Bulls Island Remains Closed For The Sixth Year

Irresponsible Neglect Continues – Northern Portion of Island Overcome By Weeds 

Bulls Island – view from the boat launch, which is open

On March 19, 2016 we visited Bulls Island to see if anything had been done since our last visit to prepare the place for the spring season and open it to the public for passive recreational uses as a natural area.

DEP promised to develop a plan to restore and reopen the northern portion and received approval of the D&R Canal Commission to demolish buildings and remove infrastructure back in November of 2014.

We have not attended D&R Canal Commission meetings in awhile, so don’t know the current status of DEP’s park planning, but we saw no evidence of any progress on the ground.

[Update #2: John Loos, Vice Chair of D&R Canal Commission tweets that Bulls Island was on the March 16 agenda:

DRCC discussed at last meeting. Trying to push DEP to come forward with plan to reopen. I expect report at April meeting. ~~~ end update]

Way back on December 18, 2013, the D&R Canal Commission rejected DEP’s original insane plan to clearcut the northern portion of the island in response to the tragic death of a camper back on June 28, 2011.

Despite that fact, the DEP Bulls Island website has not been updated and continues to claim that the clear cutting plan is under development. There is no mention of the D&R Canal Commission’s rejection of the original DEP plan, or of DEP’s promise to develop another plan, or of the Canal Commission’s approval of DEP’s demolition plan. And there is no pledge or schedule to re-open the place.

This is a totally unacceptable situation.

[Update #1: my friend Scott Olson got the underlying cause exactly right, recalling and capturing the essence of the Keep it Green fraud in a series of tweets I had to share:

Again we were disgusted by the neglect we saw. The feel of abandonment was eery. See captions.

picnic benches rot

this is eerily reminiscent of Chernobyl style abandonment

DEP promised to demolish infrastructure and buildings. No progress to date.

ugly scar remains from where DEP illegally bulldozed riparian vegetation and disposed of sediments and waste along river. DEP’s restoration plan to USACE is a failure.

large sycamore down in river. We saw about 15 trees down, about 5 were sycamore. Almost all large trees slated for cutting remain standing.

fire rings rust

no respect for the dead – campsite where tragic accident occurred still remains untouched. I can’t imagine what the family must still feel and think about this. I was reluctant to post it but felt public should know.