.

Some alternates plans could include:
 a.) Request that landowner move the current gate to the landowner’s own nearby access road, which is easy to do. This will also necessitate having the Town of Hammonton revoke the license agreement and the rights previously granted to the landowner.
 b.) Grade a new road immediately parallel to West Mills Road which will merge with West Mills Road beyond the Town of Hammonton’s border. This will also provide a better fire break in this area.

Sign the petition at link
https://www.change.org/p/new-jersey-department-of-environmental-protection-division-of-parks-and-forestry-restore-public-vehicle-access-to-the-southwestern-section-of-wharton-state-forest-in-nj?recruiter=66260218&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition