Area residents protest closing of state parks

TC gets good coverage!

Area residents protest closing of state parks

Ringwood State Park on list

By Teresa Edmond
Staff Writer
Suburban Trends
Wednesday, April 28, 2008

Protestors, including local residents and Ringwood State Park employees, rocked the state capital the same way protesters said the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) rocked the state when it proposed to close nine state parks and cut back on other state parks’ facilities and hours of operation. The DEP suggested the protest to meet Governor Jon S. Corzine’s budget cuts.

Although Wawayanda and Ringwood state parks are not among the nine state parks are not among the nine state parks targeted for full closure starting July 1, the state proposed to shut down Ringwood State Park’s Shepherd Lake recreational area and scale back on open hours at Ringwood Manor, also slated for July 1. The State Botanical Gardens and Skylands Manor will remain open.

“It’s an outrage,” Ringwood State Park Superintendent Rebecca Fitzgerald said at the April 23 rally outside the statehouse in Trenton. “The parks are for the people, and they should be fully open with full services.”

But although locals can breathe easy for now because Wawayanda in West Milford and Vernon isn’t marked for full or partial closure, Fitzgerald said it’s predicted that Wawayanda will be “overcrowded” this summer if Shepherd Lake is deemed off limits. Both parks have popular swimming areas.

Fitzgerald clarified that the employees who demonstrated came as state citizens, and not because it was “the taxpayers dollars at work at the protest.”

Fitzgerald also suggested that one option the government could consider in relieving the state budget is to investigate how to collect revenue at parks.

“For example there are many commercial users of our parks that only pay $55 for Special Use Permit, however, make a profit off of our property. We could certainly capture additional revenue from such activities,” she said.

Ringwood resident Diana Gibson, a landscape artist, said that the government shouldn’t pinch pennies by closing the state parks because many people’s jobs would be at stake – including her own.

“As a landscape artist, I regularly paint the Ringwood state system. My livelihood depends on the open space there,” she said.

Veterans of foreign Wars (VFW) members were also present at the rally, specifically to protest the possible closure of High Point State Park in Sussex County. In that park stands the High Point Monument, a 200-foot obelisk dedicated to all war veterans. If High Point State park closes, that monument will be closed off too.

Historical re-enactors in Revolutionary War-era costumes also gathered at the statehouse to remind the government of the state park’s historical merit. By closing the state parks, the re-enactors said, the government will shake New Jersey’s historical roots and deprive people of the opportunity to learn about the state’s past.

“We come to Ringwood Manor on July 4. Hopefully by the, the parks would stay open. Without the staff, we can’t do it,” said Ken Miller, a historical re-enactor from the NJ Militia – Heard’s Brigade, a nonprofit organization that recreates 18th century colonial life and the American revolution all over the state, including Ringwood State Park.

Representatives from the state park employees’ union, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and environmental organizations drummed up the excitement on the statehouse steps, rattling eardrums when they said that Corzine is wrong for considering state park closures.

Jeff Tittel of the state chapter of the Sierra Club said the state parks are legacies, the equivalent of residents’ local Yosemite and Yellowstone national parks. It would lose the annual revenue of $3.9 billion the state parks rake in from visitors who use the parks for outdoor activities.

“That makes absolutely no sense. In a budget of almost $33 billion, to save $4.5 million, to lay off 80 of our brother workers just to balance a little budget? Four and a half million? That’s nothing in this budget,” he said.

“We know who swims in state parks. People who don’t have country club memberships,” said Hetty Rosenstein, president of the CWA local 1037 headquarters in Newark. “They want to close down camping in parks. Can anyone believe New Jersey can’t afford to pitch a tent in a forest? When we go on vacation, we camp. We stay in cabins, not hotel suites.”

According to Brenda Holzinger, the New Jersey regional coordinator for the NY/NJ Trail Conference, shutting down state parks would have a ripple effect not only throughout the state, but also throughout New York State and Pennsylvania. This is because out-of-state visitors hike and use recreational facilities in New Jersey’s state parks. The NY/NJ Trail Conference is a federation that builds, maintains and protects related open space in the bi-state area.

She said that when she brings up the pending closures of New Jersey’s state parks to New Yorkers, they can’t believe the news.

“New Yorkers particularly, are shocked because their state is, right now, putting more money into their parks despite budget difficulties,” she said.

©2008 Suburban Trends

About Us	Calendar	Conservation	Contact Us	Education	Join NYNJTC
Links	News	Publications	Trails	Viewpoint	Volunteer