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Approximate property boundaries shown in gray. |
Sierra Club Denounces Threat To Highlands Greenway
Princeton: The Sierra Club has called a proposal to lease part of
Norvin Green State Forest to groups who want to
set up an off-road motorcycle and BMX facility
on public parkland a dangerous precedent.
"This land was bought for all of the people of New Jersey to
protect the Wanaque Reservoir and to form a
greenway through the Highlands. This land was
not purchased to be destroyed by special interests in a last minute
giveaway by Commissioner Shinn," stated Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. "People, including
myself, worked for ten years, to save this
property, not to see it turned into a motorcycle theme
park."
This property is a critical part of the Highlands Greenway that stretches from Bear Mountain through Harriman State
Park, Sterling Forest, Long Pond Ironworks State
Park and Norvin Green State Forest.
The public has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to create
this greenway through the Highlands and
development of this property will seriously
threaten that greenway. It will also stop the continuation of this
greenway from Norvin Green into the Pequannock Watershed and the Farney Highlands. The proposed motocross theme park is
right in the middle of this proposed 40 mile
greenway. This property includes the headwaters
of two important stream systems that feed the Wanaque Reservoir,
Hewitt Brook and Westbrook. Both streams are trout production,
meaning that they are the cleanest waters and therefore receive
the highest level of government protection. This proposal, which includes a motocross track and 15 miles of BMX bike
trails, will have a serious impact on water
quality because of erosion and non-point pollution
(motor oil and gasoline). It will also completely fragment the forest
causing destruction of critical habitat for threatened bird species.
The noise from this facility and the visual scarring of the land
will seriously impact four major hiking trails that go through this area, Hewitt-Butler Trail, Horse Pond Mountain Trail,
the Stonetown Circular, and New Jersey's
Millennium Trail, the Highlands Trail. The State
has just acquired the Tory Rocks property that exemplifies the importance
of preserving this area, and now, just a stones throw away from
this wonderful acquisition, this abomination is proposed, threatening
a 2,500 acre expanse of open space that was acquired through public
and non-profit monies to preserve this area for all time.
This giveaway goes against the whole purpose of the State having a
Green Acres Program, which is to protect open
space for the people of New Jersey. We should
have learned our lesson from the giveaway on Hamburg Mountain.
Every time we take public property and give it away to a special
interest, we violate the public trust. The ski area on Hamburg Mountain,
a corporate office park on part of Allamuchy State Forest, and now,
an off-road motorcycle tract in Norvin Green State Forest; where will it end?
This is a backdoor deal to bring off-road motorcycles into State
Parks. The Sierra Club worked to stop two bills
sponsored by Senator Cosco, a motorcycle dealer
who was just defeated for re-election that would have opened
up state parks and forests for this type of facility. The Legislature
said no and now the DEP is trying to subvert the legislative process
by leasing this land for a motorcycle action park.
The Sierra Club will be working with the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference and other state and local groups to stop
this DIRTY DEAL FOR DIRT BIKES.
Do Not Allow Motor Cycles to Run Over our Green Acres Land!
For more information, contact:
Jeff Tittel
Director, Sierra Club, NJ Chapter
Sierra Club, New Jersey Chapter
609-924-3141
jefft1@voicenet.com
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