Yes, thank you. That will be helpful. I'm pretty sure I've never seen anything like that, but that doesn't mean it isn't there.
Bass River Fire Tower proposal
- Thread starter lj762
- Start date
From the article: "Part of the area to be cut is the popular 3.5-mile pink trail..."
Pink? Somebody is using an outdated map.
T
Toothy Critter
Guest
I have walked that section of the CCC trail many times. Those oak groves are beautiful. They hold an aura. Just hope they are not disturbed. Just an opinion but this State and this Country spends so much money on stupid s**t but find no resources to prevent saving these trees.
Pink it is on their map, the Batona Trail. But it sure isn't 3.5 miles, except perhaps the portion in Bass River SF. Must be fake news.
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T
Toothy Critter
Guest
I believe it is the orange trail, called the CCC trail. According to the plan it extends the tree cutting north to the oaks there
The Prees of Atlantic City gives their opinion.
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/...cle_b110159b-b28e-5a41-8b0d-915f5de790af.html
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/...cle_b110159b-b28e-5a41-8b0d-915f5de790af.html
There is an online petition to get DEP to replace the tower instead of cutting the trees:
https://www.thepetitionsite.com/337/358/875/stop-clear-cutting-in-new-jerseys-bass-river-state-park/
"End clear cutting demand a new fire tower in Bass River State Forest New Jersy"
I won't be signing it because I don't agree, but I'm posting the link for a forest friend in case anyone here would like to read and sign it.
https://www.thepetitionsite.com/337/358/875/stop-clear-cutting-in-new-jerseys-bass-river-state-park/
"End clear cutting demand a new fire tower in Bass River State Forest New Jersy"
I won't be signing it because I don't agree, but I'm posting the link for a forest friend in case anyone here would like to read and sign it.
This is just another case of good intentioned people not being able to see the forest for the trees. The same uninformed, short-sighted noise was was made when they cut the trees surrounding the tower at Brendan Byrne years ago. The issue is now largely forgotten and the site is nicely forested again. Sometimes I'm surprised there aren't protests when a farmer harvests his cornfield.
T
Toothy Critter
Guest
I know I probably stand alone on this, and frankly IDGAS, but technology is so rapid that by the time new growth even sprouts, the tower will be obsolete. When the BB tower was made clear we were still living in an analog world. Cut all the trees down, go ahead, so we can watch an abandoned tower rust away in clear view. "Uninformed, short-sighted noise..." to you is really vision in my opinion. Today you take the cheap way out. Tomorrow you will be wondering, gee, I wish I had known THAT was coming. Sorry, but I stick to my uninformed guns. Now I'll be camping and fishing in the Pines this week... hope I get to see some trees before they are all cut down in order to save them. But you do all have a point... it is better to save the money for more important things, like helping illegals who sneak into our country, or to help big business with subsidies. Now I'm just ranting....
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Apparently it is being done by satellite. I agree, forest Fire Towers are archaic.
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/GlobalFire/fire_5.php
https://fsapps.nwcg.gov/activefiremaps.php?sensor=modis&op=maps&rCode=ema
https://fsapps.nwcg.gov/data/activefiremaps/ema2018120_0300.jpg
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/GlobalFire/fire_5.php
https://fsapps.nwcg.gov/activefiremaps.php?sensor=modis&op=maps&rCode=ema
https://fsapps.nwcg.gov/data/activefiremaps/ema2018120_0300.jpg
Just to expand on my comments you took issues with:
By "uninformed" I was referring to the fact many critics of the project merely see pretty trees and may not be aware that most are of a species not native to the area and were selected as a more valuable timber species than the native pines. They were planted with the intention of one day being harvested, and in far greater numbers than just the ones immediately surrounding the tower.
The "short-sighted" comment was addressing the fact that trees are a renewable resource, just as any agricultural crop is. The concern that it takes longer for trees to mature than a cornfield does just shows that many tend to worry more about such things from their own perspective on time than what occurs in the natural world. Virtually the entire pine barrens was cleared for timber, charcoal production and agriculture at various times in its history and much of that land is now "pretty" mature forest once again. I save the term "destruction" that many use for forest clearing for cases of commercial and residential development that are a far greater threat to the barrens.
As far as technology goes, towers may one day soon be obsolete, but we are not at that point yet. The staff who man them have intricate knowledge of the forest and roads around them and can often pinpoint the location of a fire in its earliest stages without even triangulating bearings from another tower. This all takes place very quickly, as time-proven methods often do, and brush trucks or aircraft can then be dispatched while the fire is in its earliest and most controllable stage. Smoke from a fire in its earliest stage is not as likely to be detected by satellite as it is from the vantage point of the tower attendant. For every larger fire that makes its way to the media, many more smaller ones are dealt with in this manner. Contrary to the opinion of some, those who do not do this work for a living do not better know how to do it than those who do.
As far as connecting this specific issue with illegals and business subsidies........well, that's where the "noise" comes in, even if I may agree with you on parts of it.
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Please don't rant (and try to resist the urge to comment when someone else does). We adopted a "no politics" rule a few years before you joined because there was a time when things got ugly. Everyone has done a really good job of avoiding political discussions in spite of the polarization we've seen over the past couple years. Let's not spoil it now.
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Today was a "red flag warning" day - "potential for enhanced fire spread" - and I don't even think they manned* the Bass River Station tower. Could be personnel shortage, or could be because they can't see well enough to bother. I don't know. But anything they can do to keep large parts of the forest from burning - I'm for it.
*PS: What is the proper term for someone being on duty in the tower, when that person is a woman? Because often she is... and it doesn't seem right to say the tower is manned.
*PS: What is the proper term for someone being on duty in the tower, when that person is a woman? Because often she is... and it doesn't seem right to say the tower is manned.
The term is staffed, whether it be a man or a woMAN.
NJFFS FIRE TOWER/AIR BASE STATUS
Monday 04/30/18
Division A, B & C fire towers are STAFFED today
NJFFS FIRE TOWER/AIR BASE STATUS
Monday 04/30/18
Division A, B & C fire towers are STAFFED today
How are fire towers archaic? Pennsylvania just erected 22 new towers over the last 2 years! People should get their facts correct. As far as camera systems....they will not work in NJ. Our compact land area and dense population will result in fast moving fire not to be detected as quickly and result in the loss of homes and property. Not to mention the trees planted in the area were ment to be harvested for wood and lumber in the first place...they are called RENEWABLE RESOURCES.
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