Auermuller and the Future of Access Closures

[Greg OBrien]

Absolutely.

The first organized motorcycle enduros that included Wharton's Tract were held in the 1920s, because the U.P. of Michigan was too far away to travel every year.

I'm sure that some of the same roads being closed today were driven down as soon as the first poor piney scraped together enough money to buy a horseless carriage. Certainly those 2" wide wheels got stuck immediately.... the PPA still holds a moment of silence every year to mark this atrocity

 

[JeepWagoneer]

Absolutely.
I'm sure that some of the same roads being closed today were driven down as soon as the first poor piney scraped together enough money to buy a horseless carriage. Certainly those 2" wide wheels got stuck immediately.... the PPA still holds a moment of silence every year to mark this atrocity

That poor sand!

 

[Greg OBrien]

Many of the newly closed roads that "were never intended for travel" (per Auermuller) sure seemed to have been intended when they were mapped out in 1902?

 

[Teegate]

I am not sure this has been posted so if it is a repeat I am sorry.


From the PPA website today.

On August 4, 2015 the New Jersey Park Service issued a press release about the launch of a Motorized Access Plan (MAP) for Wharton State Forest, located in the heart of the Pinelands National Reserve.
The Pinelands Preservation Alliance fully supports this action by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Over the years more and more roads are unintentionally being created due to illegal off-roading through the state forest. The Motorized Access Plan delineates the 225 miles of sand and unimproved roads intended for motor vehicle use while leaving other access areas for emergency vehicles, wildlife, and low-impact recreation. The MAP achieves balance and provides for the first time a guide to users of the state forest.

 

[JeepWagoneer]

I have not yet begun to fight!

 

[smoke_jumper]

I am not sure this has been posted so if it is a repeat I am sorry.


From the PPA website today.

On August 4, 2015 the New Jersey Park Service issued a press release about the launch of a Motorized Access Plan (MAP) for Wharton State Forest, located in the heart of the Pinelands National Reserve.
The Pinelands Preservation Alliance fully supports this action by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Over the years more and more roads are unintentionally being created due to illegal off-roading through the state forest. The Motorized Access Plan delineates the 225 miles of sand and unimproved roads intended for motor vehicle use while leaving other access areas for emergency vehicles, wildlife, and low-impact recreation. The MAP achieves balance and provides for the first time a guide to users of the state forest.

I m just sitting down and getting caught up. I was at work and didn't follow everything. The picture showing the "destruction" of a vernal pool on the headline is actually an area where the state dug up gravel to repair the road nearby. In the 90's there was a major beaver problem on Burnt Mill ironically at Beaver Dam Lake. After several years of trying to stop the problem the beavers were relocated and the road was finally repaired using gravel from either side of the lake. The area south of the lake held water and became a location that people would drive through. The picture is no more than a sand wash on the side of the road. Burnt Mill Road is on the list to stay open and the puddle shown is not affected by the closures at all other then it's not a road. (Try stopping some one from taking a small turn and driving through.) This winter this road was washed out at Beaver Dam exposing the pipe making it an impassable stream crossing not by illegal ORV but lack of maintenance. I can only assume that it's being repaired as we speak since it's a road that is on the open list. Sorry I didn't expect to have 2 rants today