Tracks blocked by thousands of trees

[manumuskin]

I was attempting to follow a section of the old central jersey rr tracks today between carranza road and pine crest.most of this section has been blocked by thousands of trees for miles that have been purposely cut down and dropped across the tracks.this appears to have been done at least a couple years ago since most are pines and the barks slipping.I was checking out vernal ponds I seen on aerials along the tracks and what should've been a pleasant 10 minute walk turned into a half hour over and under and around obstacle course.Does anyone know why they sacrificed a thousand trees(I'm not joking) to block unused tracks when they left the parallel trail which i found on the way back entirely alone?The trail is less then 50 yards from the tracks and parallel.Tehy obviously want no one on the tracks.maybe just motorcycles but motorcycles wouldn't ride between the rails anyway but possibly up the sides.Whats up with these tracks thats so important to keep people off to go to so much work to do it?
Al

 

[Ben Ruset]

I thought the sand company near there had cleared the tracks to retain their ownership of the right of way.

 

[bobpbx]

That reminds me of something even stranger we discovered this year. At, and within a half mile of Forked River Mountain, hundreds of pitch pine trees were cut down at random locations for no apparent reason and left to rot. The size of the cut trees was highly variable, and you'd see a medium size tree cut down with all its neighbors left standing (both larger and smaller). And then, 30 feet down the road the opposite would be true. Its not like the the cut trees were at the edge of the road either, most were in 15 feet from the road, but some were right next to the road.

 

[Teegate]

That tree cutting along the JCRR tracks and at Forked River Mountain has been a mystery. The sand company does not own the tracks in Wharton by Carranza so if the state did not cut them down, someone did it illegally. But why? The Forked River Mountain trees cuttings are so random that it is hard to imagine why someone would do that.

Guy

 

[Phil from Philly]

i heard that it was done by the police. it gives them a clear view of the pit so they can see if people are riding quads or dirtbikes illegally.

 

[MarkBNJ]

They've been clearing out under a bunch of mainline utility corridors up here as well. Nearly all the transmission lines in this area have had the ground cleared under them.

 

[Frolickin]

The trees near Carranza have been like that for a couple years. It is a strange thing.