August 5th, 2012. (Reprised July 23rd, 2014)
Beyond getting perilously close to "political speech", I can see you fellows in NJ have a problem. The problem is that too many unthinking people are damaging the State forests and parks with off road vehicles of every type, and so an administrative solution has been proposed. Unfortunately, with too few Park Rangers to take out, ticket and impound the offenders rides and wallets, the rest of you all get tarred with their brush. Regrettably, if it were me, I'd err on the side of enforcement, impoundment and heavy fines untill the offenders are properly dispatched, but if the damage is as extensive as they seem to say it is, perhaps it might be well to close the area until clean up efforts, wildlife and plantlife can reestablish itself.
Most Park Services have first a mission to protect and preserve, then, and only then, to make the areas available for reasonable recreation purposes. Once an area is irreversibly damaged, and the ecosystem is demolished, then all the FWD types need is a good unreclaimed West Virginia strip mine to off road in. If you haven't seen one of those in person, you'd appreciate what the Park Rangers are trying to stop from happening in your state.
For those advocating revolution, please do give it a shot, there are many of us sworn to uphold the law as part of our jobs, so I believe we would enforce it where and how it is needed to best solve the problem and protect the resource. It is talk like that, and behavior like those folks who are tearing up the Parks, that builds a case for more control and more limited access. If you can't handle having the resources protected, please move west and mess up other areas where people value their land less then their "Rights", the result might just decrease the pressure on your state parks, but I doubt it, as the east coast is much too populous now for that to have a substantial effect.
It may be that too many of "us" value our present rights too much, to place any real value on the condition of the world we are creating for the future generations, otherwise we would be doing many things in our daily lives much differently. Just my "IMHOP", but in any case some solution will be reached down your way, let's hope that reason and not just emotion and "wind" prevails.....
(Additional thought added to the above original post 7-23-2014 KFM)
Just additional food for your thought: How many of us realize that on June 30th, 1864, during the bloodiest year of our Civil War, and facing the possibility of no being re-elected, that President Abraham Lincoln made a gift to you and I, and all the future? The first "Preservationist" President set aside the "Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees" as a grant to the State of California that they might be preserved for the use of the common man and woman, never to be granted away for private development. No other leader in history had ever done such a thing, and we and all generations to come benefit by such things, but it also imposes upon us the duty to see these site are handed down in an unaltered state for the future generations to enjoy. What this original post of mine, and No. 38 above does place upon us, is the choice to either accept the duty, or not. Once these areas are destroyed they will never be recreated again.... A pretty heavy load, isn't it? We can either be the solution or the problem....
Personally, I do believe that most of us are willing to accept the duties and carry on the charges to both preserve these memorable sites, and educate our fellow users in the proper care of the gifts that they have been given, much as we attempt to preserve our rather unique historical vehicles.... Now is OUR chance to make a positive difference and help the Rangers protect all such areas set aside for us and for the future.
