Log and Pave Paradise – Just Call It Improvements
Yesterday, during testimony on the Open Space funding bill, Jen Coffee of ANJEC made an important point by noting the fact the the definition of “Stewardship” in the bill (S2769) included the word “improvements”, which could include things like cutting down forests to build parking lots.
She wisely recommended that the word be deleted from the definition of “stewardship”.
But, I wonder why Jen didn’t similarly object to the fact that the word “improvement” also is in the the definition of “development” . That word defines projects that are eligible for Open Space funds.
Thus far, the debate about abuses of the vague term “stewardship” has focused on things like commercial logging of State forests, under the guise of providing forest diversity and early successional habitat for certain birds.
Anyway, Jen’s observation jogged my memory so that when I got up to testify, I was sure to recall the notorious “improvements” that the Lisa Jackson DEP built at the pristine Ken Lockwood Gorge – which included a paved road, parking lots, and docks jutting out into the river (see below)
DEP did similar destructive “improvements” at Baldpate Mountain and Washington Crossing State Park in Mercer County, see:
At any rate, we’re sure you too have examples of similar egregious abuses to state lands and parks under the guise of “improvements”. It is important that these abuses be documented now and amendments to the open space bill advanced to prevent future abuses.
We’ve recommended that “Stewardship” be deleted and not funded to avoid these kind of absues
Regardless, we urge yo to send your cards and letters about your own experience with “improvements” to Senator Smith at senbsmith@njleg.org
And if you have photos, we’ve be glad to post them here.
Below we repost the Ken Lockwood Gorge outrage:
Destroying Nature to Make It “Accessible” – Paved Road, Parking Lots, Piers, and Pipes to “Improve” Pristine Ken Lockwood Gorge
Father and son go fishing, but find destruction instead
Like that proverbial Village in Vietnam that had to be destroyed to be saved, the DEP is destroying one of the few last remaining natural places to provide public access – you can view pictures of the destruction here.
Read the press acounts by Star Ledger here:
Naturalists dispute state’s idea of improvement
By BRIAN MURRAY
Sunday, August 02, 2009 –
The South Branch of the Raritan River sparkles on sunny summer mornings, crackling and babbling as it snakes through the towering, tree-covered ridges that define Ken Lockwood Gorge.
The wildlife management area is a 445-acre stretch of natural beauty tucked away in Hunterdon County, and its allure has attracted more than the usual mix of trout anglers whipping their fly rods and hikers searching for a brief afternoon of rustic serenity. Moms pushing strollers, friends walking dogs, picnickers lugging coolers and families pedaling bicycles are more frequent sights along the 2.5 miles of dirt, potholed road that hugs the south-side of the river bank.
Now they have company.
Backhoes, earth-movers and gravel-filled dump trucks are rumbling into the hemlock-lined gorge, along with engineers helping the state Department of Environmental Protection to accommodate throngs of visitors with what they call “improvements.” But some naturalists are calling it the destruction of the very thing people come to enjoy.” [link]
I’ve previously written and posted photo’s of the beauty of Ken Lockwood Gorge here.
But here is the recent story of how I happened upon this outrage.A few weeks back, on a fine July 1 day, my friend Benson Chiles gave me a call – he wanted to check out the fishing at a place called Natirar, a Somerset County park on the South Branch of the Raritan River. Glad to get out on a gorgeous day, I met him there. After a few hours with no luck, I suggested he might do better over at Ken Lockwood Gorge, so we headed over there.
I can’t tell you how pissed off we were to see this ugly, poorly designed and needless destruction. A paved road, parking lots, fishing piers, and drainage pipes suited for an interstate highway project in one of the last pristine places in NJ!
I came back the next day and took pictures which I circulated to my colleagues and the press in an effort to to get word out to try and stop the project. I later found out that DEP defended the project as access and drainage “improvements”.
But, curiously, the October 18, 2006 original project press release by former DEP Commissioner Jackson’ said nothing about any roads or piers – in fact, DEP press release issued at the time falsely claimed the road would become a trail and be closed to traffic – and no mention of pavement or piers.
But the trail only/road closure plan was scrapped along the way. DEP Deputy Commissioner Jay Watson has refused to identify who the “public” was that DEP allegedly responded to.
To clear this all up (someone at DEP is misleading the public), I filed an OPRA to find out what’s going on – my file review is tomorrow, 8/19/09.
We will keep you posted.
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