Garfield DeMarco, as Ted Gorden relates in this post from awhile ago, was a complex, often generous man, who actually did love the land.
"Bob, I already had the above articles in my files but am pleased that you posted them here. I met Garfield De Marco in the early 1970s and became acquainted with him when he was head of the Pinelands Environmental Council. During those years our paths crossed many times because of our involvement in Pinelands issues and my deep interest in the history of the cranberry industry. I found Garfield to be a complex personality, a scholar of history with a brilliant mind. We both enjoyed talking about local history, and I would soon learn that, despite public or political opinion to the contrary, he was not an uncompromising adversary of protection of natural communities. When, I reported to him a mining operation that was destroying a large population of an endangered shrub, Broom Crowberry, in the East Plains, he immediately saw to it that the illegal operation was stopped. On another occasion, when I informed him that beavers were flooding out the endangered Bog Asphodel at Burnt Bridge near Chatsworth, he immediately arranged for the Fish & Wildlife service to remove the beavers off site. This tinge of sensitivity lurked behind a gruff exterior and was detected by only a few. Ask Michele Byers, executive director of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, who too--in my opinion--was aware of it. This should put in perspective De Marco's comments in the NY Times article, "I love the area. I love the land. I don't believe in cutting trees. ...."
The articles I posted:
https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2003-05-25-0305250144-story.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/17/nyregion/leaving-a-legacy-after-a-lifetime-in-the-bogs.html
So on balance, I think he leaves a good legacy behind.
