I have been reading this thread for weeks and I cant hold it in anymore after reading the article in the Press today. I am so tired of seeing Armeuller point out the same old picture of the ruination of Mount Jemima. Yes, I admit that is horrific damage and no one here would argue that an area such as that should be closed off. However, this and a few other places are reused over and over to give people the false impression that the entire Pine Barrens area is being turned into a tossed salad by motorized vehicle use. Truthfully many of the "main" roads which had larger puddles that kept growing were never fixed to the point that normal traffic could not get through. Eventually they become so damaged they require major work and money to repair. Then the blame, it must be from and ORV or motorcycle... It appears that the complete lack of small routine maintenance is a major contributor rather than abuse by law abiding motorists who want to enjoy the forest. I sure wish there was a way to illustrate that you can drive on hundreds of miles of trail and very rarely witness destruction. Most of the roads on the MAP designated to be closed are in pristine condition and that point is never brought up to the public either. It's easy for Armeuller to show destruction, BUT proving this is a very small area just doesn't seem possible for us by showing a few pictures ? Also if they call some of the 10 mile repairs done on High Crossing Road near Carranza improvement... it isn't - they created a gravel superhighway and made that area alien to the sand roads that belong in and characterize the pines. To me that is true destruction of the Pine Barrens - Is this the future for the largest MAP approved roads ? I hope not.
Yes they do keep reusing the photos of Jemima Mount and Quarter Mile insinuating that it is occurring like that everywhere. And again they are referring to all opposition as the "ORV community".
I have a question for everyone. I understand that both Jemima Mount and Quarter Mile has been closed to motor vehicles of some time now. Can anyone tell me how long access to these two locations has been denied?
In his most recent video, Armeuller is seen standing in the ruts on Jemima Mt. explaining that damage like this is why they needed to implement the MAP. He failed to mention that Jemima, like Quarter Mile has in fact been closed for years, but they have been unable or unwilling to enforce it. I find it terribly ironic that their two best examples why they need to implement the MAP, are actually great examples of their failure to enforce their own pre existing closures.
"Sooo this time, despite our inability to enforce two of the most badly damaged areas, as solution to resolve this problem, we've decided to close all these other roads that have no damage." It is just not logical.
I am sure that many you, like myself want very much to rid our forest of these knuckleheads that tear up our woods. I am afraid however, that the designers of the MAP may have ulterior motives. This focus on ORV damage makes a good excuse for advancing their actual agenda.
