Murphy DEP Expands Logging On Sparta Mountain, Closes Trails And Entire Area To Block Observers, And Provides Just 2 Days Public Notice!
Sparta Mountain Wildlife Management Area gets a DEP “seed tree treatment” (clearcut)
The Murphy DEP just issued a very troubling edict to the public, especially the local opponents of logging who have monitored and photographed prior DEP logging operations – who DEP insults as “spectators” – stay the hell away:
For safety reasons, starting November 16, 2022 one parking area, a small portion of Sparta Mountain WMA and parts of some trails will be temporarily closed to the public. …
NJ Fish and Wildlife regrets having to close the area off completely. During previous activities spectators, set upon continually entering the work area and disregarding posted signs, have created significant safety concerns.
“Safety” my ass!
The DEP doesn’t want the public to see and document what they are doing, so they simply closed the area.
This is an outrageous move that is worse than the clearcut logging they cynically call “seed tree treatment”.
The DEP provided just 2 days “notice” to the local community and users of the Sparta Mountain Wildlife Management Area. That certainly is not the way to protect public safety. Far more advance warning would be required to legitimately keep hikers and birders and other uses safely away from logging and road construction operations.
DEP will build a new access road and clearcut another 10 acres of core hardwood oak forests in the heart of the NJ Highlands, a forested region protected by the NJ Legislature and DEP regulations, ironically in order to preserve the last remaining large blocks of forests and maximize the canopy cover.
Sparta Mountain forests are ecologically rich and provide habitat for over 75 interior bird species, according to the US Forest Service Highlands Report that led to passage of the Highlands Act. The Area is designated as a Natural Heritage Priority site under DEP regulations.
The public paid to preserve Sparta Mountain, not to surrender it to the loggers and trophy hunters and DEP bureaucrats:
The DEP move spurred howls of outrage from local residents, NJ Forest Watch, and the Highlands Coalition.
Our group NJ Forest Watch for the last 6+ years has been documenting the ecological harm that is occurring on our NJ public lands by the removal of public lands timber and we would like to encourage the department who is supposed to protect our natural resources, to honor our request and suggestions in altering your plans. This area should be avoided as it is close to the Edison Bog area and is entirely a Natural Heritage Priority Site, where over 130+ Rare, Threatened/Endangered and Special Concern Species have been documented. Species like the Red-shouldered hawk, a NJ State Endangered species and the State Threatened Barred Owl reside in this area, of which logging the forest will destroy their habitat.
The NJ Highlands Coalition also blasted DEP for the move and issued an “Call to Action – Stop New Logging On Sparta Mountain” to their members and the public:
Just yesterday the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection issued a notice that a new logging project is scheduled to begin at Sparta Mountain – TOMORROW! Receiving two days’ notice for a major project that has impacts to over 6 million New Jersey residents’ drinking water is unacceptable!
What concerns us the most is just what an extraordinary area this site is for diversity of wildlife. It is a Natural Heritage Priority Site – meaning it posseses the highest diversity of flora and fauna in need of protection – and it has an unmarked vernal pool and C1 waterways with high quality water that feeds the Passaic River and provides NJ residents with clean drinking water.
To get to this logging stand, loggers will need to cut a road so that mechanized harvesting equipment and tractor trailers can access the deepest parts of the forest, where the largest trees grow that store the most carbon, and provide the greatest resilience against climate change.
The Murphy DEP has gone off the rails.