You are invited to celebrate National Trails Day and the Highlands with Under Secretary of Agriculture Jim Lyons, New Jersey Senator Robert Torricelli and other elected officials, along with local conservation groups this Saturday, June 5th. A press conference, open to the public, will be followed by hikes, including along the New Jersey Highlands Trail.
We urge as many people as possible to attend this event. It is important that the hiking community express a strong interest in receiving federal as well as state support for protecting the Highlands region. The Land and Water Conservation Fund and the Forest Legacy are two potential vehicles for federal support under consideration by Congress.
Surrounded by Sterling Forest and the Highlands of New Jersey, Lyons and Torricelli will host a news conference at 10:30 a.m. at the Monksville Reservoir to call for new federal efforts to protect the Highlands Region.
They will be joined by representatives from the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, New York/New Jersey Trails Conference, Sterling Forest Partnership, the Sierra Club, the Highlands Coalition, Appalachian Mountain Club, Scenic Hudson and other groups. Following the press conference, hike leaders will take people, interested in experiencing the Highlands landscape, on walks of various lengths and ease/difficulty. Hikes.
NOTE: Under Secretary Lyons, a New Jersey native, oversees the U.S. Forest Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
DATE: Saturday, June 5, 1999
TIME: 10:30 a.m.
PLACE: Monksville Reservoir, North Boat Ramp
Long Pond Ironworks State Park
Beech Road, off of Route 511, Ringwood, NJ
DIRECTIONS TO PRESS CONFERENCE
>From the South: I-287 North to the Skyline Drive Exit. At bottom of ramp, make a left at the light. Continue straight under the highway over the mountain to end of Skyline Drive. Make right onto Greenwood Lake Tpk., also known as Rt. 511. Stay on Greenwood Lake Tpk. Approximately 5 miles, past the Monksville Dam, after which the second right will be Beech Road, with parking lot and boat ramp on the left.
>From New York: Take Rt. 4 West to Rt. 208 North to I-287 South (Morristown). Go approximately 3 miles to Skyline Drive exit, and go right at end of ramp. Go over mountain to end of Skyline Drive. Follow directions above.