Sorry conditions off Jackson Rd

[TabernacleNative]

Easter Sunday, early in the a.m. I decided to go out hiking, but somewhere local so I could get back early. I went out to the end of Jackson Rd. in Medford across from the Cedar Run Wildlife place. I have to say that the woods back there had the worst display of trash and liquor bottles I've seen anywhere in the pines. Alot of it was old garbage, but a great deal of it was new - beer bottles by the dozens, McDonalds trash, Starbucks cups, liquor bottles, what looked like a whole bathroom. For what they consider to be such a wealthy area, Medford should be ashamed that that particular section of the state forest is such a disgrace. Its obvious that the area is used as a Party Area for drinking, I would assume by a lot of the local kids.

On the next Pinelands Cleanup day that the Jeep Clubs do, everyone could spend the whole weekend out there, its that bad.

Such a shame.

 

[Trailhead00]

Not trying to steal your thread but this caught my attention. As you may or may not know I work at Atco Raceway. One of the things I noticed on my drive to work was the amount of litter on Jackson Road. It really gets to me.
I felt like I had to jump through hoops just to locate information on New Jersey's "Adopt-A-Highway" program. We wanted to adopt a section of Jackson Road so we could keep it clean. After 2 weeks of phone calls I discovered the state's program is "in limbo." I was also told there was no county or municipal program. Even though the the township did say they liked the idea and would be willing to work something out.
Well I know of the the area you speak of and unfortunately it is a mess and is in dire of need of some cleaning up. We are trying to do our part along Jackson Road in Waterford.
Even if a program does not exist I'm sure we will be out there picking up litter very shortly. Just trying to do our little part.

 

[TabernacleNative]

I had hoped to get some attention from this thread. I'm sure the trails off Jackson Rd. aren't as heavily traveled as those in the Atsion or Hampton areas, but this little corner of Wharton could use some attention. Maybe some of us who read this will make an effort to clean it up some.

 

[Trailhead00]

I'm going to organize a trash pickup along Jackson Road in the near future. I know on another thread I had thrown out the idea of people coming down to the track to get to know one another. Maybe this is something we can throw together. It could give us a chance to put some faces with names, clean up the pines and like I said before free tickets would be involved. Oh yea of course PBR will be available.

 

[woodjin]

The kind of recent developement near there has certainly lead to this increase in trash. Was the road closed off?

 

[BobNJ1979]

a nice medford cop staked out down there (end of jackson rd) could lead to some change i'm sure. problem would be getting them to do it. i'm sure it's all shawnee high school kids, drinking underage.. sounds like a bunch of them. .

 

[Teegate]

Can anyone tell me the exact locations where the road is blocked. Can you link to it on Google so I know? Thank you.

Guy

 

[TabernacleNative]

Once I exited the woods, I walked down Jackson toward Atco. The bridge is out approx 1.25 miles from Cedar Run Wildlife. Just past the curve in the road with the "Atco" sign on the tree. I don't know if its out again beyond that. I have to say, when I saw construction equip along the road as I hiked back, I was afraid they were paving the road!

N39 48' 19.80"
W74 51' 15.31"

 

[PinesExplr]

Road Open

Road is open now, a Medford Twshp employee assured me they had no plans to pave the road.

ed

Once I exited the woods, I walked down Jackson toward Atco. The bridge is out approx 1.25 miles from Cedar Run Wildlife. Just past the curve in the road with the "Atco" sign on the tree. I don't know if its out again beyond that. I have to say, when I saw construction equip along the road as I hiked back, I was afraid they were paving the road!

N39 48' 19.80"
W74 51' 15.31"

 

[long-a-coming]

Hopefully that road is never paved. That would be a disaster.

 

[Teegate]

Thanks to all for the input.

Guy

 

[explorer67]

Just to clarify, the Jackson Rd in Medford is different than the Jackson Rd in Atco. The Jackson Rd in Medford actually intersects the other Jackson rd, but the Atco section is named "Medford rd".

I am very familiar with the area of the dumpings and it has burned me up for a while, as I grew up nearby. It has been going on since the early 80s (from what I have seen) and it appears to be mostly construction materials. I have also noticed that it is periodically cleaned up, only to reoccur. The very specific area is on the edge of Wharton on a dirt road that eventually leads to a gated hunting preserve/ club. I dont think that anyone in the club would be involved, but perhaps they would be happy to help anyone who is interested in catching the culprits.

Some time ago I discovered household garbage back there and found evidence (magazines, junk mail) with a nearby address in a newer development on them. I regret that I did not report it, as what I did was get mad and reacted, rather than thinking clearly, and picked up several bags, throw them in the trunk and tossed them all over the addresee's lawn one day.

But it still is reocurring, and it appears to be from several different sources. I dont know for sure if they could prosecute someone from address labels, but if I find it again I will report it.

It seems that if there is a little bit of trash, the common mentality is that it is OK to make the pile a bit bigger. If anyone notices pickup trucks or vans in that area carrying junk, they should investigate.

Thanks for letting me vent.

 

[Ben Ruset]

Some time ago I discovered household garbage back there and found evidence (magazines, junk mail) with a nearby address in a newer development on them. I regret that I did not report it, as what I did was get mad and reacted, rather than thinking clearly, and picked up several bags, throw them in the trunk and tossed them all over the addresee's lawn one day.

I support this.

 

[Teegate]

J

I The very specific area is on the edge of Wharton on a dirt road that eventually leads to a gated hunting preserve/ club. I dont think that anyone in the club would be involved, but perhaps they would be happy to help anyone who is interested in catching the culprits.

I can tell you for a fact that the owner of the former J. Roger Brick property where the hunting preserve is located is not involved with the dumping. If they saw anyone dumping there I am sure they would do something. The problem is as we all know you can't be everywhere at all times and the dumpers know that.

I am happy to see there are people like you who care about that area.

Guy

 

[Boyd]

I dont know for sure if they could prosecute someone from address labels, but if I find it again I will report it.

Well it happened to Arlo Guthrie

Seriously, it doesn't make much sense for someone in a Medford development to drive out into the woods and dump their trash when there are weekly pickups at the curb. I'd bet something else was going on there. Maybe they moved out of the house and someone was cleaning up what was left behind? Of course, it's impossible to know...

 

[Teegate]

Well it happened to Arlo Guthrie

.

Quite a bit happened to him on that adventure.

Guy

 

[46er]

In all probability it is contractors dumping construciton debris. Most of the small guys can bearly make a living and the cost to use a legal dump just cuts into their profits. Its been going on for decades with no easy cure. I think we all know where the beer bottles come from. I once came across maybe 2 dozen computer monitors in the middles of Greenwood WMA, How they got them there is anyones guess.

 

[GermanG]

Dumping is one of the prices we pay for the freedom of access we have to many tracts of land here. When I first started exploring the pines after relocating from northern NJ 25 years ago, I was amazed at how many roads accessed the woods. Back north, dirt roads going into almost all private land and most public lands were chained or gated. Here, even vast tracts of private land were unposted and had easy access. But a small minority always ruins it for the majority, as in so many other cases. The only thing we can do is be vigilant and report dumping when we see it.

 

[Y-BUC-BILL]

To my knowlege they have a clean up every year starting at the Ranger Station.I personally have been on many of these clean-ups with my club ,the South Jersey Enduro Riders.Every year we cleaned up both sides of Jackson Rd..from Atsion Rd. to the Dragway.Six months later you would not know it was cleaned.Bunch of slobs out there.Back in the late 40's few people used Jackson Rd.The Dragway wasn't there.Most of the traveling was done during six day deer season.If you broke down anywhere past the Wa-Wa,especially at nite,you better had to hike out.I believe Rednekf oould post more info on the annual clean-up/

 

[gipsie]

I attend the 4x4 cleanup every year and it always seems when we are out there the amount of trash goes down. Then you run into an area where it is worse than ever. Especially the large dump sites. I am not sure of the exact date of the clean up this year; if someone knows it, will you post it? And if I find out first, I will post it.
There is a CITO (Cache In Trash Out) on Saturday at Apple Pie Hill that I plan on attending to try to help clean up that area.