Article about NJ parks closing due to budget cuts

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Enoch

Scout
Apr 15, 2007
41
1
Camden County, NJ
bruset said:
And Paul Mulshine is who? How does he know you'd be asked to leave?
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He’s a columnist/reporter working for the Star-Ledger. He claims to have attended a telephone press conference on April 1, 2008 with the New Jersey DEP commissioner, Lisa Jackson, concerning the park closings.

The source for these statements come from Mr. Mulshine’s reporting on that conference. I wasn’t able to find a transcript to independently verify this. The Star-Ledger is a fairly respectable paper, but I agree that we should keep an open mind that some of this is being mis-reported.

Mr. Mulshine reported that during the April 1st telephone press conference, Jackson made a couple of extreme/confusing comments concerning the “closings”. Mr. Mulshine reports that Jackson commented park police would ask people found in the parks to “move on”. When another reporter asked whether people hiking along a path on the Musconetcong River would be required by law to turn back at the closed state park limits, Jackson said yes.

In follow up calls to confirm he had heard that correctly, Mr Mulshine reports that a person from the DEP press office, Elaine Makatura, confirmed Jackson’s statements by saying “If the public is on a park that is closed, they would be asked to leave.”

So it’s possible Mr. Mulshine is making all this up and the DEP officials never said any such thing. That’s why I pointed to the source for what I am saying, as it sounds extreme. He could also be taking what was said out of context.

If the DEP officials actually said those things, then it is reasonable to question what “closing” a park really means. It sounds as if Jackson and Makatura, officials of the DEP who are responsible for communicating the plans to the public, are saying that if you were found on a closed state park’s property by park police, you’d be asked to leave the park.

At first I agreed with your assessment, that it was just a matter of closing down the visitor center and prohibiting camping. That is probably and hopefully true. But when I saw this article, it made me question that assessment. And the general way in which this is being communicated is confusing, at least to me. Whether that is the fault of the press’s reporting on it, or the way it is being communicated by the state, I’m not sure.
 
omega

omega

Explorer
Jan 23, 2003
150
0
65
Manchester Twp. NJ
www.losttownsvideo.com
Many many moons ago I worked with Paul Mulshine. He is an excellent reporter. As Enoch says he was quoting Lisa Jackson about the parks being closed and people not allowed to access and being told to leave.

I have always thought privatizing state parks, or at least putting them in the hands of a foundation, ala Williamsburg, would be a good thing, as they would know how to raise money, and actually do some quality interpretation.
 
Ben Ruset

Ben Ruset

Administrator
Site Administrator
Oct 12, 2004
7,619
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Monmouth County
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I just went back and read that article. It seems to contradict what has been reported before, and what is in the DEP press release. Specifically the DEP says this about Byrne:

Brendan T. Byrne State Forest – (Full Elimination of Services/Closure) Camping
area/park office/group picnic area would be closed. Indian King Tavern, administered by
Brendan Byrne State Forest, would be closed. Access to some trails would be impacted.

If the entirety of the park is going to be closed, why would they say access to "some" trails would be impacted versus access to "all" trails.

In any event, I emailed the DEP for clarification. If I do get a response (which would be the first time I've ever had a response from the DEP) I'll post it here.
 
Boyd

Boyd

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Staff member
Site Administrator
Jul 31, 2004
9,892
3,046
Ben's Branch, Stephen Creek
bruset said:
If the entirety of the park is going to be closed, why would they say access to "some" trails would be impacted versus access to "all" trails.
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They have some handicap-accessible trails there. Perhaps they will close them due to liability concerns if they aren't being maintained?
 
Ben Ruset

Ben Ruset

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Oct 12, 2004
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Ben - unfortunately, I can not shed any further light on these issues. Our Web site: www.njparksandforests.org will continually be updated as the budget process continues.

Michele

My Email to the DEP said:
Hi --

I'm curious as to the extent of what closing various parks means.

For example, Brendan Byrne State Forest is in the list of parks slated
to close:

Brendan T. Byrne State Forest - (Full Elimination of Services/Closure)
Camping area/park office/group picnic area would be closed. Indian King
Tavern, administered by Brendan Byrne State Forest, would be closed.
Access to some trails would be impacted.

Does this mean that the entire Forest would be closed? For example, if I
wanted to visit the historic sites of Buckingham, Lebanon Glassworks, or
the Brooksbrae Brick ruins, would I be allowed to be in the forest?

It seems impractical to completely shut out public access to those
places, especially since there is no impact on state provided services
(these are literally just places in the woods - no signage, no
facilities of any kind, etc.). I understand that you would not be able
to utilize the campgrounds or picnic areas, but it's very unclear what
the real scope of the closure will be.

Can you shed any light on this?

Thanks!

Ben Ruset
Webmaster, www.NJPineBarrens.com
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