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The US Air Force Starts One Pinelands Fire Every 10 – 14 Days

DEP Misled The Pinelands Commission About The Military Objectives Of Logging Plan

There is so much propaganda being distributed by the Murphy DEP and printed as fact by NJ media that I find it difficult to keep up.

So, I apologize that I’m a little behind in getting out the real story behind this recent garbage journalism, fed by the most manipulative gaslighting DEP Commissioner ever, Shawn LaTourette: (NJ Spotlight)

• Military program funds wildfire protections in the Pinelands

That story celebrates military funding and portrays DEP in a very favorable light in terms of protecting Pinelands communities from wildfires. That story misleadingly creates the impression that DEP’s military funded wildfire management “fire breaks” (33 miles of them) were designed to protect adjacent communities.

But it gets the reality badly wrong and turns what should be a scandal at DEP into praise.

First of all, there is no mention of the fact that the most recent, largest, and controversial DEP wildfire management project, funded by the military, involved 1,400 acres of logging and 13 miles of “firebreak” roads. (that single project is 40% of all the total 33 miles of “firebreaks” and far more land destroyed than the other 20 miles of firebreak).

The 1,400 acres and 13 miles of firebreak roads are located no where near any community or human development! The remotely located logging and the firebreak do NOT protect any community, as DEP and NJ Spotlight would have you believe.

This remote location led to a Pinelands Commisioner openly questioning the rationale for the project. Pinelands Commissioner Doug Wallner, a retired National Park Service expert on wildfire, noted that the DEP plan failed to provide a justification and failed to consider the “no alternative” option. Wallner noted that he had reviewed the maps and that there was little or no people or property at risk or benefit from the logging and firebreak plan.

Here’s what Commissioner Wallner said, verbatim: (watch and listen to the YouTube, Wallner’s remarks begin at time 40 minutes, 20 seconds)

I guess the biggest comment I have is that it seems like it’s a given in the amendment that wildfire is of consequence. So I’d like to see some fleshing out of why, other than just reducing fire hazard, what is the consequence of wildfire? 

I didn’t see any communities nearby or things that are significantly threatened from extreme wildfire.

I did read that it was dense and that it was high fuel loading and everything. But still, I would like some kind of indication of what’s threatened by an extreme wildfire that might happen there.

That project (1,400 acres of logging and 13 miles of roads clearing) was designed to protect the Air Force training mission and Warren Grove US Air Force base.

• Is Military Money And Protection Of Warren Grove US Air Force Range Driving Insane DEP Pinelands Logging Plan?

Worse, the DEP failed to disclose the military funding and military objectives of this project to the Pinelands Commission, the public, and the media during the Pinelands Commission’s review. That is an outright deception by DEP that we called out at the time, see:

• Murphy DEP Concealed Efforts To Secure A $1 Million Pentagon Grant And Flat Out Lied About The Reason For Pinelands Wildfire Logging Plan

• Latest Pinelands Wildfire Raises Serious Questions About DEP Forest Management

DEP Commissioner LaTourette is now trying to turn that totally unacceptable deception and forest mismanagement into a favorable press story.

• DEP’s Own Analysis Of The Dynamics Of The Wharton State Forest Wildfire Illustrates Why Their “Forest Thinning” And “Firebreak” Logging Plan Won’t Work

The DEP also grossly exaggerates wildfire risks. Of the over 1,000 wildfires in NJ, over 90% of them are two acres or less in size. These are basically dumpster fires or roadside grass fires that pose NO risk, see:

• Murphy DEP Caught Blowing Smoke On Wildfires

If the DEP were serious about reducing wildfire risk and protecting communities (instead of their funding and jobs), they would limit new development in DEP mapped high wildfire risk locations and mandate safety measures at existing development., see:

• Murphy DEP, Pinelands Commission, and Highlands Council Urged To Restrict New Development In Areas Of “Extreme” Wildfire Risk

Yet DEP recently denied this petition for rulemaking to force those protections, see DEP denial document:

There were NO press reports on any of that.

Finally, the DEP fails to disclose and the media fail to report that the US Air Force starts more Pinelands fires than any arsonist.

According to the US Air Force’s  own REPI program fact sheet:

“Every year training activities ignite one fire every 10-14 days, which are suppressed on-site….

So, the US Air Force is funding DEP to reduce the risks to the US Air Force training mission and facilities, not Pinelands Communities.

The US Air Force training missions are creating wildfire risks, not reducing them.

DEP is intentionally misleading the public about all of this.

And the press is reporting lies and has no integrity to report the facts.

In Response To My Ethics Complaint, Assistant Commissioner Cecil Finally Filed A Recusal Memo

Amazingly, Cecil Tried To Keep It Secret As A “Privileged And Confidential” Memo

Cecil’s Long Delayed Recusal Is Limited In Scope To Sparta Mountain

(Caption: “Forest Stewardship” in the Pinelands – DEP & NJ Audubon support these clearcuts)

Based upon learning that DEP Division of Fish and Wildlife recently hired a former NJ Audubon staffer (another high handed move and at best a crony hire, to be discussed in a subsequent post), I thought I’d check in on the status of the ethics complaint I filed against DEP Assistant Commissioner John Cecil for conflicts of interest arising from his prior work at NJ Audubon.

The multiple connections and revolving doors between Murphy Governor’s Office and DEP and NJ Audubon raise red flags and really warrant a close look. (also forthcoming)

By way of some background and context, Cecil is a strong advocate of the scientifically dubious “Young Forest” “active management” policy that promotes logging of intact mature forests, as is the DEP’s new crony hire.

Cecil presented these twisted scientific and active management views to Senator Smith’s Forestry Task Force and he implements these flawed policies in DEP forest and natural resource management programs he supervises.

The members of Senator Smith’s Task Force should have been made aware of Cecil’s conflicts and been able to understand both his strong scientific bias and conflicts of interest, which totally undermine any expectation of independence, scientific objectivity, and service to the public interest.

So I filed an OPRA request to learn if Cecil had been sanctioned by the State Ethics Commission and determine if he filed the necessary recusal documents to avoid gross conflicts of interest he has.

I got a highly unusual rapid response from DEP that provided Cecil’s recusal memo.

So we must declare victory in the filing of the ethics complaint.

But upon review of that recusal memo, we find that Cecil went from the frying pan to the fire! (see letter and chronology below).

We also learned that DEP violated OPRA by denying my initial request for Cecil’s ethics disclosure documents, on the stated basis that such records were “”confidential personnel” records that were exempt from OPRA. That was a lie, which DEP now exposes by providing exactly those ethics documents.

Amazingly, I caught DEP Commissioner LaTourette in exactly this same unethical game when I filed an ethics complaint that forced him to file and amend his recusal documents.

Ignoring these ethical lapses, both LaTourette and Cecil long delayed recusal and when Cecil did he tried to keep it secret by classifying the memo as “Privileged And Confidential” – which obviously is false because DEP just gave the memo to me in response to my OPRA request for it.

And the memo is so narrow in scope that it amounts to more unethical behavior, so I let him know exactly how I feel, see:

———- Original Message ———-

From: Bill WOLFE <b>

To: “john.cecil@dep.nj.gov” <john.cecil@dep.nj.gov>

Cc: “shawn.latourette@dep.nj.gov” <shawn.latourette@dep.nj.gov>, senbsmith <SenBSmith@njleg.org>, sengreenstein <sengreenstein@njleg.org>, “senmckeon@njleg.org” <senmckeon@njleg.org>, “Keys, Mary Ann [ETHICS]” <Maryann.Keys@ethics.nj.gov>

Date: 04/03/2024 8:57 AM EDT

Subject: Recusal Memo

Dear DEP Assistant Commissioner Cecil:

I am in receipt of your October 21, 2022 recusal memo to Commissioner LaTourette, which I received today via OPRA discovery.

At the outset, I must note that you classified this memo as “Privileged and Confidential”. It is neither. I must object to your attempt to keep this memo secret. I find this particularly ironic as your stated intent in recusal was to “avoid an appearance” of a conflict of interest.

How would the public appearance of a conflict be remedied or mitigated via a secret “Privileged and Confidential” recusal memo?

I also must note that you filed the subject recusal memo after over 18 months serving at DEP in a management capacity.

The chronology is troubling.

On August 24, 2022, the Department denied my OPRA request for your ethics disclosure and recusal documents on the basis that such records were “confidential personnel records” exempt from OPRA.

On August 25, 2022, I filed a complaint against you to the State Ethics Commission, see:

http://www.wolfenotes.com/2022/08/ethics-complaint-filed-against-murphy-dep-assistant-commissioner-john-cecil/

On September 19 and October 14, 2022, I supplemented that complaint via emails.

Given this chronology, I must infer that you filed the subject recusal only in response to the State Ethics Commission’s review (or perhaps upon direct Order from the Ethics Commission. I request your clarification on the events that triggered your filing. I will file another OPRA today to determine if the Ethics Commission issued direction.)

You did not self initiate this recusal upon hiring at DEP or in response to Commissioner LaTourette’s direction or the DEP Ethics Officer’s guidance, because both were copied on and fully aware of the ethics complaints cited above.

Again, I find this ironic, because I previously forced Commissioner LaTourette to file an ethics recusal document, again via OPRA, see

https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2021/02/shawn-latourette-acting-nj-dep-commissioner-recuses-lng-controversial-plan-former-client-gibbstown-enviros-raises-questions/

One would think DEP managers would learn from their mistakes.

In addition to the extraordinary delays and intransigence in your response to this matter, I also must strenuously object to the legal basis and substantive scope of the recusal.

The legal basis of your recusal is limited to the “appearance” standard, when in fact you had direct and actual conflicts (plural), given your prior work at NJ Audubon and your work at DEP, as I documented in my August 25, 2022 ethics complaint.

The substantive scope of your recusal is limited to the Sparta Mountain Forest Stewardship Plan. However, as I documented in my August 25, 2022 ethics complaint, you have the appearance of and potential conflicts in many regulatory decisions, personnel decisions, and policy matters under your management control at DEP.

Regarding personal matters, I also must now note, having learned of it yesterday, that the DEP Division of Fish and Game recently hired Kristen Meistrell, a former NJ Audubon staffer who I believe worked under your direction at NJ Audubon. That is cronyism, if not another ethical lapse.

So once again, given the above flaws, you (and DEP Commissioner LaTourette) have failed to meet your ethical obligations and basic principles of public service.

Do better.

Bill Wolfe

cc: Legislative leaders copied on original ethics complaint

State Ethics Commission