Washington Tpke 745 acre thinning bid
- Thread starter 46er
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last Wednesday there wasn't one at the Batsto end, but there was at the other end you had to go around.
It no doubt will increase biological productivity as it lets in sunlight and clears the ground for grass and forbs,herbvores will increase and the predators that eat them ,that doesn't change the fact that it's quite ugly and will ruin a nice drive.Also the state isn't doing it to increase biological productivity.They claim it's for fire suppression and for that it may work quite well.I still think a fire lane cut behind the areas of human settlement would be more suitable to protect life and property then a fire lane up this road which is close to no settlement but Tylertown and there is still enough woods between the two that the fire if set on that side of the road would build to a crown given enough wind before it got there. Then again fire is a risk anyone that lives in the Pines should understand they must live with.Keep valuables in fireproof boxes that can be grabbed and ran with and if you get the wife,kids and dogs out no matter what else you lose life is still good.If you want to live in the woods you shouldn't want the woods cut down to protect your house in the woods.
FWIW, my comment was in regard to the "Eastern, Central and Western Stands" that are designated on the map, not the fire lane.
Just my thoughts, Washington turnpike was part of harvest not so much for fire break but would make it sound better to say that.not one public comment at plc meeting when this was approved.i had thought it was only turnpike too but some digging turned up much more that was not know as you see on the usgs map.im sure that if they tried to harvest the amount off turnpike in stands in forest that would not went well for them.
46ers original post on this thread spelled it out perfectly map and all. He posted all this info almost a year ago. My only concern is how much this opens up vehicle access to more sessitive wetlands in Wharton. It should be monitored closely.
I posted the same concern almost a year ago, post #10 in this thread with little response:
" They will create new in roads into the acreage that will invite uneducated irresponsible off road use, again in my opinion giving them (PPA or mosquito disease) another potential angle to support road closure."
The state parks lost matinance funds with open space ballot vote that is in the control of kig group "ie"environmentals in nj.with that the parks now only has rtp funds for roads and that has to have a state match % of funds to obtain the $365,000+ for motorized portion. total rtp is 1.2 million dollars 2016 in total.unfortunately this looks as the only option they have now to generate revenue.no match funds, no rtp.
RTP is the Federally funded Recreational Trails Program : "provides funds to the States to develop and maintain recreational trails and trail-related facilities for both nonmotorized and motorized recreational trail uses. The RTP is an assistance program of the Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Federal transportation funds benefit recreation including hiking, bicycling, in-line skating, equestrian use, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, off-road motorcycling, all-terrain vehicle riding, four-wheel driving, or using other off-road motorized vehicles." http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/recreational_trails/index.cfm
Sorry boyd im use to the abbreviations of the two.but the guys put up the info on them.
AGREE, took a ride out to Batsto yesterday and what an awful disappointment. Washington Turnpike showcased what a ride in the pines is. I don't know much about forest fire management so I can't judge but I do know one thing... an incredible scenic area is being destroyed. I had no idea those signs indicated such a devastating change of this scale was coming. It's hard to believe that planned destruction of this magnitude can be seen as positive and needed ? Washington turnpike is looking pretty much like a utility road where they cutout a swath of trees for electric lines. What beauty.
I think the clearing looks great. As the vegatation bounces back it will provide a nice look and is great for fauna. The choked barrens stinks for anything but the pine trees within it, doesnt support a whole lot else.
Interesting choice of words... If nature has decided to "choke" the barrens, so what? Who says that the area needs to support any more variety? At best this seems short-sighted. Whatever you dislike about the area is probably the result of man's interference in the first place (like clear cutting for charcoal, etc). Would it be so terrible to just let nature take its course? I mean, 100 years from now won't it evolve into whatever best suits the location? And in the short term all the people and machinery moving through the area for two and a half years will surely have a negative impact.
Then we have to stop artificially extinguishing the fires also.