I'll stay out of the political end of this because to tell the truth I don't know if I care for corzine yet or not though i can say i don't care for his predecessor.In any case let it be known that cranberries are known to be intolerant of water pollution and cranberry growers know this and hence are very instrumental for fighting to preserve water quality in the cohansey aquifer and it behooves them to fight for clean air and soils too since anything that winds up on the dirt or in the air winds up in the water.It is true if their were less bogs there would be more acreage of cedar swamps for us to play in but can you say any landscape in the barrens is truly more beautiful then a cranberry bog being reclaimed by the Barrens?Or for that matter blue holes being reclaimed are minature paradises even though they may contribute slightly to the lowering of the groundwater though I'd say the population at large is more resposible for that.
I would say that cranberry and blueberry production has to be about the least disturbing man activities in the barrens.The plants are natural though blueberries are manmade hybrids that will quickly go wild when uncared for and man has not been able to improve the cranberry so it seems.it's the same as the wild ones along the creeks to the best of my knowledge.so in a nutshell the barrens would be a little wilder and more natural without the berry farmers but then again there would be less people out there with money and hence clout to help fight to save them and that jetport they wanted to build in the heart of the barrens might be a reality today.People like Haines have money and when they speak the state listens and haines and other farmers need clean water so they can keep making money so they must protect the barrens to do this.we love the barrens,perhaps these rich folks do too but as long as their helping preserve them I'll take whatever motive they have and say have it."an enemy of my enemy is my friend"
Al
