Egg Harbor Township has begun implementing a plan to transform a 220-acre parcel, including an illegal soil-mining operation, into a park.
An ad-hoc committee organized this summer to discuss the park has issued a 17-page report that calls for restoration projects along existing paths and a man-made lake in a wooded area of the township’s Scullville section.
The group, which included nearby residents and several township officials, recommended a passive recreation park to accommodate fishermen, hikers, kayakers and picnickers. The plan opposes ATVs, dirt bikes, horseback riding and paintball; all activities that have been reported in the remote parcel.
“They would create a physical impact upon the land and require enhanced modification to the park,” the report says. “(The committee) did not want to install incompatible improvements that detract from the natural characteristics of this area.”
Township officials have already entered into an agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to repair some of the environmental impacts of the former mine. Police have also stepped up enforcement against off-road vehicles, including the arrest Sunday of two Northfield juveniles at the park.
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/...cle_eb63603e-18b6-11e2-a1ac-001a4bcf887a.html
An ad-hoc committee organized this summer to discuss the park has issued a 17-page report that calls for restoration projects along existing paths and a man-made lake in a wooded area of the township’s Scullville section.
The group, which included nearby residents and several township officials, recommended a passive recreation park to accommodate fishermen, hikers, kayakers and picnickers. The plan opposes ATVs, dirt bikes, horseback riding and paintball; all activities that have been reported in the remote parcel.
“They would create a physical impact upon the land and require enhanced modification to the park,” the report says. “(The committee) did not want to install incompatible improvements that detract from the natural characteristics of this area.”
Township officials have already entered into an agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to repair some of the environmental impacts of the former mine. Police have also stepped up enforcement against off-road vehicles, including the arrest Sunday of two Northfield juveniles at the park.
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/...cle_eb63603e-18b6-11e2-a1ac-001a4bcf887a.html
