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White Trail - Roaring Rock Park Washington Township, Warren County, NJ |
We are residents who live in and around Washington Township, Warren County NJ. In early 2021 we formed our group after learning that the Township contracted with Gracie and Harrigan, a forestry consultant, to design a Forest Management Plan ("Plan") that would have targeted all of the forest within Roaring Rock Park for commercial logging.
Throughout 2021, we expressed our concerns about the adverse effects the Plan would have had on the Park, a public forest the Township purchased from American Water Company with Green Acre Funding, if the Plan was fully executed over its ten year period.
We are delighted that the Township Committee listened to our concerns, and unanimously voted to terminate the Plan during the open public meeting held on November 16th, 2021.
From now on, our team pledges to:
- Proactively engage elected officials to preserve and improve Roaring Rock Park, and other passive recreational sites like it in the Warren County New Jersey area;
- Engage New Jersey state and local government entities to ensure ecologically responsible, and environmentally sustainable, forest management practices are carried out on public lands;
- Connect like minded individuals, who care about public land and wildlife preservation, with one another and with environmental advocacy groups, in this state and nationwide.
Why we advocate for preservation
So families can enjoy unspoiled natural beauty, close to home, within a public space.
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Why does preservation matter?
Roaring Rock Park, and all of New Jersey’s public forests, are worth preserving from development and commercial forestry because
- They provide accessible recreational opportunities for residents,
- They help support wildlife by providing a protective natural habitat, sustaining their life and reproduction,
- They provide clean drinking water, which is the case with the forests located in the New Jersey Highlands region,
- The mature trees store a significant amount of carbon, playing a part in reducing the harmful effects of global climate change.
What is the concern?
New Jersey public forests are threatened by commercial logging, which is justified under the guise of promoting regenerative growth. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the sponsorship of this state's Audubon Chapter are promoting logging to revitalize forests on NJ public lands and aid endangered wildlife species. The flagship project is being conducted at Sparta Mountain Wildlife Management Area.
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Commercial clear cut logging at Sparta Mountain WMA This activity could occur across ALL NJ public lands |
What is more alarming is that the logging activities now underway at Sparta Mountain, and what began in 2021 at Roaring Rock Park, could be conducted on ALL public lands in New Jersey - whether state, county or municipally owned land. Recent legislation introduced into the New Jersey Assembly during 2021 would, if passed into law, allow commercial forest activities to occur at a broad scale, and without local municipal and resident oversight. Furthermore, the legislation is written in a manner that logging would occur regardless of whether the public land was acquired under the New Jersey's Green Acres program and if the parcel is as small as twenty five acres.
What can you do to help
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Team SRRP at National Night Out Washington Township, August 3rd, 2021 |
- Visit and use Roaring Rock Park. If you need to find out where it is, click HERE to pull up a Google Map of its location. Use the hiking trails that were built from years of volunteer labor. If you are a fisherman, enjoy fishing Brass Castle Creek.
- Volunteer to help maintain the hiking trails within the parks. The Washington Township Passive Area Recreation Coordinator (PARC) organizes frequent volunteer days to blaze and clear trails. This is precious work since our area parks are overrun with invasive plant species such as Japanese barberry. To be informed of upcoming volunteer days, email PARC and ask to be put on the list.
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Join us and
Contact your New Jersey Senator and Assembly representatives and
express your support of New Jersey public lands, and disapproval of
widespread commercial logging on public lands within this state.
You can use this convenient
roster
to find your current representatives.
Our area parks and passive recreation sites need the support of residents who care about preserving pubic open space, and land and wildlife preservation here in Warren County and across this state. Helping with the above activities shows YOUR support (the first two suggestions provide a physical and mental boost!).
Let's stay in touch !
We periodically email a newsletter to provide updates on our activities. You can subscribe by submitting your email address below. You may unsubscribe at any time.
You may contact us directly via email.
