ORV Management In Sensitive Areas Of Wharton
- Thread starter Teegate
- Start date
Boyd I get your point. I dont expect things to stay the same forever. For the most part for every 1 thing that stays the same there's probably 100 that change. But a ride or walk through the pines takes me back since most of it it has changed so little. The state tore down the buildings at friendship and left the open cellars. Now they show us pictures of the damage caused by ORV's driving in them. They leave a pushline open for 6 years leading directly to a vernal pool. And now have a wonderful slide show of people driving through it. Now they say the only way to fix the problem is shut people out. In a few years I predict another slide show and more restrictions.
Christine Todd Whitman back in the 90's decided she was going to clean up Camden.She said that if she spread the folks in Camden into other towns and better neighborhoods that their quality of life would improve and they would change their ways and become better people.She moved a large portion to Millville into the HUD houses newly created mainly from 3rd to 6th street.They did not miraculously change into model citizens,they transformed Millville into a smaller version of the Camden Hood they came from.You can take the Hood Rat out of the Ghetto but you cannot take the Ghetto out of the Hood Rat. Needless to say the cancer spread and now the entire heart of Millville is a drug infested shooting spree.There is at least one murder in Millville monthly with sometimes many more.I have family in the local police department and get the run down on much that isn't reported in the papers.Into the 80's we used to leave our doors unlocked at night in the heart of town and leave the house with them unlocked.You don't do that anymore. All I can say is "Thanks Christine",the joker in there now isn't any better. No longer proud to be a Millbilly.
See, the thing is that there's no good reason why this is changing. There's a way to come to a compromise that will make 90% of everyone happy. Some things only inventively change because people will let them change.
FWIW, I was talking about smoke_jumper's post about the gradual decline of the pines over the past 40 years and not the MAP. There's some truth in what he says, but compared to many other things in this world I think the Pines have held up very well.
Take a look at the last page of The Pine Barrens by McPhee, written in 1967. All things considered, I think we have a lot to be thankful for.
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"Given the futilities of this debate, given the sort attention that is ordinarily paid to plans put forward by conservationists, and given the great numbers and the crossed purposes of all the big and little powers that would have to work together to accomplish anything on a major scale in the pines, it would appear that the Pine Barrens are not very likely to be the subject of dramatic decrees or acts of legislation. They seem to be headed slowly toward extinction."
Take a look at the last page of The Pine Barrens by McPhee, written in 1967. All things considered, I think we have a lot to be thankful for.
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"Given the futilities of this debate, given the sort attention that is ordinarily paid to plans put forward by conservationists, and given the great numbers and the crossed purposes of all the big and little powers that would have to work together to accomplish anything on a major scale in the pines, it would appear that the Pine Barrens are not very likely to be the subject of dramatic decrees or acts of legislation. They seem to be headed slowly toward extinction."
Yes the pines have held up well over the decades. I want them to remain similar for the next 40 years. I hope everyone got my point. The state's policies have influenced the pines more then anything else, for better or worse. I'm not an off road enthusiast by any stretch and don't fall in any single category for that matter. I have hunted but it's not my thing. I canoe and kayak but don't get out more then twice a year. Most of my hikes are probably more like a series of walks and usually happen in the winter. I enjoy the different flowers and fauna but usually at a loss for their scientific name. I love the rich history and read up on much of it, but have no specific area to focus on. I could be wrong but I think most people that enjoy these pines are much the same as me. The MAP plan restricts every single way I enjoy the pines and sets a president to be be even more restrictive in the future. I want to see as little change in the next 40 years but the MAP plan is a major step in the wrong direction of making that happen.
So what's with the Park Police waiting at the intersection of Rt. 679 and Rt. 563 clocking traffic? Doesn't seem right.
Yes, that would be my guess too: https://forums.njpinebarrens.com/threads/cr-563-to-be-closed-beginning-today.10746/
I'd say that is a rather curious use of law enforcement considering recent developments in Wharton.
It was mentioned at the council meetings that the Park Police were catching speeders on the major highways and we were told that is normal as they are police. They do quite a bit of traveling between parks and area's of each park and if they see speeders they stop and ticket them.
There was much discussion of this and not many people were happy about it.
There was much discussion of this and not many people were happy about it.
They no longer are rangers. That pretty much tells it all.
I'm sure they had good reason to be there. It all boils down to logistics. Their job is to protect and serve. Are they going to sit at 1/4 mile and bust the dozen or so people that might be going there during their shift (not to mention also increasing their response time to any other calls). Or can they sit centrally located and scan plates and clock speeders at a rate 10 times that. And bring in more revenue. It's this same point that screams failure for the MAP plan.
It just seems to me that if they are going to sit and wait, it should be in the woods at a trouble spot, like Jemima.
In Rob's presentation he had a game camera showing all this abuse. But there was not one Ranger there. They knew it was going on so much so that they put a camera up. I'd like to see a camera at Jemima over a weekend. I would place money that not one hit would be a ranger. That's just one spot that they can't enforce. Let's see how they do with 280 miles