Rough going for state-planned ATV park

Environmentalists and others oppose the Monroe Twp. site.
Enthusiasts say they deserve legal space.

By Troy Graham, Inquirer Staff Writer
Published: Sunday, December 15, 2007

In the spring, the meadow where Fred Akers was standing will fill up with a few feet of water and play host to a threatened species of Pine Barrens tree frog.
But in December, this seasonal pond in Gloucester County is nearly dry and frozen, and Akers could point out the tire tracks disappearing into one of the remaining patches of water.

Rough going for state-planned ATV park

Environmentalists and others oppose the Monroe Twp. site.
Enthusiasts say they deserve legal space.

By Troy Graham, Inquirer Staff Writer
Published: Sunday, December 15, 2007

In the spring, the meadow where Fred Akers was standing will fill up with a few feet of water and play host to a threatened species of Pine Barrens tree frog.
But in December, this seasonal pond in Gloucester County is nearly dry and frozen, and Akers could point out the tire tracks disappearing into one of the remaining patches of water.

"As cool as this is - and as sensitive as I think it is - there are the ATV tracks. They were out here doing doughnuts and driving around while I was surveying," said Akers, a local environmentalist. "This is like driving through wetlands."

If New Jersey gets its way, this land in Monroe Township will become a permanent playground for all-terrain vehicles, with a track and miles of trails winding through 224 Pinelands acres.

But that won't happen without a fight from environmentalists and neighbors, who don't want to have to listen to engines revving through the woods.

"We hear them over there now, riding illegally, and it's loud," said Joan Stahl, who lives across from the entrance to the property, a former sand mine. "They come in at dawn, and they stay until dark. The noise, the dust, and we're so close."

In a heavily developed state, this fight pits environmentalists who want to preserve the precious remaining green space against outdoor enthusiasts who say they deserve some room.

The state said opening an ATV park at the former Sahara Sands mine was the best compromise for everyone.

Thousands of ATV riders are illegally using state land, and officials hope opening parks will stop most of that riding.

"A lot of it is that they just don't understand the impact on the environment," said John S. Watson, deputy commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection. "Our interests are to protect the natural resources of the state as a whole, and we feel we have to do something."

ATV enthusiasts - supporters put their numbers close to one million in New Jersey - describe themselves as environmentalists as well, and they reject claims that their machines have dirty, polluting engines.

Dale Freitas, president of the New Jersey Off-Highway Vehicle Association, said illegal riding happened because the state had not fulfilled a 2003 promise to provide land.

"They know this is a valid user group, and if they're going to stop this problem . . . you have to have options for them," he said.

One current option, the New Jersey Off Road Vehicle Park in Chatsworth, Burlington County, was a former strip mine polluted with burned-out cars and trash. The riders, using volunteer labor, helped clean up the site and plant trees. But in 2008, the park will close, and the land will revert to a state forest.

The state Pinelands Commission and the DEP promised to find three new sites for riders by then. One, proposed for somewhere east of the Garden State Parkway, has received a $338,000 federal grant.

Another, for now, is proposed for Sahara Sands, which is 60 percent mined and 40 percent forest, the DEP's Watson said.

Said Freitas: "If the owner wanted to go back in there and mine again . . . he could bulldoze and grade and do anything he wanted in that pit. But as soon as you mention an [ATV] park, they throw up their hands and say it's a habitat for threatened and endangered species."

The state bought the Sahara Sands site in 2005, using $1.2 million in Green Acres funding. Jeff Tittel, director of the Sierra Club of New Jersey, said spending that money on an ATV park would be a "diversion" from the fund's mission and require approval from a body known as the State House Commission.

"I think DEP's got its head up a tailpipe," Tittel said. "Look, I'm a skier. Is the state going to go buy me a ski area?"

He said his group could sue to stop the park.

But Watson said the Green Acres funding was not a diversion.

"The Green Acres program is for recreation, and this is certainly recreation," he said. "This is no different than a public marina - and we fund public marinas."

Watson said the DEP planned to outline all the pros and cons of the Monroe park in a public document by spring. The agency then would name a nonprofit group to run the park.

That nonprofit, Watson said, would be responsible for getting approvals from the Pinelands Commission and possibly the two townships bordering the park - Monroe and Buena Vista, Atlantic County.

Then there are the neighbors.

Stahl, who works for Buena Vista's mayor, an opponent of the park, gathered 370 signatures on a petition to block its creation.

"We're not going to just sit there and not do anything," she said. "We save all our money to have a nice place, and they can just come in and destroy it."

Akers, the administrator of the Great Egg Harbor Watershed Association, said he objected to the characterization of the Monroe site as a "barren moonscape."

He said the state's own data, which he consulted, showed the existence of threatened species there, such as the barred owl and the tree frog, which he heard on the land.

"They're pretty loud, and they honk like a goose, so you can't mistake them for another species," he said.

Watson said threatened and endangered species were all over the state, including in areas where illegal riding was happening.

"We selected this site because it's a former mine," he said. "It's a disturbed site. It's not a pristine site."

Akers and other opponents said that opening a park in Monroe wouldn't stop illegal riding because people would tire of paying fees and waiting in line.

They said the state needed strong enforcement to register ATVs and discourage illegal riding - a position the DEP also takes.

Freitas said his group also supported more registration and licensing of ATVs and safety and environmental training for riders.

But he said the only law proposed on the matter would carry draconian penalties for illegal riding and didn't address the need for legal parks.

"The problems are only being compounded right now," Freitas said. "The whole purpose of this legislation is to scare people into not buying an ATV or dirt bike."

If given a choice, he said, most enthusiasts would ride legally.

Akers just doesn't think that will happen in Monroe, given the species on that site.

"It's going to be an uphill fight, and it's going to require the DEP and the Pinelands Commission to bend the crap out of their own rules," he said.

To read story: CLICK HERE

Contact staff writer Troy Graham at 856-779-3893 or tgraham@phillynews.com.

Region's trails share in federal funding.

By DAVID BENSON Staff Writer, 609-272-7206
Published: Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Southern New Jersey will get a sizeable chunk of $2.1 million in federal grants to maintain and improve recreational trails, a state official said this week.
Lisa Jackson, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection, said grant recipients will match funds by 20 percent for each project.

"Recreational trails enhance our environment, economy and quality of life while offering health and fitness opportunities, outdoor classrooms for nature study, greenways for wildlife conservation and links with our historic past," Jackson said. "With these funds, great trails throughout New Jersey will be even better."
About $1.1 million has already been approved for 48 trails in the state, Jackson said. During the next year, the DEP will award another $1 million.

In Burlington County, Wharton State Forest will use $6,425 to develop a water-trail maintenance program on several rivers in the Pinelands. The nonprofit Atlantic Off-Highway Vehicle Park Inc. was awarded $338,218 to establish a new riding area in Ocean County for off-highway vehicle enthusiasts. Thirty percent of each year's funding must be allocated for motorized trail recreation.

Government agencies and nonprofit organizations have until Dec. 15, to apply for the 2008 funding. For more information, contact the DEP Trails Program at 609-984-1339 or visit the Web site: www.nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/natural/njtrails.html

APPROVE DPROJECTS
Following is a partial list of approved recreational trail improvement projects.

Atlantic County
Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Stockton Community Trails Project: $7,000

Burlington County
Wharton State Forest, Water Trail Maintenance Program: $6,425

Whitesbog Preservation Trust, Trail Maintenance and Enhancement: $8,535

Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge, Cedar Run Lake Trail: $9,075

Cape May County
The Nature Conservancy, Delaware Bayshores, Lizard Tail Swamp Preserve: $25,000

Gloucester County
Elk Township, Recreational Rail-Trail: $25,000

Washington Township, Washington Lake Park Trail Restoration: $25,000

Ocean County
Atlantic Off-Highway Vehicle Park Inc., Off-Highway Vehicle Park: $338,218

Salem County
Pilesgrove-Woodstown Recreation Association, Marlton Park Walking Trail: $15,000

Multiple County Projects
Jersey Off-Road Bicycle Association (Atlantic, Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth, Middlesex, Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset, Passaic, Sussex and Warren), Trail Maintenance Equipment: $24,250

Jersey Off-Road Bicycle Association (Atlantic, Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth, Middlesex, Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset, Passaic, Sussex and Warren), Trails Maintenance & Repair Tools: $21,740

State buying former strip mine
in S. Jersey to build ATV park

by Tom Hester/The Star-Ledger
Saturday November 24, 2007, 12:05 PM

EThe state is buying a 224-acre former sand and gravel strip mine in South Jersey to create an ATV park, part of an effort by the Department of Environmental Protection to stop illegal off-road vehicle and dirt bike riding in state parks and in the Pinelands.

DEP Deputy Commissioner John S. Watson said his department has spent $1.2 million in Green Acres funds to purchase the old strip mining tract in the Pinelands in Monroe, Gloucester County. Plans call for creation of a second such park in Ocean County.

"Forests, wildlife and natural areas are suffering greatly because of illegal use," Watson said, adding ATV use conflicts with other state park uses, like hiking and horseback riding, and is detrimental to the parks.

The project has the support of the Pinelands Commission and off-road advocates, but is opposed by environmentalists. Watson said the proposed Sahara Sands Inc. site is about 60 percent mined and 40 percent forest.

The DEP is also in the early stages of locating an off-road facility in Ocean County "east of the Parkway," Watson said.

Read the full story in Saturday's Star-Ledger

A boost for off-road group seeking site in Ocean County

By Kirk Moore
NOVEMBER 25, 2007

On Wednesday, the state Department of Environmental Protection announced that $338,218 from a federal recreational-trails grant will go to the Atlantic Off-Road Vehicle Park Inc., a nonprofit group that is seeking to open a new riding area in Ocean County.

Best known in the off-road community for its sponsorship of annual events such as the Sahara Sands Grand Prix in Eagleswood and other Atlantic Grand Prix events, the group is the biggest single beneficiary of $2.1 million from the Federal Highway Administration. The federal grant program requires that 30 percent of funding be allocated to motorized recreation, according to DEP officials.

The group began organizing annual events at gravel pits, farms and other rural locations because there are fewer places to ride and no provision in New Jersey for riding on state land.

But in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York, the all-terrain vehicle "and unregistered motorcycle population make up nearly 95 percent of the off-highway vehicles sold in the three-state metropolitan area," the group notes on its Web site. "ATVs make up nearly 65 percent of the market, and unregistered motorcycles make up 30 percent."

To read full story Click here

A dead end for ATV set?
Despite years of discussion, DEP hasn't opened a new off-road vehicle park.

BY KIRK MOORE • STAFF WRITER • NOVEMBER 25, 2007

With just 10 months left at their longtime location near Chatsworth in Burlington County, organizers of the New Jersey Off-Road Vehicle Park say they're pressing state officials to fulfill a pledge to open a new riding area.

"By December 2005, they were supposed to have two (off-road) parks up and running," said Leslie Montanaro of Waretown, who is secretary of the Chatsworth park organization.

The state Department of Environmental Protection has proposed one site, a former sand-and-gravel mine in Monroe in Gloucester County, but riders still are waiting to hear about progress on opening that location, she said. The DEP already has spent $1.2 million in Green Acres funds to acquire the former Silvi Concrete property in Monroe. The Monroe site also is being reviewed by the state Pinelands Commission.

"We're waiting on DEP" to answer some questions the commission staff posed about wetlands and endangered species on the tract, said commission spokesman Paul Leaken. "The commission continues to support the goal of trying to identify a new off-road vehicle park."

There are an estimated 200,000 off-road vehicles in New Jersey, and they are a legitimate recreational use — "We need to recognize that," John Watson Jr., an assistant commissioner with the DEP, said earlier this year. "Our collective interest is to provide a safe and legal alternative for riders."

"It's just a resources issue, to be honest," Watson said last week.

The DEP's Green Acres program director, John Flynn, has been working with riders' advocates on the Monroe project. Watson said DEP workers are trying to put together a public document, called a request for proposals, to lay out what's needed for a nonprofit group to run a new park at the property located near Williamstown in Monroe.

The Off-Road Vehicle Park group, which has operated and insured the Chatsworth facility since 1998, is the most likely candidate. But Watson said the selection needs to be a public process.

Watson said he's looking for the proposal document to be ready at the beginning of 2008, and "I would hope we could get a contract in place with an organization by the summer."

That's a tight time line that worries Kenny Dean Montanaro, Leslie's husband and director of the Off-Road Vehicle Park group.

Opened under a unique agreement with the DEP and state Pinelands Commission, the 260-acre site off Route 72 in the Chatsworth section of Woodland is due to close in September 2008, according to terms of a lease with the landowner, the nonprofit New Jersey Conservation Foundation.

Over the past nine years, riders worked with the foundation to replant trees and supervise what had been a wide-open riding area plagued by accidents and injuries almost every weekend. Montanaro said he has asked if it's possible to extend the lease until the state is ready to open the Monroe tract, but the conservation foundation "told us it will never happen," he said.

"I seriously doubt that it's going to be considered," Watson agreed.

Riders are afraid they will be left without a place to ride for an unknown period of time if the Chatsworth site is closed down before a new venue opens up.

Montanaro said riders are concerned that review of the Monroe site could bog down in issues related to threatened or endangered plant and animal species on the property.

"We have had some indication" that there are species there, Watson said. "However, the thing we keep in mind is the reason we are trying to do this," he added. There's a net environmental benefit to getting riders onto a controlled site, instead of them motoring through the Pinelands and blundering into stands of rare plants and snake habitat, Watson explained.

Meanwhile, the riders are alarmed by legislation that would sharply increase the penalties for illegally operating vehicles and motorcycles on public land. Sponsored by Assembly members Reed Gusciora, D-Mercer, Paul D. Moriarty, D-Camden, and Michael J. Panter, D-Monmouth, bill A-4172 also provides for police to impound vehicles and mandates driver's license suspensions for repeat offenders.

Stiffer penalties have been coming since former DEP Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell proposed a two-track solution to illegal riding: higher penalties, but with state-sanctioned public-riding areas, which Campbell proposed to have ready by 2005. Montanaro said he's concerned another enforcement crackdown, such as the one Campbell ordered in 2003, is on the way without any progress on a new park.

"The problem with that bill is it will make more people run (from law enforcement). Now you're going to have kids running and getting hurt," he said. "Our sport is the only sport out there where we're treated like criminals."

Watson said the DEP understands the riders' concerns. "We had committed in the past administration that most of those things would go down the path at the same time," and that's still the agency's intent, he said.

It would help if a bigger part of the riding community got involved along with the Off-Road Vehicle Park, Watson said, adding "the industry (vehicle manufacturers) need to step up and get involved in this too." Owners of the Motorsports Park in Millville are considering adding an off-road area, so there is potential for private-sector park development, "even in New Jersey," he said.

Loretta Winters, a former Monroe Township Committee member, said she will try to meet with the legislators to get their help with moving the park proposal forward. She also wants to meet with municipal officials in neighboring Buena Vista, where Mayor Charles Chiarello has raised concerns about the plan, "to put their fears and objections to rest."

Winters thinks a new off-road park would be an economic benefit to Monroe and the surrounding area. "Stop at the Wawa on Route 72 (near Chatsworth) on Saturday morning and you'll see, they have the sandwiches and Gatorade lined up for all the people on their way to the park," she said.

"If there's no land to ride on, it defeats the whole purpose" of the off-road legislation, Winters added. "This group's dedication (at Chatsworth) has been unswerving through the years. If they get a large piece of property, that's another 200 to 400 acres that won't get developed."

Off-road park advocates are holding an online raffle, with a $6,000 all-terrain vehicle as grand prize for entrants who fill out a survey form. One goal of the raffle on the group's Web site, www.njorvp.org, is to gauge the true size of New Jersey's off-road community, Leslie Montanaro said.

To read full story click here

Sahara Sands Hare Scrambles:
Off-road racing rides at gravel pit

BY PAULA SCULLY
STAFF WRITER
Thursday, November 25, 2007

EAGLESWOOD — "The thrill of going fast" is one of the draws of off-road racing at the Sahara Sands Hare Scrambles, said David Worden of Vineland.

Worden, 15, came in first in his class and won the youth Mini Cycle Race overall in the first race of the Atlantic Grand Prix Hare Scrambles on Sunday at Sahara Sands.

Worden rode a Kawasaki KX 100 Big Wheel to win over Steve Hodgson of Vincentown, who rode a RM 85 from Bromley Cycle Center.

The courses were new this year.

"It was a lot of fun," Wordon said. "I loved the motorcross portion in the back. There's a lot of jumps back there. I was having fun."

The fifth annual Sahara Sands Hare Scrambles on Sunday drew thousands of contestants and spectators for youth and adult motorcycles and youth and adult All-Terrain Vehicle races.

Next came the youth ATV race. Austin Findley of Quarryville, Pa., won on his Hendricks Racing TRX90.

In the motorcycle race, Wally Palmer came in first, followed by Motocrossers Jim Kapiton and Jim Henshaw.

The afternoon adult ATV race was a much anticipated event. Chris Borich won after six laps. Steven Stracka came in second and Corey Harch of West Creek came in third.

The event, a fundraiser for the Eagleswood Volunteer Fire Company, raised close to $10,000, according to the Atlantic Grand Prix Web site.

Event photos were available as prints, photo CDs and photo blankets.

Cole Schilling, 11, of Mayetta raced on a dirt bike in the first race at 9 a.m., which was the youth 65 class. It had rained here on Friday and racers felt the effects on the track despite the sunny day of the race.

"It was really muddy and slippery," Schilling said.

"You did good," said his friend Ryan Cahill, 13, of Mayetta.

Emma Purcell of Barnegat, originally of Mayetta, accompanied the boys.

"His father used to race when he was a boy so he's following in his father's footsteps," she said.

Dale Freitas of the Atlantic Grand Prix ran all the races. He said youth dirt bike and ATV races take 45 minutes. Adult dirt bikes and quads are one-and-a-half hours.

"This is a fundraiser for the fire company. People love it," Freitas said.

Colton Harch, 11, of West Creek was at the table of Trick Racing of West Creek, his family's business featuring all kinds of things racers need, such as helmets, gloves and tear-offs. The store is across the street from the Sahara Sands plant but had a table on site for the event.

For the uninitiated, he explained tear-offs are used on goggles.

"You put it on your goggles so when they get muddy, you can just tear it off and have a clear pair of goggles," he said. "They come in packs of 10. You stick all 10 on your goggles and you just tear them off when you're racing."

The American flag flew above the race course and before the races the National Anthem was played.

Cars, trucks, trailers and campers kept arriving throughout the day, including one truck with the words "Piney Princess" on the top of the windshield.

Walt McCollum, the fundraiser chairman and a lieutenant in the fire company, said the money collected will be used for the fire company's building renovation and requirement replacement.

He said the organizers, the Silvi family who owns Sahara Sands and the Atlantic Grand Prix, asked that riders not return to the course when the event is over. "It's a working mine and the landscape can change," he said.

McCollum extended thanks to the Great Bay EMS Squad for its assistance, the Silvi family, the Eagleswood community and the racers.

He noted that Murphy Dogs handled the food concessions and Potts Excavation donated a 20-yard dumpster. McCollum said Cliff Aguadl used to chair the event and he credited his planning with the basis for the organizers to bring the event to a successful fruition this year.

The last Atlantic Grand Prix off-road race of the season for ATVs and motorcycles will be Nov. 4 at Route 539 and Thomas Avenue in Little Egg Harbor.

For results in the Sahara Sands Hare Scrambles and for information about the Little Egg Harbor race, visit the Web site at www.atlanticgrandprix.com
View the entire story in print: http://www.timesbeacon.com
Or view the PDF: SAHARA SANDS STORY

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Keep off-road vehicles away from car and train traffic

Opinion from the Editor of the Courier-Post
Thursday, August 2, 2007

The tragic death of a young Hammonton girl reveals the need for vigilance by riders and more safe sites for ATVs.

The death of Gabrielle Campione is a tragic reminder of the need to use all-terrain vehicles well away from thoroughfares -- including rail lines.

Campione, 15, was killed Monday when a New Jersey Transit train hit an ATV stuck on the tracks.

Campione and eight friends were riding their ATVs in an isolated area off the White Horse Pike in Winslow. A friend's ATV became stuck on the rails and Campione was helping to get it free when a train on the Atlantic City line came around a bend. The engineer was unable to stop the train before it reached the ATV, an NJ Transit spokeswoman said. The flying ATV hit Campione, killing her.

It is unfortunate, sometimes tragically so, that the number of safe, recreational areas to ride ATVs lags behind the number of these vehicles sold. If skateparks can be built to keep skateboarders from putting themselves and others in harm's way on the roads, it would seem that ATV parks could be created in some of the bigger state and county parks to offer safe riding areas.

Of course, the dearth of off-road riding sites cannot justify anyone venturing into dangerous areas. Young people especially should be continually reminded to stay off roads and away from rail lines, regardless of where they are located. The danger is too great.

We offer our condolences to the Campione family and their friends, and urge other families to take heed. No family should have to experience what the Campiones are now going through.

Link to opinion from the Editor: http://www.courierpostonline.com

Send a letter to the Editor: lstrupczewski@courierpostonline.com

Teen killed in ATV accident recalled for helpful nature

By LEO STRUPCZEWSKI
Courier-Post Staff

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

HAMMONTON, NJ. - It was typical Gabrielle Campione, trying to help a friend.

But when a train rounded a bend in Winslow on Monday afternoon, that impulse proved deadly for the 15-year-old, officials said.

Campione and a friend were trying to free an all-terrain vehicle that had become stuck on railroad tracks when the train appeared, NJ Transit spokeswoman Courtney Carroll said Tuesday.

The friend scrambled for safety, but Campione could not get clear. The train smashed into the ATV, which flew through the air and fatally struck the girl, Carroll said.

No other injuries were reported.

Campione, who was about to enter her sophomore year at Hammonton High School, was loyal to the end, said her father, Allen Campione.

"That's what got her killed," he said Tuesday.

The accident occurred as the teen and eight friends passed through a remote area about three-quarters of a mile west of the White Horse Pike.

The youths weren't riding on the tracks but were crossing the rails when a boy's ATV became stuck, Carroll said.

Campione, a passenger on a nearby ATV, jumped off to help, her father said. The ATV on the tracks was hit about 2:45 p.m. by a train headed for Atlantic City.

Carroll said the train's conductor applied an emergency brake and sounded the horn when he saw the teenagers.

"Unfortunately, the train was not able to stop in time," she said. "It does take a train some time to come to a complete stop."

Carroll did not know how far the curve was from the scene of the accident or how fast the train was traveling.

NJ Transit officials expressed sympathy for the girl's death, but also noted the teens were trespassing in a dangerous area.

Monday's tragedy reflected Campione in action, her father said. For as long as he could remember, Allen Campione said, his daughter's friends turned to her for help.

Hammonton Middle School Principal Gene Miller remembered Campione, a 2006 graduate, as a "very nice student."

"She always had a smile on her face. She always said "hi' in the hallways or cafeteria. She was a terrific student who was highly liked by her fellow students," Miller said.

Allen Campione said his daughter had been riding ATVs since she was 5. The two of them, along with Gabrielle's older brother, often went riding together.

It was only recently that Campione, described as a "social butterfly," began riding without her father. Friends were getting driver's licenses and the teens would haul ATVs on trailers to riding sites.

"She just loved to have fun," Allen Campione said. "She had fun every day of her life."

The group the teen was with Monday was "very close," her father said.

"They do everything together," he said. "The kids are rocked."

Most spent much of Monday night at the Campione home, culling through photographs in her bedroom, her father said. They were planning to return Tuesday night to help family members create a slideshow for the funeral.

Link to story http://www.courierpostonline.com

Staff writer Jim Walsh contributed to this report. Reach Leo Strupczewski at (856) 317-7828 or lstrupczewski@courierpostonline.com

Hundreds of ATV enthusiasts enjoy 50-mile
Pittsburgh-area trail

The Associated Press

PATTON, Pa. - Hundreds of all-terrain vehicle enthusiasts are flocking to a new 50-mile trail through a 6,000-acre area of western Pennsylvania's scenic forests and grasslands, bringing tourism dollars to the rural region.

The $8 million Rock Run Recreation Area, touted as the best ATV trail east of the Mississippi, runs through the Allegheny Mountains in Cambria and Clearfield counties. It is part of a broader plan to increase the trails by another 100 miles and build 250 campsites, snowmobiling areas and walking and biking paths.

Rock Run, which opened in early May, has so far averaged about 150 riders on the weekends, most of them from the Pittsburgh area, about 90 miles away. But people have also come from other states, including Connecticut, Virginia and Washington.

The prospect of increased tourism has energized nearby rural communities, including Patton, a small town of just over 2,000 people, where bed-and-breakfasts, new restaurants and an ATV rental and repair shop have popped up.

"People are really excited about the development as well as the energy that it has brought to town. There is a lot of traffic on Fridays and Sundays," said David LaSota, a local engineer. "I think this is the first step in really bringing jobs back to the area and promoting economic growth, obviously in the service industry."

To read the story in the The Philadelphia Inquirer: http://www.philly.com

Good guys also ride on ATVs

BY Kate Fratti
Bucks County Courier Times

BENSALEM PA — While locals galled by the dust and roaring noise of all-terrain vehicles hope for the sport to go away, Fun Center Motorsports, a dealership at 2639 Bristol Pike in Bensalem, is adding showroom space.

Lots of it. About 16,000 square feet filled with ATVs, motorcycles, personal watercraft, speedboats and all the gear that goes with them. The addition has been a $2 million investment.

The bulk of sales are sleek street bikes, but sales of off-road bikes and ATVs continue to be strong, manager Allan Slezak said.

That's not happy news for the non-fans of motor sports who live along municipal greenbelts and near miles of railroad-owned open space spanning Langhorne, Middletown, Lower Southampton and Northampton near Playwicki Park. That land is used illegally by too many ATV and dirt bike enthusiasts to count. Scofflaws argue they have nowhere else to play.

In the fall, residents' howling about noise and damage near Playwicki reached the ears of Bucks County Commissioner Jim Cawley. He's pressing Norfolk Southern Railroad officials to come up with a plan to block access to their land and to help cover costs for stepped-up municipal police patrols. He's still waiting for an answer from the railroad.

Allan's been following the story and sides squarely with Cawley and homeowners.

Riders have no business interloping on private property. It's bad for the sport and that's bad for business.

Most riders are courteous and responsible because they're passionate about their sport. Some are athletes, pure and simple. Others see riding as a family activity. They ride on their own land and at paid courses.

Knuckleheads running roughshod on private land aren't just plain wrong, they are just plain in the minority, Allan argues.

He took exception to my opining in a column once that grown-ups who care about kids would keep them off these machines.


Allan has three children, ages 12 to 15. All avid riders, they wear helmets, goggles, chest protectors and ride appropriate-sized quads. They're outdoors, they're active and they're spending time with Dad. What's not to cheer about, he wanted to know.

Allan's father-in-law, Ken Mrozek, a retired aerospace engineer, bought this dealership in 1973, and has been growing it since. Buyers leave here with safety instructions, invites for riding lessons, and a list of legal places to enjoy.

“[The ones riding illegally] have other options,” he tells me. Some places are just a 45- minute haul from here. The New Jersey Off Road Vehicle Park in Chatsworth, N.J., and Blue Diamond Park in Delaware are the closest. Memberships run about $300 a year.

Hey, Google “ATV PA” and your screen will fill with legal courses and trails, says Dave Firman of the Fun Center parts department. He's 50 and has been riding since he was 12. Dave was among the founding members at Chatsworth, earning a free year's membership for helping to build the place.

And wouldn't it be nice, said he and Allan, if someone would build such a place in Bucks.

A Bensalem businessman has proposed a course on a former industrial site near I-95, but has been shot down twice in zoning hearings. Allan hopes the guy will persist.

A legal course isn't just good for business, he said. It's good for the sport, and even better for non-riders, who wouldn't have to deal with the dust and noise any longer.

Kate Fratti, whose column appears on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, wonders if anyone has an idea on how and where to get such a place up and running.

To read the story in the Bucks County Courior Times: www.phillyburbs.com

Rise in ATV complaints prompts extra patrols

BY CHRIS GAETANO
Sentinel
New Brunswick South Brunswick

SOUTH BRUNSWICK— Township police announced that they will be stepping up patrols in order to enforce ordinances on all-terrain vehicle (ATV) use at public parks and private land.

The increased scrutiny comes amid increasing complaints from residents over the noise and damage they say ATVs cause.

"It is a seasonal complaint. With the warmer weather, we expect to hear more concern from area residents. Our goal is to make the public aware of the laws," said Detective Jim Ryan, public information officer for the department.

The law specifically states that ATVs are not allowed on any public land without being first registered with the state. A township ordinance focusing on South Brunswick's parks says that ATVs are not allowed unless its owner gets a permit from the township clerk. Violations of the ordinance can lead to the vehicle being impounded. Meanwhile, operating an ATV on private property without permission from the owner is considered a disorderly persons offense.

Police had issued a similar warning in November of last year when residents of the Summer Fields Estate housing development made complaints to police that ATV riders were driving through their property.

One area of town that residents say is frequently visited by ATV riders is Pigeon Swamp State Park. According to Jean Dvorak, whose house borders the wetlands area, the riders uproot the soil and leave big mud pits in the ground.

"When it is muddy, they ruin the ground. There are big mud pits from them all over the place," said Dvorak. "It is illegal for them to ride in the State Park, but someone has to catch them to enforce the law."

South Brunswick is not the only town where residents have made complaints about ATV riders. Jamesburg experienced a great deal of damage to a local park at the beginning of this year, which was blamed on riders in the area. Manalapan worked on an ordinance in response to complaints brought forth in July of last year. Howell, which already had an ordinance on the books, added fines in response to resident complaints in October of last year. In April of last year, Millstone residents, in response to repeated complaints about noise generated from the machines, pondered increasing violations of the noise ordinance to $3,000.

Old Bridge has also experienced tension between residents and ATV riders, with enforcement stepped up in June 2005. The year before that, ATV riders were blamed for a rash of vandalism in public parks, despite already having a ban.

Dale Freitas, the president of the New Jersey Off-Highway Vehicle Association, said that the problems of property damage and trespassing are symptomatic of the fact that riders have no place to go to begin with. Freitas said that riders only have one park they're legally allowed to ride in and that's set to close in mid-2008.

"Could you imagine what it would be like if 250,000 golfers only had one golf course to play on in New Jersey and that golf course was slated to close in 2008 without any replacement in sight?" said Freitas.

Freitas said that this would be less of an issue if the state would allow more areas to be open to riders, allowing them to legally enjoy their hobby. He said that the state has done this with mountain bikers and horse riders with good results, so why not ATVs? He added that off-roading SUV drivers also share the blame, as large tire tracks left behind that are normally attributed to ATV riders are usually the fault of SUV drivers.

To read story : http://nbs.gmnews.com

Off-road vehicle riders sound off on park closure.
Pinelands group gets hundreds of letters decrying plan.

BY KIRK MOORE
Asbury Park Press
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 03/10/07

PEMBERTON TOWNSHIP— Hundreds of off-road vehicle riders have written letters to the state Pinelands Commission, expressing their worries over next year's closing of the New Jersey Off-Road Vehicle Park and predicting it will only worsen problems with illegal riding.

"Their concern is the facility in Woodland Township . . . is due to close in 2008," commission Executive Director John Stokes told Pinelands commissioners at their monthly meeting here Friday.

Located off Route 72 near Chatsworth village, the vehicle park opened in 1998 under an unusual agreement between the nonprofit New Jersey Conservation Foundation, which owns the property, and state environmental officials, Stokes said.

"The thought was using it for ATV (all-terrain vehicle) use would allow the property to be restored over time," Stokes said. In partnership with off-road park volunteers, the foundation has managed the riding tracks while replanting trees on the tract too.

The 10-year agreement expires next year. Meanwhile, riders say the state is far behind schedule in its pledge to open two off-road parks, a goal that former state Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell had set for 2005.

Pinelands mayors earlier this week heard John Watson, an assistant DEP commissioner, ask for their support in creating a new off-road park at a former sand mine in Monroe, Gloucester County.

At the suggestion of off-road riding activists who met with the mine owners, the DEP purchased the 225-acre property for $1.2 million. The agency is now conducting environmental surveys on the tract.

The Sierra Club is opposed to the park proposal "because it's a diversion. . . . It's using public money for a private interest," Jeff Tittel, director of the club's New Jersey chapter, said Friday.

"If I'm a downhill skier, does that mean the state should be buying slopes?" Tittel said. "We will go to court to prevent that."

Watson clearly tied completion of the project with getting changes to state law that would require vehicle registration and stiffer penalties for illegal riding, said Fred Akers of the Great Egg Harbor Watershed Association.

The law is needed, Akers said, because "there is a pretty broad consensus (among environmental groups) that the creation of a legal park will not curb illegal use."

Campbell explicitly banned unregistered motor vehicles from state lands in 2002. Riders can use private property in the Pinelands, if they carry written permission from the landowner. But riders say there are very few opportunities for that, and say a public park is a necessary outlet for the sport.

State officials estimate there are around 200,000 off-road vehicles in New Jersey, according to Watson.

"Every year we catch a couple of them, and they end up paying restitution," said Harry S. Monesson, a Pemberton farmer who said his blueberry fields suffer damage from motorized trespassers. "We had over 30 bushes smashed, completely destroyed."

Monesson, a longtime critic of Pinelands regulations, contended that as the state has acquired more acres in the Pinelands, "the more that land is used as an access onto private property." Some public land should revert to private ownership, he said, "with responsible people out there who have a vested interest to protect that property."

"It will be in your future that you'll be deciding the placement of an ATV park in the Pinelands," Akers told the commissioners. He recommended they visit the park near Chatsworth "'to see what an ATV park looks like."

To read story : www.asburyparkpress.com

Mayors asked to support off-road park.
DEP proposes 224-acre sand mine for riding site

BY KIRK MOORE
Asbury Park Press
TOMS RIVER BUREAU

March 7, 2007 BERKELEY — With the only large, publicly accessible off-road vehicle park in the Pinelands scheduled to close next year, a top state environmental official asked the region's mayors Tuesday night to support plans for converting a 224-acre sand mine in Gloucester County into a legal riding center.

"We're thinking, in New Jersey this is probably as good as it gets in terms of a remote location," said John Watson, an assistant commissioner with the state Department of Environmental Protection, at a meeting of the Pinelands Municipal Council.

If the Monroe site doesn't work out, Watson added, "We're going to face serious challenges doing it anywhere."

"We're at the point where we've had the same discussion for years," said Watson, whose agency is already two years behind its self-appointed goal of having two regional off-road parks open.

Former DEP Commissioner Bradley Campbell made that commitment in 2002 when he pushed through an explicit ban on using unregistered off-road vehicles on state property.

Meanwhile, the Pinelands Preservation Alliance and municipal officials in the region have been pushing for a new state law to require registration of off-road vehicles and stiffer penalties for people who ride illegally on public and private lands.

"We have farmland being torn up, and then of course you have ecological damage on public lands," said Jaqueline Rhodes of the alliance.

Organized riders are getting edgy, too. Volunteers with the New Jersey Off-Road Vehicle Park at Chatsworth in Woodland Township say they've been trying to help the DEP find suitable locations for a new park but keep running into roadblocks.

"Everything is "Not in my backyard,' " said Kenny Dean Montanaro. "We're not in the middle of the city here. There's property we can get."

The Chatsworth park off Route 72 a few miles west of the Ocean-Burlington line has been run by the volunteer group since 1998 under terms of a 10-year lease with the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, which owns the land, and agreements with the DEP and state Pinelands Commission.

The park is open on weekends, hosting riders who pay $300 annual memberships or $50 day passes to cover costs like insurance and maintenance, but family spectators come along for free and young riders pay discounted memberships.

Demand is such that the park has seen around 13,000 riders in the past year, up from earlier averages around 6,000, park officers said.

With few legal places to ride, "it's going to get worse when we close," said Leslie Montanaro, Kenny's spouse and a park co-founder.

All the interest groups involved are conditioning their support for DEP proposals on getting stricter state law — the priority of Pinelands mayors and the Pinelands Preservation Alliance — and the riders' insistence that their sport can't be subject to more regulation without legal riding facilities.

Watson said there's an estimated 200,000 off-road vehicles in New Jersey, and he stressed they are a legitimate recreational use — "We need to recognize that."

"Our collective interest is to provide a safe and legal alternative for riders," Watson said.

To that end, the DEP spent $1.2 million to acquire the former Silvi Concrete property in Monroe.

But the site is near the border with Buena Vista Township, and "within earshot" of a residential area, said Buena Vista Mayor Charles Chiarello. He's also chairman of the Pinelands Municipal Council, an advisory panel to the state Pinelands Commission which will determine if the Monroe off-road park becomes a reality.

"I still have reservations about it," he said.

Bass River Township Mayor Richard Bethea said he doubts whether a state-sponsored park would do much to reduce illegal riding in his community.

"They're the knuckleheads who are going to be out there regardless of how many parks you have," he predicted. "I'm on the first aid squad, and I've responded to quad accidents. Not pretty."

Kenny Montanaro said responsible riders still should have legal alternatives.

"We need a place for kids to ride. It's a family activity," he said.

"I don't understand bird-watching, but I don't say something against it," he added. "Motorized sports is my thing."

Watson said the state is preparing conceptual plans for the Monroe site — where a future riding area would need to skirt wetlands and rare plant species. The DEP is looking for a legislative sponsor to push for new vehicle registration rules, he said.

Read Story in http://www.asburyparkpress.com

Senate committee rejects $10 ATV registration fee

By Tom Searls
Staff writer Charleston Gazette

February 21, 2007 Senators turned down an effort Tuesday to have West Virginia residents register their all-terrain vehicles for a special fee, something law enforcement and the Division of Motor Vehicles favored.

Members of the Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Committee voted 5-4 to defeat the bill (SB508), which would have charged ATV owners a one-time $10 fee and established penalties for not registering the four-wheelers with the DMV.

ATV owners have been required since 1989 to register their ATVs, but many do not. Steve Dale of the DMV said his agency has about 144,000 ATVs registered, and about 15,000 more get registered each year. Still, he said, there could be another 100,000 in the state that aren’t registered.

Police said identifying numbers on the vehicles, such as those on other motor vehicles, would help them identify ATVs that have been stolen.

The legislation would have given ATV owners up to a year to register their four-wheelers without punishment.

Sen. Shirley Love, D-Fayette, said the bill seemed to be more geared “to keep people from buying them.”

He was joined by Sen. Ron Stollings, D-Boone, who said police have never convinced him there is a major theft of ATVs.

“I just want to make sure that whatever we’re doing there’s a reason for it, and I’m not sure I’ve heard it yet,” he said.

A companion bill (SB506) would enact new safety laws for ATV drivers, but the committee did not take that up Tuesday.

“This bill is not going to do a thing to change [the safety] situation,” said Sen. Clark Barnes, R-Randolph.

He called the bill “a revenue generator” and said that’s not what the public wants.

“The public has demanded that we look at safety issues,” he said.

West Virginia has led the nation in per capita ATV fatalities for several years. Last year, at least 53 people died in the state as a result of ATV accidents.

To view this story in the Charleston Gazette go to: http://sundaygazettemail.com

To contact staff writer Tom Searls, use e-mail or call 348-5198.

Lenape family sues over deadly shooting.

Friday, January 12, 2007
BY RUSSELL BEN-ALI
Star-Ledger Staff

NEWARK, NJ., The family of a Native American man whose fatal shooting by a State Park Police officer last year sparked protests and allegations of racism, filed a lawsuit yesterday that accuses the state of wrongful death and grave civil rights violations.

The suit, which was filed on behalf of Emil Mann's family and estate and seeks an undisclosed amount of compensatory and punitive damages, claims the shooting was unprovoked and followed by medical neglect that led to Mann's death nine days later.

Mann, 45, of Monroe, N.Y., a New York State Parks and Recreation Department machine operator for 14 years, was shot in the chest and leg by State Park Police officer Chad Walder on April 1, 2006. The shooting occurred on an abandoned goat farm in Mahwah, where an argument broke out between State Park Police officers and members of the Ramapough Lenape Indian Nation.

The group had gathered for a barbecue near the tribe's traditional homeland, rugged hills that straddle New Jersey and New York near Mahwah. Tribe members say Mann was shot while trying to break up a scuffle between a cousin, Otis W. Mann, and State Park Police Lt. Kelly Gottheiner. The officers were in the woods issuing tickets to illegal ATV riders when the dispute occurred.

Mann's brother, Morris Mann, appeared at a news conference yesterday. He was joined by eight of Mann's 10 siblings, and other tribe members, including Mann's eldest son, 19-year-old Emil Mann Jr., and Mann's ex-wife, Charlene Defreese, with whom he lived and planned to remarry.

Several members said they were still waiting for the results of a criminal probe conducted by Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli.

"We would like to see justice done," Morris Mann said as he stood in the cold on the steps of Bergen County Superior Court, where the suit had been filed.

"Walder took my brother's life," Morris Mann added, struggling to control his emotions. "He took my brother away from my nephews. Hopefully, he'll get some (prison) time."

Elaine Makatura, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, which oversees the State Park Police, said the state has not been served the suit and, even if it had, could not comment on pending litigation.

Of the four park police officers who were at or near the scene of the shooting, only one, Kenneth Kreite has returned to work. Walder, his wife, Lorna Walder, and Gottheiner are on paid sick leave, backed by a doctor's certificate.

sked about their injuries, Makatura responded, "We're not privy to the doctor's notes. It's an injury that a doctor has certified. It could be physical or mental."

Robert Galantucci, an attorney for Chad Walder, could not be reached for comment yesterday. He previously has said the officer fired his weapon because he feared his life was in danger.

Molinelli yesterday said he will be presenting the matter to a grand jury soon.

Attorneys for Mann's family said they could prove the shooting violated the law and Mann's civil rights, no matter what way the criminal probe goes.

"We're confident that, in a civil rights lawsuit, we'll be able to prove numerous violations of his constitutional rights and numerous violations of state law," said Nick Brustin of Cochran, Neufeld & Scheck. The firm is the same one that won a huge settlement for a group of unarmed minority motorists who were shot on the New Jersey Turnpike in 1998 by two state troopers.

The Mann family's lawsuit names the state, the State Park Police and several park police officers as defendants. It claims the shooting was the result of racism, a history of animus against the tribe by police and systemic deficiencies in training and supervision of the State Park Police.

"We believe that the police acted in a reckless manner and used their official power to target our community ... a wanton targeting with racial animus," said Dwaine Perry, the recently elected Ramapough chief.

Defreese, Mann's ex-wife and estate co-administrator, said, "It's awful. Christmas was awful for me and my kids. Our lives are never going to be the same."

Family of American Indian killed by park police suing NJ

Friday, January 12, 2007
By WAYNE PARRY,
Associated Press Writer

NEWARK, NJ., (AP) - The family of a Ramapough Lenape Indian fatally shot by a state park police officer last year plan to file a civil rights lawsuit Thursday against the officer, the state and others, claiming they used excessive force against an unarmed man.

The family of Emil Mann plans to hold a news conference outside the Bergen County Courthouse Thursday afternoon after its lawyers file the suit in state Superior Court. It will name Park Police Officer Chad Walder, other officers at the scene, the state Department of Environmental Protection and the state of New Jersey as defendants, said attorney Eric Hecker.

"This was excessive force," Hecker said. "He was unarmed. They were not in any physical altercation, much less struggle."

He declined to discuss details about the lawsuit.

Mann, 45, of Monroe, N.Y., was shot to death on April 1, 2006 on the mountaintop near the New York border after a confrontation with Walder under circumstances that remain in dispute.

Tribe members say Mann was trying to break up a fight between a cousin and a different park police officer, who was issuing tickets to people for illegally riding all-terrain vehicles in a prohibited area.

The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office is still investigating the shooting. The Department of Environmental Protection, which oversees the park police, had no comment Wednesday.

Shortly after the shooting, Gov. Jon S. Corzine met with Ramapough leaders and promised an investigation into the killing. He also appointed a commission to study American Indian communities in New Jersey regarding civil rights, access to education, fair housing, infrastructure, employment and health care.

New Consumer Product Safety Commission Report
New Consumer Product Safety Commission Report
Shows Decline in ATV Injuries Involving Youth Under Age 16

Thursday, December 07, 2006

IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 6, 2006 – A report released today by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC 2005 Annual Report of ATV Deaths and Injuries”) shows that the number of estimated all-terrain vehicle (ATV) injuries involving children under 16 fell 10% between 2004 and 2005, and has fallen from 37% of all ATV-related injuries in 1998 to 30% in 2005.

The report also shows that the estimated injuries per 10,000 ATVs declined for the fourth year in a row and is now at its lowest point since 1998. These declines have occurred even while the number of four-wheel ATVs in use increased by 700,000 units between 2004 and 2005. The four-wheel ATV injury rate declined 9% over the same time period.

Further, the report indicates that the risk of fatality per 10,000 ATVs has declined from 1.4 per 10,000 in use in 1999 to 1.1 per 10,000 in use in 2005.

Since 1998, the number of ATVs in use has more than doubled. Yet, for the eight-year time period since the CPSC’s new injury sample and methodology has been in place, there has been no appreciable upward trend in injury risk and, as noted, the injury risk has declined since 2001 and is now at its lowest point since 1998.

“The CPSC report again shows that the commitment of the member companies of the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America to rider education, parental supervision, and state legislation is working and has resulted in a continued decline in injury and fatality rates over the past several years,” said Tim Buche, president of the SVIA. “Since 1984, the major manufacturers and distributors of ATVs in the United States have worked closely with the CPSC to implement ongoing safety initiatives. The industry applauds CPSC’s recent public education efforts to promote safe and responsible ATV use, and has supported the agency in these efforts.”

Buche added that the industry is also cooperating closely with the CPSC on the agency’s review of ATV safety standards. He said the ATV industry is committed to the safety of its customers and will continue to promote and enhance its multi-tiered efforts aimed at increasing awareness of the proper operation and use of ATVs.

“However, we remain concerned that new entrants to the U.S. market that don’t comply with the voluntary safety standards that established ATV companies adhere to are jeopardizing the safety of young riders,” he continued. “These new entrants now comprise 20 percent of the market and are undercutting the safety programs developed by established ATV companies. SVIA encourages CPSC to analyze the new entrants’ compliance with safety standards as part of the agency’s review of ATV standards.”

“We want to ensure that the injury trend continues in this direction – down – so it’s more important than ever to get the word out that kids don’t belong on adult-sized ATVs, and that all riders need to follow the industry’s recommended guidelines for safe and responsible riding. The bottom line is, even one crash or injury is one too many,” said Buche.

Millions of Americans operate ATVs safely and responsibly every day. Unfortunately, more than 92% of ATV-related fatalities involve one or more behaviors that the industry strongly and visibly warns against in its rider education programs, in all its literature, and on the vehicle itself. The industry’s top priority is to continue to work with the CPSC, user groups, retail dealerships, and all others interested in promoting ATV safety to further reduce the number of accidents resulting from misuse of the product.

SVIA
Since 1983, the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America® (SVIA) has promoted the safe and responsible use of All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) through rider training programs, public awareness campaigns, and state legislation. The SVIA also serves as a resource for ATV research, statistics, and vehicle standards. The SVIA, based in Irvine, California, is a not-for-profit trade association sponsored by Arctic Cat, BRP, Bush Hog, Honda, John Deere, Kawasaki, Polaris, Suzuki, Tomberlin and Yamaha. For membership information, call 949.727.3727; for safety information or to enroll in the ATV RiderCourseSM nearest you, visit www.atvsafety.org and click on “Online Enrollment” or call 800.887.2887.

Plans for ATV park still on bargaining table

Sunday, December 03, 2006
By Jessica Beym
jbeym@sjnewsco.com

MONROE TWP. Having been shuffled to the back of the deck, the state's plans for an all-terrain vehicle park here haven't gained any ground in almost a year.

Before any wheels could move, the state Department of Environmental Protection said it would seek legislation to control the park and keep the vehicles off public property by requiring ATV riders to be licensed, registered and insured.

Mayor Michael Gabbianelli and Buena Vista Mayor Chuck Chiarello who's town also backs up to the proposed site said the state hasn't updated them on the plans since January.

Mostly because there hasn't been any news to tell, said DEP Deputy Commissioner John Watson.

"We really haven't been focusing on it," Watson said. "We thought we had the proper site as we purchased the property, but as we moved to developing plans to accommodate off-road vehicles, we ran into some opposition and haven't worked our way through it."

Plans to use part of the 212-acre parcel off Jackson Road for a controlled ATV park sparked both an outpouring of support from New Jersey riders and a public outcry from residents.

State officials said the park would address the state's increasing number of ATV riders who have no legal place to take their vehicles and wind up on private and unauthorized public property.

A little resistance doesn't mean the state plans to drop the proposal, Watson said. The DEP has drafted a proposal to give the state and the police more enforcement over riders, but has yet to bring it to legislators.

At the same time, a committee of environmentalists and ATV enthusiasts have visited the site to determine what area could be used for the park and what areas have environmental concerns. The state has not hired any professionals to develop plans yet, Watson said.

"We need to provide them with a legal place to ride in order for us to develop a piece of legislation," Watson said. "I think the location of the site is as good as it gets in a state that's so developed."

Local officials have voiced mix feelings about having a park one that would attract thousands of riders basically in their back yards.

"The only benefit would be to get them off the street and get them to a safe place," Gabbianelli said. "I think its still a long way off. As long as the people that live down there can deal with this that's the big thing."

Chiarello, who is also the chairman of the Pinelands Municipal Council, said he is also concerned about the noise and pollution the park would generate but thinks the riders' safety must be considered.

"I believe, and environmental groups believe, that there can't be any support for an ATV park unless there are laws put in place that require ATVs to be license and insured."

Chiarello said the Pinelands, which must sign off on the concept if the DEP decides to move forward, plans to invite the DEP and the New Jersey State Police to attend one of the council's next meetings to discuss the park and enforcement.

Bump dead ahead for ATV riders at Morris sites
Proposal calls for a $500 fine for first offense

Sunday, December 03, 2006
BY LAWRENCE RAGONESE
Star-Ledger Staff

Bump dead ahead for ATV riders at Morris sites Proposal calls for a $500
fine for first offense Sunday, December 03, 2006 BY LAWRENCE RAGONESE
Star-Ledger Staff

Randolph Manager John Lovell was walking through a new hiking trail in town
recently, enjoying a bit of nature. But his serenity was jolted by an
encounter with an all-terrain vehicle.

"The ATV whizzed by me at about 30 miles per hour," said Lovell. "If it hit
me, they would have had to scrape me off the ground. It was dangerous."

As with overpopulation of Canada geese and white-tail deer, Lovell says
off-road riding has become a suburban problem. There are safety issues, plus
environmental harm to woodlands, ripped up trails and costly damage to parks
caused mostly by youthful riders, he said.

Representing the Morris Trails Partnership, Lovell has asked the Morris
County Park Commission to take the lead in setting stiff penalties for
persons caught riding illegally in any of the county's 39 towns or county
parks.

The proposal calls for fines of $500 for first-time offenders and $1,000
fines and forfeiture of vehicles for second offenses.

Problem is, say off-road enthusiasts, there is no place to legally ride on
public lands in Morris County or North Jersey, and virtually no riding areas
in the state.

As the county and state have spent millions of dollars, and crafted
legislation, to preserve huge swaths of green spaces, off-road riders, who
also pay taxes used to buy open spaces, have access to none of that land. So
they ride illegally, heading from their backyards to watershed lands and
parks and wildlife areas and trail systems.

"They are making us criminals," said John Parrinello, a Wanaque resident and
state representative to the National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation
Council. "People are legally buying off-road vehicles sold by dealers in this state.
So how can you continue to say you can't ride those vehicles?"

There are an estimated 80,000 to 200,000 off-road vehicles in New Jersey.
Many more will be given as Christmas or Chanukah presents in coming weeks.

"It's really big now with younger kids," said Mark Dombrowksi, a former
Morris County sheriff's officer and manager of Ledgewood Power Sports in
Roxbury. "I've sold many to police officers and their families. In every
other state you can ride. Why not New Jersey?"

It's a complicated issue, said Bill Foelsch, executive director of the New
Jersey Recreation and Park Association, and chair of the State Trails
Council. The state is densely populated and much of the open land is environmentally sensitive, he said.

Other than privately owned land, there are just two legal sites for off-road
riding in New Jersey: a tract in Burlington County owned by the N.J.
Conservation Foundation, which plans to close it to off-road vehicles in
2008, and a course for local youths run by the Egg Harbor Township Police
Athletic League.

"Clearly, there is a need for additional off-highway vehicle sites," said
Foelsch. "But it's difficult to find a community interested in hosting such
a facility."

The state Department of Environmental Protection is searching for two
off-road sites, one each in North and South Jersey. The DEP spent $2 million
for 200 acres in Monroe Township, Gloucester County, but a neighboring town
is battling the project, said DEP Assistant Commissioner John Watson.

"We thought we had the best possible remote site," said Watson. "If we can't
do it there, I'm concerned we may not be able to do it anywhere in the
state."

As for North Jersey, Watson said they have not been able to find a suitable
tract. But ATV owners users have plenty of favorite illegal spots.

David Helmer, executive director of the Morris County Park Commission, said
ATV riders often tear through unspoiled forests in the 18,000-acre park
system.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd rate off-road riding a 6 or 7 when it comes to
the scale of the problem in our parks," said Helmer. "In some areas, it's
probably a 9."

Yet, Helmer is sympathetic to the legitimacy of ATV use. He noted state and
federal dollars are available to finance creation of off-road sites. The
park commission a few years ago found a place in Mount Olive that was ideal
for off-road riding, but the landowner was not receptive, Helmer said.

"It's wrong to turn a blind eye to that activity," said Helmer.

But he also favors stiffer penalties for persons who motor through county
parks. "Once you catch a few, they're going to get the message," said commission
member John Sette. "They'll know we're watching."

Last week, West Milford police announced a "zero tolerance" policy toward
illegal riders. The announcement came after they impounded three ATVs last
month following horseback patrols conducted by the Passaic County Sheriff's
mounted unit.

Chief Paul Costello said the patrols will continue and said violators, in
addition to losing their vehicles, face summonses, fines and criminal
charges.

This angers enthusiasts like John DeFilippo of Jefferson, who hauls his
vehicles to New Hampshire to ride.

"You know how many miles of hiking trails there are in this state?
Thousands. And there is nothing for us to utilize for riding. Not even in the woods," said DeFilippo.

There are some points of agreement between off-road riders and other trail
users. Both agree on a need to register vehicles, issue identifying plates
or markers, mandate training courses and use registration money to finance
enforcement and safety.

But those issues are on hold until riding sites are located. And unless
sites are found, Lovell advises parents to face the "reality of the
situation."

"I don't think buying an ATV in suburbia is a wise investment," he said.
"That's just the plain truth."

Lawrence Ragonese may be reached at lragonese@starledger.com or (973)
539-7910.

Environmentalists to ATV riders: KEEP OUT

Thursday, November 9, 2006
By Tom Hoffman


SUSSEX - As New Jersey Director of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Jill Arbuckle is quite familiar with the ten miles of the historic trail that she’s responsible for maintaining in northern Sussex County. As she ascends a hilly portion of the trail that straddles the New York and New Jersey border, she points to a section that’s quite noticeably been brush-cut - but not by fellow hikers.

The area of thicket that’s been mowed down is wide enough to drive a truck through. It loops and meanders for several hundred yards through a federally-protected meadow until it stops abruptly where the land borders nearby homes. It’s here that the tracks left by all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) are more clearly visible.

ATV riding “is a problem on the Appalachian Trail throughout New York and New Jersey,” says Arbuckle, a Little Falls resident who has been an active member of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy for the past 25 years.

Motorized vehicles, including ATVs, are prohibited on most state and federal lands. They’re also not allowed in national wildlife refuges, but that hasn’t stopped ATV enthusiasts from barreling around the 5,100-acre Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge.

ATVs not only scare protected wildlife in the refuge, but they damage ecosystems and threaten the survival of endangered species such as bobolinks, says Marie Springer, founder of the Friends of the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge.

“If ATV riders want to ride on public lands, they need to organize like the Appalachian Trail Conservancy,” says Springer.

Springer also believes that ATVs should require license plates so that riders who trespass on protected lands can be more easily identified and prosecuted.

The use of ATVs is a vexing problem that pits environmentalists who want to preserve the rural integrity of Sussex County versus ATV enthusiasts who relish the thrill of bounding through the woods. Although there are more than 200,000 so-called Off-Highway Vehicles (OHVs) that are registered in New Jersey, there’s only one sanctioned park that they’re allowed to ride in and no state-approved trails in Sussex County, says John Parrinello, a State Representative for the National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council who lives in Wanaque.

The closest OHV park is about 2 hours away in Chatsworth, N.J., near Philadelphia. The park, which fills up quickly during the summer, is slated to be closed in Sept. 2008 by the owner, the New Jersey Conservation Foundation.

“There’s nowhere for us to ride,” says Parrinello.

He noted that taxes collected on registrations and fuel purchases for OHVs are used, under the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, to pay for the construction and maintenance of trails throughout the U.S. for motorized and non-motorized vehicles alike, including trails that are set aside specifically for hikers and horseback riders. However, since there are currently no authorized trails for OHVs in Sussex County, says Parrinello, “we pay for them but we can’t use them.”

Parrinello recognizes a need for identifying OHVs but not necessarily with a metal license plate. The problem is that some riders may mistakenly believe that a license plate would grant them permission to ride on public roads, he says. In addition, metal license plates may pose a safety hazard to OHV riders should the plates become dislodged or if a rider were to scrape themselves against them, he explained. That’s why he advocates the adoption of identification or registration stickers.

Earlier this year (February), the National Park Service proposed new rules which may permit OHVs in parks, including the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, a 40-mile swath along the New Jersey and Pennsylvania border. Those proposals are still being reviewed by the park service.

To view story go to: http://www.strausnews.com

ATV Safety Tips: What to know before you squeeze the throttle

Updated: Thursday, July 27, 2006
By: www.smokymountainsentinel.com


WAWAYANDA-- (ARA) As summer breezes blow in, ATV (all terrain vehicle) enthusiasts are stirring up wind gusts all their own as they tour through area trails. With ATV manufacturers coming up with dozens of ways to make the ride more enjoyable from all-wheel drive to electronic fuel injection and improved ergonomics -there's a lot of fun to be had this summer. But, even with all these features, a great ride can take a wrong turn if safety isn't the rider's top priority.

Whether riding on a muddy trail or up a rocky slope, ATV riders are expected to obey all applicable laws, just like car drivers on city streets. And, just like car drivers it's imperative that recreational vehicle riders be educated and know everything about their machines. So, before heading out to enjoy a fun day of riding, here are some tips for getting the most out of any ATV ride.

+ Choose the Right Vehicle -Adult model ATVs are for riders age 16 and older only. Younger riders should never ride an adult-sized vehicle until they are at least age 16. Read and understand your owner's manual and the on-product labels on your vehicle before you ride.

+ Complete a Safety Course First-time riders should always take an ATV safety course before heading out on the trails. Experienced riders should take a refresher course if it's been awhile since they last rode.

+ Gear Up -Riders should always wear a helmet and other protective gear, including gloves, long pants, footwear that covers the ankles, a long-sleeve shirt or jacket and eye protection.

+ Respect the Environment Where You Ride -Always obey all applicable laws and ride only in approved or designated areas and trails. Make sure to get permission before riding on private property and never ride on paved surfaces.

+ Know Your Limits -Do not ride at excessive speeds or past the limit of your visibility. Do not attempt maneuvers beyond your capability.

+ Respect Vehicle Capacity Guidelines -Riders should never carry a passenger on an ATV unless the ATV has been specifically designed to carry an operator and a passenger. On ATVs designed for two riders, the passenger also must wear a helmet and protective gear.

+ Don't Drive Impaired -Never drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

+ Tell a Friend -Always make a plan before you ride and tell someone where you're going. Ride in a group of two or three and create a buddy system.

+ Watch Your Speed -Avoid excessive speed and do not attempt maneuvers beyond your capability.

Knowing that safe and responsible riding makes all the difference on the trails, ATV manufacturers such as Polaris Industries have teamed up with the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America (SVIA) to offer complimentary safety training to ATV buyers.

To further advance awareness for safe and responsible riding, Polaris has launched a nationwide "T.R.A.I.L.S." program that awards grants to organizations seeking to promote ATV rider safety or preserve land access through trail development and maintenance.

"We take safe riding seriously, which is why Polaris recently launched a grant program in support of organizations across the country seeking to promote safe ATV riding and trail preservation," said Bennett Morgan, president and chief operating officer of Polaris. "We're putting the money you invest in us back into protecting the sport we love."

Check with a local dealer for details about SVIA courses or for more information about the Polaris T.R.A.I.L.S. grant program including an application form, visit http://www.pi54.com/ATV/PDFs/TRAILSGrantAppForm.pdf.

To view the full story go to : http://www.smokymountainsentinel.com

Volunteers bring accessibility to the forests around us.

Updated: Thursday, July 27, 2006
By: West Milford Messenger


WAWAYANDA-- Have you ever gone hiking and come to a place where you had to hop from rock to rock to cross a stream or marshy area?

Those stepping stones may seem like a happy coincidence, but the fact is they are most likely the work of volunteers. The New York - New Jersey Trail Conference maintains more than 1600 miles of foot trails. In Wawayanda State Park, 22 volunteers take care of the 34 miles of trails in the park.

West Milford resident Alan Abromowitz is among those volunteers. He is in charge of overseeing the two miles around Terrace Pond.

Four times a year he hikes in specifically to pick up litter and clear brush. “Ninety-five percent of the people who hike take care, it’s just the occasional people who leave litter.” His biggest distress comes from ATV riders who, although it is forbidden, use many of the connecting trails. “It’s terrible … many of [the trails] have been totally destroyed.”

Trail Conference volunteer supervisor Bill Fisher says volunteers are assigned a section of trail, usually about a mile, to oversee, often in a partnership with a friend or family member.

Aside from picking up litter, twice a year they make sure the 4’ by 8’ area around the trail is clear of brush and they also make sure the trail blazes are easily visible.

Any fallen trees, or “blow-downs” are reported to the supervisors. Crews of sawyers certified by the US Forest Service take care of clearing trails of trees. These crews are volunteers as well.

There are also crews who repair and build structures, such as the recently completed 400’ long foot bridge over the Pochuck Marsh in Warwick.

A few adventurous volunteers go into the woods with a GPS system and blaze new trails.

The Wawayanda trails are available for hiking, biking, snow shoeing, cross-country skiing and horseback riding.

The New York - New Jersey Trail Conference also provides the primary maintenance of Ringwood, Kittatiny and Stokes State Parks and trails along the Hudson, in Bear Mountain State Park.

In November of 2005, the conference made its first purchase of trail lands. They bought 94 acres known as Rolling Hills in Sparta Township. It will connect Hamburg Mountain State Forest, Sparta Mountain Wildlife Management area, Weldon Brook WMA and Mahlon Dickerson Reservation with the Highlands Trail.

They also recently purchased a 90-acre parcel that provides access to Stony Kill Falls in Minnewaska State Park.

The conference has raised over $3 million in the past few years to improve connections between trails, rebuild the Bear Mountain Trails, recruit and train volunteers and help convert trail maps to a digital format.

For information on trails or becoming a volunteer, visit the conference Web site at www.nynjtc.org.

View the full strory at: http://www.strausnews.com

Pennsylvania Governor Rendell Awards $3 Million for Trail, Recreation Projects Across State
Grants are made possible through the state's Snowmobile/ATV fund and the Pennsylvania Recreational Trails Fund

Saturday, Jul 19, 2006
By: Press Release
ATV at Off-Road.com

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania trail enthusiasts, out-of-state visitors, and local economies will benefit from more than $3 million in trail grants announced today by Governor Edward G. Rendell.

"Whether it's the purchase of solar-powered bicycle crossings or construction of extensive fitness and nature trails, the goal of these 15 grants is to enhance recreation in Pennsylvania," Governor Rendell said. "These trail improvements not only increase opportunities for local citizens, they attract out-of-state visitors to experience what we have to offer, thereby boosting local tourism and revitalizing communities."

Statewide, the grants will fund a variety of planning, development and equipment-purchase efforts to benefit hiking, biking, horseback riding, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, ATV riding, off-road motorcycling and trail users with physical challenges. Projects include the:

-- Design and construction of five, county, multi-use trail facilities;
-- Construction of the Dunmore School District fitness and nature trail in Lackawanna County;
-- Financial aid to hiking, rail-trail, snowmobile and ATV organizations; and
-- Rehabilitation and improvements to existing ATV trails and rider facilities in the Bald Eagle and Tiadaghton state forest districts.
The largest grant -- $1.9 million -- went to the Cambria County Conservation and Recreation Authority for further development of Rock Run Recreation Area, an all-terrain vehicle site in Chest Township, Cambria County, and Chest Township, Clearfield County.

"More and more people are seeking places to ride their motorized recreational vehicles," Governor Rendell said. "But because our state forest lands cannot accommodate the volume of trails desired, we are looking to community and private partnerships, such as Rock Run, to meet that need."

Grants are made possible through the state's Snowmobile/ATV fund and the Pennsylvania Recreational Trails Fund, both administered by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Grants can be awarded each year to municipalities and profit and nonprofit organizations for trail development on county, municipal, nonprofit and private lands.

For a complete list of grants, visit DCNR's Web site, http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/, and click on "Grants."

The Rendell Administration is committed to creating a first-rate public education system, protecting our most vulnerable citizens and continuing economic investment to support our communities and businesses. To find out more about Governor Rendell's initiatives and to sign up for his weekly newsletter, visit his Web site at: http://www.governor.state.pa.us/.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Below is a listing by counties of 15 DCNR grants for snowmobile/ATV and recreational trail projects:

Bedford

Mid-State Trail Association Inc.: $51,400 for the removal of an existing, unsafe trail footbridge and the purchase and installation of a new bridge on the Mid-State Trail in South Woodbury Township.

Cambria

Cambria County Conservation and Recreation Authority: $1,925,000 for further development of the 6,000-acre Rock Run Recreation Area, including construction of an access road, 50 miles of ATV trails, parking areas, a trailhead building, comfort facilities, installation of utilities, landscaping, signage, gating and other related site improvements; and $44,800 to purchase tractor and attachments for trail maintenance.

Centre

DCNR's Bureau of Forestry, Bald Eagle State Forest District: $250,000 for trail construction, consolidation and rehabilitation of existing multi-use trails to create additional trail loops for a more cohesive trail system in Potter, Gregg and Penn townships.

Snow Shoe Rails-to-Trails Association: $26,400 to purchase tractor and attachments to maintain Snow Shoe Rail Trail in Snow Shoe and Rush townships, Centre County, and Cooper Township, Clearfield County.

Clearfield

Hilltop Howlers Snowmobile Club Inc.: $17,000 for purchase of a snowmobile trail groomer to groom trails in Moshannon State Forest.

Jefferson/Armstrong

Jefferson County: $96,000 to conduct a feasibility study examining the potential development of the Armstrong-Jefferson Regional Multi-Use Recreation Trail, a motorized trail on the Pittsburgh and Shawmut rail corridor.

Lackawanna

Dunmore School District: $154,480 to construct a one-mile fitness and nature trail in Dunmore Borough and install signage and an informational kiosk.

Lancaster

Warwick Township: $16,125 to purchase and install three, solar-powered pedestrian/bike crossing systems to provide connections for the Lititz- Warwick, Crosswinds, and South Quadrant trailways, Warwick Township.

Lycoming

DCNR's Bureau of Forestry, Tiadaghton State Forest District: $48,000 for construction of a handicapped-accessible restroom, storage facility and installation of landscaping materials at the Haneyville ATV Trail Parking Area/Trailhead.

McKean

Majestic Kamp and Lost Trails Inc.: $24,800 for the purchase of a skid steer to maintain trails on the 650-acre recreation area in Otto, Foster and Keating townships. Work also will include the purchase and installation of trail directional signage.

Snyder/Union

DCNR's Bureau of Forestry, Bald Eagle State Forest District: $100,000 to rehabilitate existing ATV trails and construct additional short and long loops, creating a more cohesive trail system in Adams and Center townships, Snyder County, and Hartley and Lewis townships, Union County.

Somerset

Mountain Ridge Trails Resort: $52,000 for development of a master site plan for 2,500 acres for off-highway recreational vehicles in Stoneycreek Township.

Washington

Washington County: $186,400 to design and construct an additional 1.25 miles of paved walking/biking path in Mingo Creek County Park.

York

York County: $48,000 to resurface a 0.8-mile loop macadam trail in John Rudy County Park.

CONTACT:
Kate Philips
Pennsylvania Office of the Governor
+1-717-783-1116

Terry Brady, DCNR
+1-717-772-9101
Source: Pennsylvania Office of the Governor

CONTACT: Kate Philips, Pennsylvania Office of the Governor,
+1-717-783-1116; or Terry Brady, DCNR, +1-717-772-9101

Web site: http://www.governor.state.pa.us/
http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/

Alliance pushes for law to restrict off-road vehicles

Saturday, June 15, 2006
Posted by the Ocean County Observer on 06/15/06
BY BOB VOSSELLER
STAFF WRITER

LACEY, NJ. -- Pinelands Preservation Alliance members and Mayor Mark Dykoff called for municipal officials to adopt laws barring the use of off-road vehicles on public and private land without permission.

The Wednesday morning news conference was conducted near Garden State Parkway Exit 74 in Forked River.

Dykoff and the alliance urged officials to include strict fines and penalties, and the authority for police to confiscate vehicles.

A number of municipalities are fighting back to prevent off-road vehicle use in their towns by passing municipal ordinances that set strict fines and penalties.

In Lacey, signs are posted in a number of places stating that if a rider is caught using an off-road vehicle on public and unauthorized private property, the rider will be fined as much as $1,000.

"Lacey Township recognized the need for an off-road vehicle ordinance back in 1993," Dykoff said. "It has proven to be effective in prohibiting some illegal riding in Lacey, and we have been issuing $1,000 fines for those individuals that have been caught. Unfortunately, ORV riders continue to disobey the law. But if municipal leaders band together to pass strict ordinances, we can help deter off-road vehicle use."

"Off-road vehicles are wreaking havoc in the Pinelands of New Jersey," said Jaclyn Rhoads, Pinelands Preservation Alliance director for conservation policy. "These illegal ORV riders are destroying farmland, natural areas that contain some of the rarest and most beautiful wildlife communities, and the peace and tranquility in many communities."

Rhoads said the alliance has planned three public meetings in Pinelands communities this summer. The purpose of the meetings is to identify damage done by off-road vehicle drivers. The meetings also will focus on the need for more stringent regulations governing off-road vehicles.

The three meetings are part of a campaign to raise awareness and a means to educate the public about the impact of the use of off-road vehicles in the Pinelands.

The first off-road vehicle meeting is scheduled from 1 to 4 p.m. June 24 at the Batsto Village auditorium. The second will be conducted July 15 at the Buena Vista municipal building. The third will be conducted Aug. 19 at the Pinelands Preservation Alliance headquarters at the Bishop Farmstead in Southampton.

The alliance suggested that property owners keep their gates, barriers and fences repaired and secured, and maintain their signs against trespassing. They also urged property owners to ask their local police and state law enforcement agencies for assistance.

Other ideas concerned property owners patrolling with their cameras and cell phones, coordinating efforts with adjacent property owners and managers and getting the vehicle license plate numbers of offenders to present them to the police.

The alliance also is providing a model ordinance for interested municipalities.

The model ordinance's stated purpose is to control and regulate off-road vehicles to preserve the public peace and order and protect the health, safety and welfare of the general public.

The model ordinance also calls for "the entire width between the boundary lines of every way publicly maintained when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel."

Dale Freitas of Burlington Township has been an off-road rider for years and is president of the New Jersey Off Highway Vehicle Association. Freitas is also a promoter of off-road vehicle events, including the recently conducted Barnegat Grand Prix.

Freitas opposes further regulations and is promoting the idea of the state fulfilling a promise made to create two off-road parks in Monroe.

The nearest off-road park is in Chatsworth.

Freitas called into question the alliance's credibility and said the alliance is dedicated to eliminating all off-road vehicle use.

"We want to see this done responsibly. We won't get people to register their vehicles if there are no parks to operate in," Freitas said.

He compared the situation of promised off-road vehicle parks to New York, which promised to create such parks and then reneged on the promise.

Freitas intends to be present to represent the interests of his organization and his recreational sport at the upcoming meetings.

"These are people who are just like you and me. They are teachers, firemen and cops who are doing this as a family activity. To add another level of bureaucracy to this and to make it illegal is just not thought out well. Why give a ticket to someone who is just out to recreate?" Freitas said.

The New Jersey Off Highway Vehicle Association's Web site is www.njohva.com.

To read the story go to: Ocean County Observer

Places to ride

Saturday, June 3, 2006
Editorial Opinion/Courier Post Online
By LARRY E. SMITH
Executive Director Americans for Responsible Recreational Access
Washington, D.C.
Phildelphia Inquirer Staff Writer

Trenton, NJ. -- The rash of legislation from Trenton regarding all-terrain vehicle riders in New Jersey is the wrong approach. There are more than 100,000 off-highway motorcycle and ATV riders in New Jersey. Sales of these vehicles is up nearly 160 percent over the past 10 years.

Unfortunately, the state has virtually no public areas where off-road vehicles can be legally used.

Most off-road vehicle riders are law-abiding citizens who recognize the need to protect our natural resources. They also know motorized recreation is not appropriate everywhere. But there is no doubt that providing places to ride for the thousands of off-road riders will serve to prevent riding on lands in the state where such activity is neither authorized nor proper.

Off-road recreation is a family-oriented activity that provides a constructive alternative to many of the less appealing outlets for our young people. Rather than continuing to make off-road riding more difficult, New Jersey lawmakers should consider its positive aspects. Making some public riding areas available would be a good place to start.

To read the story go to: http://www.courierpostonline.com



Train Collides with ATV

May 29, 2006
ABCnews

Atco, NJ. -- On Monday afternoon a New Jersey Transit train hit an all terrain vehicle that was apparently placed on the tracks.

The ATV immediately burst into flames, as did the back of the train. Police say that the ATV was just sitting on the tracks. No word how it got there.
The fire was extinguished by authorities. There are about 400 passengers on board.

The NJ Transit Casino Transit Line is shut down at this time. No word on injuries

To read the story go to: http://abclocal.go.com


Open-space program spars for the course

May 24, 2006,
By Jan Hefler
Phildelphia Inquirer Staff Writer

Trenton, NJ. -- With a glut of golf courses in New Jersey, some owners are struggling financially and are ready to call it quits. Developers have eagerly stepped in, wooing the owners with tempting offers of green and a chance to escape the fierce competition.

But in the last year, the developers have found new competition for that prime open space: the State of New Jersey.

Its Green Acres program has joined a growing number of counties and municipalities bidding against developers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, shelling out tax dollars to keep fairways from becoming backyards.

Some of the purchased courses remain as greens, while others become wildlife refuges or parks.

In the last year, New Jersey has bought two courses for more than $9 million and opened negotiations to buy four more, including White Oaks Country Club in Franklin Township, Gloucester County. Still more are under review. Previously, the state owned only one golf course, acquired in the 1960s.

"We're reacting to golf courses' being presented for sale to the state," said John Flynn, the Green Acres director. "We recognize this as one of the few opportunities to acquire sizable tracts of space in some of the more developing parts of the state."

Statewide, 14 counties and numerous municipalities have purchased golf courses using Green Acres money.

But the state's direct entry into golf has sparked considerable controversy. In a rare alliance of sentiment, builders and environmentalists have criticized the use of so much public money to preserve already-developed land.

"It's about priorities," said Jeff Tittel, head of the state Sierra Club. "We're running out of money, and golf courses are expensive compared to buying a forest or a habitat for an endangered species."

Tittel said the state shouldn't own a business that pollutes the ground with pesticides and fertilizers and consumes voluminous amount of water.

Patrick O'Keefe, head of the New Jersey Builders Association, said the Green Acres program had gone too far. Voters who approved its funding, he said, "were promised an open-space plan that would lead to the acquisition of space based on environmental sensitivity, agricultural productivity, or the expansion of greenways for things like hiking paths."

"At no time was it held that the sole purpose would be to stop development," O'Keefe complained. He said working-class families looking for housing would suffer.

But Flynn said the Green Acres program, begun in 1961, is designed to preserve all kinds of open space. So far, it has preserved 1.3 million acres, which include natural habitats, farms and greenways for public recreation. Flynn said golf was just another form of recreation that benefits the public, which over the years has approved $1.4 billion for preservation.

Flynn also said the state would use recycled water and pesticide-management practices to protect the grounds from pollution.

The state effort comes as golf course owners are struggling.

Willowbrook Country Club, straddling the Moorestown-Delran border in Burlington County, is one course that will soon lower its flags to make way for houses.

"Golf is sick. Everyone in the business is struggling right now," owner Ed Klumpp Jr. said.

His course is among three in Moorestown and 350 in the state, an amount exceeding demand, industry experts say.

Klumpp, who entered an agreement of sale with Pulte Homes to build at Willowbrook, possibly as soon as next year, said business conditions had forced him to sell the course his father opened 38 years ago. He cited the glut of courses, including those owned by the government; they have extra money to upgrade because they pay no taxes.

"It's a huge issue. I pay $10,000 a month in property taxes and can't compete," he said. A complicating factor is that fewer people are retiring early and fewer have five hours to spend playing the sport, he said.

The preservation effort has sparked an unusual battle in Cape May County. Residents in Lower Township successfully fought a proposal to put 400 homes on the 256-acre Ponderlodge Golf Club.

The town applied for Green Acres money to preserve the land as a golf course, but weeks later owner Billy Pflaummer, the former Schmidt's Brewery beer baron, declared bankruptcy. The state moved in to buy the property for $8.45 million in March. What shocked the community was the state's announcement that the property would become a bird sanctuary, Mayor Walt Craig said.

"It left everybody wondering what went wrong," he said.

As a result, the town lost the course and an estimated $75,000 to $100,000 in revenue it may have earned by leasing the course, Craig said.

But Flynn, of Green Acres, said the state's plan for the golf course was not final. One idea is to create a nine-hole course and a wildlife refuge and to charge the lessee taxes.

The other state-owned golf course, purchased a year ago for $1 million in Montague, Sussex County, is closed but might also reopen as a smaller golf course and a public park.

The state is also negotiating to buy courses in Morris, Salem and Monmouth Counties, but Flynn would not disclose the names or details.

Also pending is the state purchase of White Oaks in Franklin. Developers approached the owners, who then offered it to the state to keep it open as a golf course. Flynn said the owners might lease it back.

Tying on his spiked golf shoes, Dick Stewart of Franklinville said that if the greens had been sold for housing, he would have missed them "very much so."

"The course is known for its bent grass greens, which makes for a real nice green and is unusual in this area," he said.

But if it closed, Stewart could drive to any one of three other courses within 20 minutes.

"There certainly were a number built in the '90s, when there was the feeling that the baby boomers would retire and take up golf. But they didn't," said Donna Horvath, president of the Pennsylvania Golf Course Owners Association's Eastern Chapter.

Pennsylvania officials have not acquired golf courses, but a growing number of towns - including Bensalem in Bucks County and Lower Providence in Montgomery County - have entered the golf-course market to block unwanted housing developments.

Horvath said the association wanted the government to offer tax breaks to owners - rather than acquisitions - to keep the courses open and preserve open space. Maryland, North Carolina and Colorado are among states that have offered golf courses tax relief similar to that given to farmers to preserve land, she said.

Flynn said Green Acres just wanted to ensure that desirable golf courses were preserved as open space.

"We are many things to many people," he said. "We go from preserving the most natural land to the most actively used recreational facilities... and everything in between."

Contact staff writer Jan Hefler at 856-779-3224 or jhefler@phillynews.com.

Link to the Story: http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/14651191.htm

For them, 'coming out' is a walk in the woods

May 20, 2006,
By Don Sapatkin
Phildelphia Inquirer Staff Writer

PHILADELPHIA, PA. -- Sunday's weekly gay hike in Fairmount Park spread out along the white trail, way, way above Wissahickon Creek. Limited by foliage, they walked mostly in pairs and talked about Mother's Day, politics and failed marriages.

Joe, the hike leader, is a shift supervisor at Starbucks. Bob works in health care, Greg as a music teacher and concert violinist/violist. There were seven altogether, a bit smaller group than most weeks. All regulars.

Greg Lipscomb, 39, first showed up a year ago, the beginning of his long-range plan to do more in the outdoors. He also figured the hike would be a good way to meet men.

It is put on by PhilaVentures, an outdoors club for what is known as the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community that also plans bicycle rides and occasional camping trips. Other organizations fill more limited niches, from gay runners to lesbian motorcyclists.

Lipscomb's reasoning that he could meet men through the group has long since faded into the background - not because it couldn't happen but because he finds so many joys just exploring the Wissahickon Valley.

"I just love being in the woods, on the walk," said Lipscomb, who lives in Northeast Philadelphia. "There's something about having conversations while you hike, hearts pumping, sweating... . I couldn't care less if they were gay, straight or whatever."

Joe Hagenmayer had never been to the Wissahickon until 31/2 years ago. He has been the main leader of this hike for nearly two years, able to seamlessly mix and match trails for a different route every week.

"I love the places where we're near the running water, the little streams," said Hagenmayer, who lives across the Delaware River in Berlin.

The hike meets at Borders in Chestnut Hill, where Hagenmayer sizes up everyone's fitness level and plans an appropriate route, typically four to seven hilly miles over 21/2 to 31/2 hours. No one gets left behind for long.

Last week's route, largely on the white and yellow trails, offered several surprises, from Depression-era stone foundations supporting a footbridge across a stream, to a wooden platform high in the trees that Boy Scouts use for camping.

At a break near Valley Green, Hagenmayer - a 57-year-old former journalist, freelance photographer, and aspiring cookie magnate - pulled out a bag of his freshly baked cookies (chocolate chip, chocolate chip with pecans, oatmeal with dried cherries), another highlight.

So what's different about a gay hike?

Hiking, after all, is among the most egalitarian and pressure-free recreational activities out there: no special gear or club membership, no specific skill, none of the dress-to-impress that one might find at a gym or in some extreme sports.

This gay hiking group even takes pride in the fun time had by straight people who show up on occasion. (Usually it's a mistake, although one heterosexual woman has been joining the group several times a month recently.)

But there is a difference, at least for this group: a built-in level of intimacy.

"There's much more of an openness, a sense of community that includes experience, commonality, a sense of laughter," said Bert Gregory, 57, another PhilaVentures leader.

Conversations often go deeper faster, he said. "There's expression of feeling as opposed to expression of experience."

That has been the case for Bob, a 53-year-old health-care worker from Mount Airy whose recent coming out is still enough of a struggle that he asked his last name not be used.

"I hear a lot of life stories," he said, "what's happened to them in life." It's been helpful.

At Valley Green last Sunday, the group bumped into Gregory, who had scheduled another walk at the same time. Only one person showed up, a newcomer.

"I was hoping to meet other lesbians," said Orchidia Violet, 43, of West Philadelphia, who spent her childhood in Israel and now teaches English as a second language.

She signed up for that day, she said, because "it's Mother's Day. I'm a mom. I want to be out in nature."

She chose a gay hike because she's seeking a life partner. It's also more comfortable for her. "I don't look obviously lesbian, and usually men hit on me a lot," Violet said.

The first half was fun, she said. "I felt like we were close to God when we were walking in the treetop terraces."

There was time to talk and time to just listen quietly to the birds. Even a lack of lesbians failed to diminish her good cheer after hiking with Gregory.

"Maybe next time..." she said. "Or maybe, he'll end up transforming into a woman.

To read the story go to: http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/14624678.htm

ATV misuse will not go unchecked.

May 11, 2006,
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer Examiner

MILLSTONE, N.J. -- Township ordinances are strong enough to help prosecute those who misuse all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) in town.

During an April Township Committee meeting, officials wondered why some ATV matters brought in front of the municipal court went unprosecuted. They wanted to know if the structure of township ordinances had anything to do with the dismissals and asked Committeeman Steven Sico to look into the situation.

Sico reported at the May 3 Township Committee meeting that the municipal court judge said none of the complaints was dismissed because of failed ordinances or for lack of prosecution.

"When the residents' complaints were dismissed, they were done so because they were resolved in voluntary mediation," Sico said.

Sico said township ordinances are functional, and officials can act on them.

Township officials have been receiving numerous complaints from residents regarding the misuse of ATVs in the area. Complaints have ranged from riders driving on township roads and private property to riders not wearing helmets and creating too much noise.

During the public portion of the meeting, resident Jim Modri complained to the committee about ATV use on and near Pinehill Drive.

"None of my neighbors have ATVs," Modri said. "So these people are coming from other parts of town, other parts of the state and out-of-state," Modri said. "How do I get relief from this?"

Although there are designated areas where people can operate ATVs, Modri said some riders unload their vehicles by a dirt road off his street and drive them "at neck-breaking speeds" in the sand pits near his house.

"They go to midnight," Modri said. "It's insane. The noise wakes up the baby, but it's not just the noise. They put off fumes and the vehicles are unregulated."

Modri said he has complained about the problem for six years to township officials and the New Jersey State Police.

"After all of these years, police are still reluctant to give tickets," Modri said.

Mayor Nancy Grbelja told Modri that the Township Committee is going to look down every avenue it can to stop those who are misusing ATVs.

"We do have a lot of people in the township who ride responsibly and who do follow the rules," she said.

Township Committeeman Elias Abilheira said the township will still look at tightening up existing ordinances.

Township Attorney Duane Davison said Millstone Township has two types of noise ordinances.

The first ordinance regulates decibel levels, he said. According the ordinance, no person shall cause or permit the operation of any property that creates a sound level that equals or exceeds 65 decibels from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. From 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., sound levels are not to exceed 50 decibels.

The second ordinance, he said, basically states that someone cannot continue to perform an action that creates a noise that is objectionable to a reasonable person.

Officials said residents with complaints should try their best to get a good description of riders, ATVs, license plates and other vehicles in incidents when people are breaking laws.

Those found in violation of either ordinance could face a $3,000 fine.


The balletic sport of motorcycle enduro
Control, not speed, wins the day here.

April 29, 2006
By Don Sapatkin
Phildelphia Inquirer Staff Writer

WARREN GROVE, N.J. -- Two wheels, an engine and a body spattered with mud swerved right and then left between trees before stopping on a dime at Mile 82.1, a hidden checkpoint.

A voice of authority called out the passing seconds as the crew rubbed off muck obscuring the rider's number and logged him in.

No. 1C gunned his bike and disappeared onto a sand road just as another motorcycle, and another, zipped up to the green-and-white flag.

More than 200 riders bumped, jumped and ouched a serpentine route through Bass River State Forest last Sunday, making instant repairs in the bush and crunching numbers in their heads.

This was an enduro - an off-road time-keeping event for motorcycles.

It's a road rally with a twist, "a thinking man's game," said Dave Nash, a high school teacher and president of Motorcycle Competition Inc. (MCI), the club that staged the event.

The goal is to pass each checkpoint within 60 seconds of the assigned time. Riders don't know the locations in advance.

Falling behind or getting ahead triggers penalties for each section. Sticking to an average speed over wildly varying terrain, catching up after a flat tire, or spotting the subtle details on the route sheet are the challenges facing each rider.

Put yourself on a Kawasaki KDX 200cc doing 18 m.p.h. between the trees.

"Did you see, in Star Wars, where they're entering the Death Star?" asked Steve Marvin, preparing to set up the enduro's final check. "It's just like that. Things are going by at a blurring speed."

South Jersey is an enduro mecca. Eight of the East Coast Enduro Association's 19 clubs are located in and around the Pine Barrens. Mike Lafferty of Millville is national champion for the seventh time.

Sunday's course began on blacktop and moved quickly into the woods. Over the next five hours, riders followed arrows onto wide sand roads and sharply angled fire cuts, through giant dirt craters, along gentle paths and twisting, turning, three-foot-wide trails.

A five-mile stretch was peppered with whoop-de-doos- pits up to 31/2 feet deep and nearly as wide that launch bikes into the air. They're a thrill for experienced riders and an over-the-handlebars tumble for unfortunate novices.

"You're managing chaos," said Nash, 34. "At any point it can get away from you."

Riding skills are essential. So is a can-do attitude, and not just for rebuilding an engine with a screwdriver.

"It's how many times you can pick yourself up after hitting a tree," said Marvin, 39.

Midway through is a 30-minute gas stop/lunch break/open-air garage. Riders started the day in groups of four, one minute apart, so the stop forms a constantly moving wave in a lake of social connections - hundreds of spouses, mothers and sons acting as pit crews.

"The whole family gets involved," said Merle Compton, 44. She and her husband each won their respective classes Sunday, and son, Chase, 20, was grand champion.

No Comptons ride the streets of Hainesport. It's "too dangerous," Merle said. Competitive off-roading doesn't worry her. "I see more injuries on the ski slopes than I do on the enduro course."

The world of outdoor recreation tends to cleave along predictable lines: hunting, fishing, snowmobiling vs. backpacking, kayaking, rock climbing.

Enduro leans toward the former, but tends to bridge the two types. It also raises the hackles of nonparticipants more than most, a response that enthusiasts believe is an unfair stereotyping of all motorcyclists.

The MCI club "is passionate about wildlife," said Nash. "We all understand that there is a symbiotic relationship between us and the woods. Just like a horseback rider. Just like a hiker. Just like a birdwatcher."

The riders play a "critical" role in the upkeep and improvement of Bass River State Forest's walking trails (where motorcycles are prohibited except for special events such as enduros), said superintendent Cynthia Coritz. They clean up trash, install signs, trim shrubbery. On National Trails Day last June, they removed an old wood bridge, Coritz said.

"Usually they outnumber the rest of the volunteers."

Mike Little, 74, plans to be out helping again the first Sunday in June, Bass River's annual workday. He still rides enduros, too.

Tomorrow he's taking his 3-year-old granddaughter to Delaware for a simpler, off-road race known as a hare scramble. Pee-wee classes begin at age 4.

"I just want her to see it," said Little, who lives in Northeast Philadelphia. For adults, he adds this:

"The only way you would realize why we are out there is to borrow somebody's bike and go for a ride."

Off-Road Motorcycling

Off-roading can mean anything not on a road.

Motocross,* for example, is a race on a fenced-in track.

The following types of off-roading take place in the woods.

Way off the road

Enduro: * A timekeeping event, not a race, in which riders try to stay "on time" through sections of rugged, cross-country terrain totaling 60 miles or more. Motorcycle licenses are required (minimum age 16 in Pennsylvania, 18 in New Jersey); bikes must be "street-legal" and meet noise limits.

Hare scramble: *Finishing first is the straightforward goal of the race, typically one to three hours along a mix of trails and motocross loops on private land. Riders compete in groups by age, engine and skill (pee wee starts at ages 4-8 on 50cc, 2-stroke engines), and often graduate to enduros.

Dual sport: * A noncompetitive but often challenging fun ride on trails and some roads. Essentially a recreational enduro, it is planned far ahead, to secure permits for public land.

Trail ride: An informal ride, usually on private land; motorized off-roading is banned by most parks in metro areas.

* Sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association

Coming events

Tomorrow: Delaware Enduro Riders hare scramble, St. Georges.

May 7: Central Jersey Competition Riders enduro, Brendan Byrne State Forest, Vincentown.

May 21: Pine Barons Enduro Riders clock run (enduro), New Jersey Off Road Vehicle Park, Chatsworth.

May 28: Reading Off Road Riders' enduro, St. Clair.

June 4: Motorcycle Competition Inc. (MCI) plans major trail work in Bass River State Forest, west of Tuckerton, N.J. Club meetings are the first Monday of every month.

For more information

East Coast Enduro Association: 610-630-0737.

Read full story at: http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/sports/outdoors/14456788.htm

Tribe decries treatment in wake of fatal police confrontation

April 20, 2006, 12:38 PM EDT
By WAYNE PARRY
Associated Press Writer

MAHWAH, N.J. -- The gathering started, as it does each spring, with members of the Ramapough Lenape Indian tribe meeting for a cookout and a day in the woods, celebrating the warming temperatures and the beauty of the Earth.

It ended with one of the tribe members mortally wounded, shot three times by a state Park Police officer who had told the native Americans they were not allowed to ride their all-terrain vehicles in the area.

 
The death 10 days later of tribe member Emil Mann, 45, of Monroe, N.Y., has tensions running as high as the mountaintop where it occurred, with the tribe decrying years of bias, state officials pleading for calm and a grand jury investigating whether the shooting of the unarmed man was justified.

"It's murder," said Rodney Van Dunk, a cousin of the tribal chief. "Even a bear doesn't get shot three times."

But the lawyer for rookie Officer Chad Walder, who killed Mann, says his client used deadly force to protect himself and a fellow officer, fearing Mann was trying to grab his gun.

"He feels terrible about what he had to do," said attorney Robert Galantucci. "He was ambushed and he had to protect himself and his lieutenant."

The facts of the April 1 shooting on Stag Hill, about 27 miles northwest of Manhattan, are in dispute. Authorities contend that four Park Police officers were patrolling an area near the Ramapo Mountain State Forest when one of them saw Otis Mann, a cousin of the dead man, riding an all-terrain vehicle and asked him to stop because the vehicles were not permitted on state park land. Otis Mann then rode away from the officer.

About 20 minutes later, officials say Lt. Kelly Gottheiner saw Otis Mann and said she planned to arrest him. He resisted and tried to grab her baton. A second officer handcuffed him.

At this point, authorities said, Walder encountered Emil Mann. Authorities have not released many details about the confrontation, but court documents from the prosecution assert Emil Mann twice tried to take Walder's gun. After being shot, Emil Mann was charged with assault on a police officer, disarming a law enforcement officer, obstruction of justice, and hindering apprehension.

The Ramapoughs give a starkly different version, saying that police slapped and used chemical spray on Otis Mann's 14-year-old daughter during the dispute about the ATV. They also say that Emil Mann approached the officers as a peacemaker, with his hands in the air, palms raised, when he was shot.

"I think the ranger was trigger-happy," said Kelly Martucci, the dead man's niece. "He (Emil Mann) was just trying to calm things down."

The Ramapoughs and the county prosecutor's office say the confrontation took place on land owned by Bergen County, not the state, raising questions as to whether the Park Police were out of their jurisdiction and should have confronted the Indians about using ATVs.

Gov. Jon S. Corzine and the state attorney general met Wednesday night with the Ramapoughs, with the governor promising a "thorough and effective" investigation into the shooting. They would not discuss its progress.

While tribal leaders said they were satisfied with the state's willingness to investigate, they said the killing was the culmination of decades of anti-tribe bias from the government and neighbors alike.

"People come up to gawk at us as if we were some type of freak show, which we are not," said Anthony Van Dunk, chief of the 5,000-member tribe. "We are citizens of Mahwah and we are looking for justice. But we are living in society that does not want us here."

Melvin Mann, a cousin of the dead man, said his white schoolmates three decades ago would whisper ominously about the dangerous, unpredictable Indians.

"They'd say, 'Don't go up Stag Hill; they'll shoot you,"' he recalled. "We never bothered anybody in our life."

Homer Wilkins, whose wife is a Ramapough, voiced a widely held opinion on the mountaintop, where members of the tribe who have not scattered elsewhere in the New York metropolitan area still live.

"If it was us that did the shooting, we'd go to jail for life," Wilkins said. "Why do you have to shoot a man three times? Why not shoot in the air once to stop him?"

Martucci said she had to explain to her 8-year-old son that Uncle Emil is dead.

"I told him Uncle Emil helped keep the park clean; now he's keeping the parks clean in Heaven."

View the full story at: http://www.newsday.com

Letters to the Editor (Part 1)
Posted by the Times-Beacon Newspapers on 04/19/06

A little noise; a lot of good

I am writing in response to an article that was in the April 6 edition of The Beacon titled, "Residents complain about noise from charity event."

I am not claiming to be an expert; however, I have many years of fundraising experience both as an apprentice and ultimately an owner of a photography firm that specializes in family-portrait fundraising events. We have helped the popular causes (of) schools, churches, scouts and rescue departments alike throughout the East coast.

Through the years we have seen all types. I have to admit we have never seen the amount of money that Shoreline had taken in, in one day. Kudos to them on a job well done?

One of the points I would like to make is that the event had a greater-than-expected turnout and should be looked at as a learning experience, and not a reason to disqualify the future fundraising potential. Luckily, no one was hurt and go from there.

There was also mention of "concern" of the speed of attendees in the neighborhood on that day. As a dad of four myself, I have that concern daily. This too may require more attention and should looked at as an opportunity for speed limit awareness/income potential for Barnegat.

It was not the event that has caused the careless drivers on our roads. Each motorist should be held accountable for (his or her) actions and dealt with accordingly.

Another point of view, I would like local residents to consider is Shoreline is getting involved (in the community). I am not even into ATVs myself, yet support what they are trying to do. Please take into consideration the more residents who are involved in an organized positive fashion, should mean there is less of a chance we will see those "on the streets" producing a negative impact, especially with younger groups.

So if there is that one day out of the year you cannot sleep in, remember this may be the funding that can someday save your life, or that of your family.

View the full story at: http://www.timesbeacon.com


Letters to the Editor (Part 2)
Posted by the Times-Beacon Newspapers on 04/19/06

Stop complaining

I am writing to you in response to resident complaints as stated in the Times-Beacon Newspapers dated Thursday, April 6, 2006. As a resident of Barnegat for the past 32 years, I have seen a lot of changes with in our community, from bringing up a family to seeing an insurge of new residents.

I for one support the events of last week's Atlantic Grand Prix held at Shoreline Sand and Gravel. I understand that this was not only a sanctioned race but was also supervised by the local police, fire company and first aid squads. I do say to those residents, "Stop your complaining."

It was a one-day event that drew people from far and wide, brought income to our community and let's not forget the $10,000 in donations it brought to our fire company, first aid, recreation department and Ident-A-Kid program sponsored by our local police department.

This event did more for our township in one day in donations than some organizations can do in a year. This event also provided a day of fun for many, from participants to workers and organizers. I would think that noise and dust for one day would be a small donation from those residents, compared to the good that came from it.

I would like to thank Barnegat Township for allowing this event to happen as well as Shoreline Sand and Gravel along with all who were responsible for it, and the participants who made it a success.

I hope that our Township Committee has also been able to see what good has come of this event, and will support it again in the future.

View the full story at: http://www.timesbeacon.com



Cape ATV owners lobby for trail space

By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Published: Sunday, April 16, 2006
Updated: Monday, April 17, 2006
The Press of Atlantic City

DENNIS TOWNSHIP NJ — Jolie Knoyer does not make a very good outlaw.

When police in the woods behind her home told her to stop her all-terrain vehicle recently, she obliged, the mother of two said. But trail riding, her family's favorite pastime, makes her more Jesse James than Donna Reed — at least in the eyes of the state.

“There's no reason why people shouldn't be able to ride back there,” she said Saturday, looking over her shoulder at the pine woods where she had her police encounter. The trooper let her off with a warning, she said.

The woods that fill most of western Cape May County are littered with wide, sandy trails just perfect for riding.

Knoyer, her husband, Eric, and their friends are lobbying the state to set aside public land around Belleplain for trail riding. At the moment, riding an ATV on any public land in Cape May County is strictly forbidden.

The Knoyers and their children, Erica, 9, and Devin, 13, have their own ATVs, each sized accordingly like in “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” Erica rides a knee-high ATV, while her father rides a bruising quad with a 450-cubic-inch engine.

“We have something that nobody else has,” Eric Knoyer said about the thick woods in Dennis Township. “There's nowhere else to ride.”

The local and State Police in recent years have been cracking down on public riding.

Each year, they get complaints of trespassing and noise.

As more people in New Jersey buy these recreational vehicles, there are bound to be more conflicts over their use. A riding group called the Off Highway Vehicle Association estimates there are 250,000 off-road riders in New Jersey. Better numbers are not available because the state does not register ATVs or dirt bikes.

The nearest public riding course is in Chatsworth, Burlington County, but that is slated to close for riding in two years.

“One park. Can you imagine one golf course with 250,000 members? It's ludicrous,” said Dale Freitas, president of the riding association.

The state Department of Environmental Protection considered setting aside a former gravel pit in Monroe Township, Gloucester County, for riding, but residents nearby protested.

“They're still committed to the program. I think the state is just trying to identify suitable properties,” Freitas said. “They haven't washed their hands of Monroe Township.”

But even a park there would be too distant for most Cape May County riders. Ideally, they would like a place available to riders from Woodbine and Upper and Dennis townships — a place like this patch of woods outside Belleplain.

“Somebody's got to come up with the land,” Belleplain resident and ATV enthusiast Rich Trout said.

A police sergeant in Atlantic City, Trout said trail riding is a good influence on older children.

Many longtime residents in rural Cape May County grew up with ATVs. They were as common and practical as tractors. But encroaching development has led to fewer farms and fewer private places to ride. And the influx of suburbanites has led to more conflicts over riding.

And to some environmentalists, ATVs are anathema to conserving the state's sensitive lands.

“In the pinelands, there is very little topsoil. The ATVs cause erosion and siltation of streams,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club.

He said two-cycle engines can spew gas and oil onto trails from their exhaust pipes. Tittel said designating public land for riding would only encourage more illegal riding elsewhere.

“Let Kawasaki buy a place and pay for the liability, not taxpayers in New Jersey,” he said.

Faced with the prospect of breaking the law, the Knoyers said they are considering just giving up riding altogether. They can't justify making the monthly payments on the family's ATVs for the occasional trip to Chatsworth, they said.

With local ATV dealers selling the bikes every day, more conflicts are inevitable.

“The problem isn't going away. If anything, the problem is being compounded,” Freitas said. “The state isn't moving fast enough.”

To view the full story: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com



Man Shot By Park Ranger, Laid To Rest

Apr 14, 2006 5:39 pm US/Eastern
Christine Sloan Reporting
Cbs2News

SUFFREN NJ- Family and friends today came to say goodbye to Emil Mann, who died after being shot by a New Jersey Park Ranger in the Stag Hill section of Mahwah.

There was both sadness and anger at his wake.

ìWe're just praying the family receives peace and god will have his way in it,î said Don Mann, Emil's cousin.

Very sad, he was a really good person...he was a good family man this is just terrible,î said Alfreda Keron, Emil's friend.

Authorities say Mann and his family, who are members of the Lenape Inidan Nation, were stopped in the mountains for riding ATVs.

There was some sort of struggle and Mann was shot. His cousin, Otis, who was at the wake, was arrested.

He has maintained his innocence. His community believes his arrest and his cousin's death by a ranger, who says he shot in self-defense, were unjustified.

Emil Otis, it's simple, we want justice that's it,î said Rodney Van Dunk, a member of Lenape Indian Nation.

We have someone who was murdered here, it will never happen again,î said Chief Anthony Van Dunk, who leads the Indian Nation.

The Indian Nation plans on holding a meeting on April 19th. They've invited the Governor. The family has also hired prominent civil rights attorney Barry Scheck, who was on the O.J. Simpson defense team.

No comment today from authorities investigating the shooting.

In Suffren, Christine Sloan, Cbs2News.
View the Full story at: http://wcbstv.com


ATV race's fate still in neutral

BY NICHOLAS HUBA
STAFF WRITER
Times-Beacon Newspapers on 04/13/06

BARNEGAT NJ — A representative of the Atlantic Grand Prix series said he is willing to meet with township officials about the future of an all-terrain vehicle race at the Shoreline Sand and Gravel site.

Dale Freitas, director of the Atlantic Grand Prix series, said he would be willing to sit down with township officials and discuss the concerns they have.

"I understand that they have a right to look into residents' concerns," Freitas said. "I want to sit down and talk to them about their concerns."

During the Township Committee meeting April 3, township officials expressed concern about the future of the race, which took place April 1.

Members of the public talked during the meeting about how they had problems with the noise that was coming from the site, traffic and other issues.

The race raised $10,000 that was distributed to the Barnegat and Pinewood Estates fire companies, the Barnegat First Aid Squad, the township police department and the Recreation Department.

"We look forward to sitting down and talking to them about the situation," Committeeman Jeff Melchiondo said. "We're not against having the races again. We just need to look at the concerns of the residents."

The township also expressed concerns about how long the event ran for.

"We never expected to have 289 people riding in the race. We only expected to have half of that," Freitas said. "That is one of the reasons why we ran late. That is something that we did not expect, but in the future, we will be able to deal with it better," Freitas added.

The accusations of people walking through the neighborhood with beer bottles and other items is false, Freitas said.

"During that time, there were police walking around the area," Freitas said. "The police did an outstanding job during the event."

Freitas said the group is committed to giving riders a safe, legal place to ride.

"Before these events even start, we talk to representatives at the Pinelands Commission about the best places to have an event," Freitas said. "It's hard in the state of New Jersey to find a place where riders can ride."

Most of the events that the group plans take place at gravel and sand pits, farms and all-terrain parks.

"That is what we are trying to do with these types of events," Freitas added. "It's a lot safer to have them race in this kind of setting than to have them going out doing it on their own."

View the full story at: http://www.timesbeacon.com


Slamming on the brakes?
Residents complain about noise from charity event

BY NICHOLAS HUBA
STAFF WRITER
Times-Beacon Newspapers on 04/6/06

BARNEGAT NJ — An all-terrain vehicle event that raised $10,000 for local groups has come under fire from the township.

Committeeman Jeff Melchiondo said incidents at the Barnegat Grand Prix at Shoreline Sand and Gravel Saturday will force the township to review whether or not it hosts the event next year.

"We've had calls from residents regarding the event," Melchiondo said. "I want to sit down and talk to them about what happened and their concerns about the event."

During the April 3 Township Committee meeting, residents of the area surrounding Shoreline Sand and Gravel voiced their displeasure about the event.

"I was sleeping at 8:15 in the morning and all I could hear was the loudspeaker," said Rafel Adorno, an area resident. "I could not believe what I was hearing."

Adorno said the problems were not limited to just the noise coming from the area.

"There were people speeding all through the neighborhood," Adorno said. "I was afraid that someone might get hurt; and then people were sneaking into the event through the woods and there were all kinds of beer bottles all over the place. It was so bad."

"I didn't call the cops because I did not want to be a cop-caller, but this was a bad situation where someone could have been hurt," Adorno added.

The $10,000 that was collected at the event is set to be distributed to the Barnegat and Pinewood Estates fire companies, the Barnegat First Aid Squad, the police department and the recreation department, Melchiondo said.

"We're asking people who have concerns about this event to call the township," Melchiondo said. "We've got to get all of the information that we can before we decide the future of this event."

This is not the first time that area residents have had problems with the Shoreline Sand and Gravel site. Last year, area residents went to the Township Committee and complained about the noise that was coming from the site. Then Township Administrator W. Bryan Dempsey met with both residents and owners of the site in order to work out a solution to the problem.

Police Capt. Art Drexler said the event went off without any major problems.

"We had two calls from the area," Drexler said. "We had a call from a person on Nautilus Drive for a person complaining about the dust from the event. Another call we received was from a resident of Heritage Point about the noise coming from the event."

Melchiondo said the event could have gotten out of hand because there were more people than were expected.

"It was supposed to be finished earlier, but that did not happen," Melchiondo said. "They were only expecting 500 people and then they had more than 900 come, which caused them to delay the ending of the event."

Calls to the Atlantic Grand Prix series, the group that put on the event, were not returned.

"We have to look at the whole town when it comes to these type of events," Township Administrator David Breeden said. "It was great that we raised this much money for the different groups, but we have to look at all aspects."

View the full story at: http://www.timesbeacon.com

Mining some excitement

Monday, April 3, 2006
By TRISTAN SCHWEIGER Staff Writer
Press of Atlantic City

Barnegat Township NJ-Although Myles O'Grady is only 13, he's been riding dirt bikes for more than half his life.

I always wanted a dirt bike, and then when I was 6, I got one,” Myles said Sunday afternoon, as if he were an experienced racer, recounting some piece of distant history from his early career.

But it's not surprising that the hobby comes naturally to him. His father, Kevin O'Grady, grew up riding ATVs and motorcycles in the woods of southern Ocean County.

“Living in the Pine Barrens, you've got to love getting out in the woods and riding,” O'Grady said.

On Sunday, the O'Gradys, who live in Ocean Township, rode in the Atlantic Grand Prix Series at Shoreline Sand and Gravel in Barnegat Township.

As he sat on his ATV, his son beside him wearing his bright blue racing suit, O'Grady said it's not as easy for children today to find places to ride off-road. For one thing, he said when he was young, local authorities weren't nearly as eager to give tickets to off-road riders. But he said there are also fewer sand pits like Shoreline around today where riders can go.

“All these pits that closed, they turn into developments, and there are no pits for us to ride in,” O'Grady said, rattling off a list of pits in the Barnegat area that he once rode in with his friends.

Off-road enthusiasts have long complained about a lack of legal places for dirt bike and ATV riding in New Jersey, leaving many to practice the sport illegally. But Dale Freitas, director of the Atlantic Grand Prix, said the aim of the series is to try to provide a solution to that problem.

A persistent complaint of residents in communities where ATV parks have been proposed is the noise the activity creates, and some Barnegat residents raised that very issue when they heard the Atlantic Grand Prix was coming to Shoreline.
However, Freitas said the series has tried to minimize the impact on any given town by moving around to different locations. This year, the series has events scheduled in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

Freitas said the series also tries to support the local community. Shoreline allowed the series to use its facility Sunday for free, and the $10 fee spectators paid was donated to Barnegat's first aid and fire departments and to the township's recreation services.

“If you're going to come to one of the (series) event, you're not going to get a ticket, you're not going to get arrested, you'll learn better etiquette,” he said.
Freitas didn't know early Sunday afternoon exactly how many people had turned out for the races at Shoreline. He had anticipated a couple hundred motorcycle and ATV riders would sign up to ride, but at about noon he said more than that had already signed up. The crowd of spectators spread throughout the center of the horseshoe-shaped, 4-mile course was at least several hundred people large.
Stacey Ghigliotty and her 12-year-old son Josh were among them. Josh, standing by his Honda motorcycle and sweating after his race, said he's been riding dirt bikes for about three years, ever since his dad surprised him with a bike when he came home from a hunting trip.

He finished near the back of his racing group, but said that didn't bother him. After all, this was only his second race. Most of the time he rides in the backyard of his family's Stafford Township home, which is more than an acre in size, or in the woods beyond that.

“I just do to for fun. I'm not really serious about it,” he said.

Stacey Ghigliotty said the organized racing is a good, family activity.

“I love getting out of the house and being outside all day. I was just thinking before that, ‘Wow, this is so much better than cleaning,'” she said.

To e-mail Tristan Schweiger at The Press: TSchweiger@pressofac.com
View Story: www.pressofatlanticcity.com



Outrage over shooting

Monday, April 3, 2006
By BARBARA WILLIAMS and ELISE YOUNG
STAFF WRITERS
NorthJersey.com

Mahwah NJ-More than 100 Ramapough Mountain Indians on Sunday demanded to know why a 43-year-old community member was shot by a police officer and his cousin arrested during a cookout in the Mahwah section of Ringwood State Park.

"We're asking them -- the Attorney General's Office, the governor and the Indian commission -- to do an investigation," tribal Chief Anthony Van Dunk said after a meeting at the Ramapoughs' community center.

"Did they use the proper protocol to use deadly force? They had no right to shoot us."

Emil Mann of Monroe, N.Y., was in critical condition at Hackensack University Medical Center on Sunday, a day after he was wounded in the company of about two dozen people.

A cousin, Otis Mann, 42, also of Monroe, was being held in the Bergen County Jail on $100,000 bail on charges including aggravated assault and possession of a weapon. Prosecutors said he had grabbed a police baton and tried to injure two New Jersey State Park Police officers.

Varying accounts began to circulate immediately after the shooting, which occurred about 4:15 p.m. Saturday at the top of a steep, rocky trail two miles into the woods, off Mountain Road. That road connects to Stag Hill Road, where many Ramapoughs live.

The victim's friends and family said it started with an argument that turned into a brawl between some picnickers and two park police officers, whom the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office identified as Lt. Kelly Gottheiner and Officer Kenneth Kriete. A third park police officer fired the bullets, according to the Ramapoughs.

A statement released by the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office said the investigation was "a difficult process so far, as many local residents and eyewitnesses have been reluctant to come forward and offer information."

The prosecutor, John Molinelli, did not respond to phone calls for comment.

"Our office is not releasing the name of the park police officer involved in the shooting," his statement said. "No further details will be forthcoming at this time."

The state Department of Environmental Protection, which oversees officers in state parks, referred all questions to the prosecutor. A DEP spokeswoman, Elaine Makatura, confirmed that rangers "are armed and have police powers."

The Ramapoughs, an insular population of approximately 2,000 which traces its ancestry to the Leni-Lenape, historically have had a cold relationship with outsiders, including law enforcement. They live in relative poverty in northern Bergen and Passaic counties and southern New York, and have a high incidence of underemployment and substance abuse.

Late last year, The Record's "Toxic Legacy" series chronicled their health problems, attributed to industrial paint sludge buried in the waning days of a Ford Motor Co. automobile plant.

On Sunday, some Ramapoughs suggested that the confrontation in the park was premeditated.

"I think this is harassment gone too far. They want us off this mountain and what better way than to scare us?" Anthony Van Dunk said.

Constance Jennings, whose house on Mountain Road is nearest the shooting scene, recalled that on Saturday morning, her husband and two of her four children were in the yard. Gottheiner came by and told him to take the children into the house " 'because something is going down today,' " Jennings said.

The Ramapoughs said about two dozen friends and family had gathered for the cookout. By late afternoon, some were getting ready to cook fish and hamburgers on a portable grill and others were riding all-terrain vehicles -- an activity prohibited on state land.

Ramapoughs who live nearby said the trouble began when Gottheiner and Kriete approached the cookout site. An argument began, they said, and Gottheiner slapped Otis Mann's 14-year-old daughter.

Otis Mann grabbed Gottheiner's baton and went after the officers, and Emil Mann tried to break them up, community members said. The third, unidentified park officer opened fire.

Community members said police officers from more than a dozen departments responded, but an ambulance did not arrive for 40 minutes. Community members credited Ryan Mann, an ATV rider, with carrying Emil Mann to a police vehicle for medical attention. They said Ryan Mann picked up the victim while the three rangers watched as he writhed on the ground, screaming for help.

Community members said Emil Mann was shot twice in the chest and once in the groin. He underwent surgery Saturday and had a second operation Sunday to remove one of the bullets, they said, but his heart stopped. He was revived and the surgery halted, community members said.

Hackensack University Medical Center representatives said only that Emil Mann was in critical condition.

On Sunday afternoon, the picnic spot was anything but bucolic. Three breaded fish fillets were scattered on the forest floor. Orange spray paint, left by law-enforcement officials, was splashed across the ground, trees and rocks.

At the community center on Stag Hill Road, Kathleen Mann, Otis Mann's wife, said she could not comment fully until she spoke to a lawyer. She said her husband should not have been arrested.

"He's a hardworking man who supports his four kids," she said. "He's had the same job for 20 years as a bus mechanic in Palisades Park."

Others were worried about the shooting victim.

"I just can't understand any of this," said Tommy Heaps. "Emil is the nicest guy. He'd give you the shirt off his back."

Senior Photographer Thomas E. Franklin contributed to this article. E-mail: williams@northjersey.com and younge@northjersey.com

ATV rider shot in clash with park officers

Sunday, April 02, 2006
BY RALPH R. ORTEGA AND JOE RYANPStar-Ledger Staff

Mahwah NJ-A man was shot twice in the leg by a state park officer in Bergen County yesterday during a clash between authorities and all-terrain vehicle riders, officials said.

The afternoon altercation broke out in the woods of Ringwood State Park in Mahwah, after three conservation officers confronted a group of people riding ATVs, which are prohibited in the park, according to state Department of Environmental Protection officials.

The confrontation led to a scuffle and "one of our officers did eventually shoot one of the riders in the leg twice," DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson said last night.

Fellow ATV riders identified the victim as Emil Mann, a 43-year-old Monroe, N.Y., resident. He was in stable condition last night at Hackensack University Medical Center, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

Two officers were also hurt in the melee, said Jose Fernandez, director of the state Division of Parks and Forestry.

Lt. Kelly Gottheiner was treated for a head injury at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, N.Y., after being bumped by an ATV's handlebar, officials said.

An unidentified male officer was also at Good Samaritan last night after being bitten by an ATV rider, Fernandez said. Officials did not identify the officer who fired the shots.

Ringwood State Park is a 4,000-acre preserve amid the rocky, wooded hills of northern Bergen and Passaic counties, about 20 miles northwest of the George Washington Bridge.

Mann is among a group of friends and relatives who for years have ridden four-wheel all-terrain vehicles through the park on weekends, according to Tom Mann, who identified himself as the victim's second cousin.

"We go back there and have a few beers and relax," Tom Mann said. "The park rangers have always been giving us a hard time."

Alcohol and ATVs are illegal in state parks, said Elaine Makatura, a DEP spokeswoman.

The Manns are a large, tight-knit family residing in Mahwah and the surrounding towns, according to friends and neighbors who gathered last night outside the local police station.

Emil Mann is a father of three and works for the Ramapo Roads Department, they said. He rode into forest yesterday along with about 11 others, said William Mann, 43, of Monroe.

"We were just doing our normal thing, riding and cooking out," William Mann said. "The cowards got out of hand. They shot an unarmed man."

William Mann disputed whether the riders were on state park land, saying there were no signs marking the park border.

ATV riders have clashed before with conservation officers.

In 2003, an officer's leg was shattered when an ATV rider he was pursuing in Gloucester County ran him over, according to the DEP.

In the past three years, conservation officers have issued more than 1,500 summonses for illegal ATV riding on state-owned land, according to the DEP.

Jackson, the DEP commissioner, said there have been calls for legislation to crack down on ATV riders.

"This will definitely renew those calls," she said.

Residents gathered last night outside an apartment complex near the clash and spoke angrily of the shooting.

"This is ridiculous," said Laurie Ringwood, 45, who lives nearby. "These guys never bother anybody. They go in there. They cook out, and that's it. They have been doing it for years."

Julie Van Dunk, 44, of Hillburn, N.Y. is a friend of Mann and said she was "just heartbroken."

"We grew up in those woods riding and fishing," she said. "It's sad that it comes to this."

Staff writers Alexander Lane and Kathleen G. Sutcliffe contributed to this report.

View Story at: www.nj.com


Barnegat mining company to host regional off-road races

March 28, 2006
By TRISTAN SCHWEIGER Staff Writer
Press of Atlantic City

Barnegat Township NJ-It's called a Grand Prix, but these racers won't be speeding through the streets.

TRather, on Sunday, Shoreline Sand and Gravel in Barnegat Township will play host to the first races of the Atlantic Grand Prix series. The Atlantic Grand Prix is an off-road event for motorcycles and ATVs with races scheduled in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

All the proceeds from the gate admission at Sunday's race will be donated to Barnegat Township's recreation and emergency services.

Dale Freitas, director of the Atlantic Grand Prix, said that while there's a lot of interest in southern New Jersey for ATV and motorcycle racing, there aren't a lot of organized events available, so many enthusiasts ride illegally.

“What we're trying to do is basically provide a legal, off-highway-vehicle recreation area for one day,” Freitas said.

The gate at Sunday's event opens at 7 a.m and registration begins at 7:30 a.m. Adults registering to ride pay $40 and youth riders pay $30. The spectator fee is $10.

Although the entirety of the spectator fees will be donated to the township, the registration fees go toward Atlantic Grand Prix expenses, like insurance, according to Freitas.

The series returns to southern Ocean County in October for races at Eagleswood Township's Sahara Sand and Gravel. .

Freitas was expecting a crowd of about 600 to 800 spectators and between 200 and 300 riders. Shoreline Sand and Gravel is located on West Bay Avenue.

“It's a relatively safe environment. Everybody's going the same direction. We're very conscious about safety, and we have a class for everybody,” Freitas said, noting there are different divisions for youth and adults.

To e-mail Tristan Schweiger at The Press: TSchweiger@pressofac.com
View Story: www.pressofatlanticcity.com

N.Y., N.J. trail group wants state ATV rules toughened

March 23, 2006
By JESSICA SEDA
Herald Staff Writer

Sussex County NJ-A multi-state hiking and conservation group has stepped up its efforts to place more regulations on all-terrain vehicles.

The New York and New Jersey Trail Conference is urging New Jersey residents to urge Gov. Jon S. Corzine to support legislation that would require larger license plates on ATVs and better enforcement of rules requiring ATV owners to register their vehicles, and purchase plates and insurance. The group wants those who sell ATVs to be required to have insurance and put plates on them, as car dealerships do.

"ATVs as an issue get worse every year," said Dennis Schvejda, the trail conference's advocacy director. "Now when you buy an ATV you can leave the dealer and promise to get it registered and insured later — not everyone does and it's harder to get caught because it's not like they're riding on the street where police can stop them."

The biggest problem ATV riders have is a lack of places to ride, said Sussex County resident Mike Murarik, a past president of Jersey Devils ATV Riders Association.

Murarik's group, which has disbanded, was active in trying to bring more designated riding areas to the northern part of New Jersey. Murarik owns private land where he can ride but he is concerned for many ATV riders who do not.
"The only places in the state are in south Jersey and the closest ones are an hour-and-a-half into Pennsylvania," Murarik said. "Every weekend you go there it's loaded with New Jersey license plates."

Schvejda said the conference is not opposed to designated trails being built for ATV riders as long as they come with stricter rules. While ATV facilities would appeal to some users, Schvejda said, not everyone would take advantage of them.

"We recognize users should have a place to ride but we're not under the illusion that will take away the problem," Schvejda said. "There are two types of users, and for some, riding where they aren't allowed is part of the mystique and thrill."
Damage to trails and wildlife and disruption of hiking practices are the conference's main concerns, Schvejda said.

Because of restricted access to nearby places, including Stokes State Forest and the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, ATVs have not done much damage to local trails, Montague resident David Kientzler said.

Kientzler is a member of the conference and keeps an eye on trails throughout Stokes State Forest.

"Of course, the more people who use the park the better because the more that use them, the more we can preserve," Kientzler said. "The trouble with ATVs is that they can cause erosion, especially on steep slopes."

Kientzler said he would be in favor of designated areas for activities such as ATVs.

The trail conference has been urging ATV reform for several years and is trying to get more people involved and encourages those who agree to visit the group's Web site at http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/njatv.

"We know there are many issues facing the state right now," Schvejda said. "We're just trying to keep ours on the front burner."



Laws Needed.

March 10, 2006
Editorial Opinion/Courier Post Online
By DENNIS W. SCHVEJDA
Advocacy Director: New York - New Jersey Trail Conference

MAHWAH NJ-While I applaud the letter writer's concern for ATV-damaged park lands in New Jersey, it is wishful thinking to expect the creation of all-terrain vehicle parks to "finally put an end to the damage." Every state, regardless of how many ATV parks are available, has a serious problem with ATV trespassing.

I also take issue with the assertion that ATV penalties are the same as for motor vehicles. Currently, you can buy an ATV, leave the dealership, and never buy insurance, register the vehicle or complete a license/training course.

Comprehensive legislation would close these loopholes, require automobile-sized license plates and levy hefty fines for ATV trespassing.Without the legal tools law enforcement officials need to begin to get control of this ever-growing problem, opening up parks for ATV use is a shortsighted response.


Dozens turn out to oppose ATV law.
Proposed ordinance in Codorus Township would regulate the vehicles.

March 3, 2006
By JEFFREY B. ROTH
For the Daily Record/Sunday News

YORK, PA - About 50 people filled the small meeting room of the Codorus Township building Thursday evening to voice concerns about a proposed ordinance regarding all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles and dirt bikes.

The supervisors are considering an ordinance that would regulate when, where and how peeople can ride the vehicles.Lamar Glatfelter, chairman of the board of supervisors, said his concern stems from ATVs and dirt bikes damaging township dirt roads and farmers' crops.

Supervisor Robert Gladfelter said the township needs local control over the problem.Robert Jarrett of Glen Rock was one of three farmers who said it is a growing problem.

Despite "Private property" and "No trespassing" signs, Jarrett said he has chased dirt bike riders off his farm numerous times.Ray Masimore, who farms property throughout the township, said ATVs have destroyed some of his crops. "They have no respect for the crops you have in the field," he said.

Robert Rebert II, who leases land in the northern section of the township, said he has filed criminal charges against ATV riders who have damaged his crops. He encouraged other farmers to do the same.While the audience members seemed to agree that anyone who damages private or public property should be held responsible, they were concerned the ordinance was too restrictive."We need to work out a buddy system," said Cole Walker of Miller Road. "We need to work together to protect the rights we have.

We need to respect the other person."Glatfelter said the supervisors are working on the ordinance and intend to send it back to the planning commission with several changes that include the suggestions of the audience. He said the township would prefer not to adopt an ordinance."I think the situation just got better tonight," Glatfelter said. "If we could keep them off dirt roads and private property ... if we can get a handle on it, we may never need" the ordinance.


Environmentalist Delay Proposed ATV Parks

March 1, 2006
Editorial Opinion/Courier Post Online
BY Dale Freitas

I'm an avid outdoorsman and I've had the opportunity to see what  unregulated all-terrain vehicle use has done on public land throughout  New Jersey.

There's no doubt this state needs ATV parks. Apparently the  environmental community continues to find new obstacles to the  proposed ATV parks that are desperately needed.

Every minute the decision is delayed, more damage is being done.  We keep hearing from the so-called environmentalists that, before  they buy in to the idea of state-funded ATV parks, they want stricter enforcement of ATV laws and penalties.

I think this is another tactic to delay creating the parks the state promised would be ready by 2005. Also, anyone who lives in this state is fully aware of the penalties for operating an unlicensed, unregistered and uninsured motor vehicle on state land; it's the same as operating an unlicensed, unregistered and uninsured motor vehicle on public roads.

On top of that, the number of ATV riders continues to grow.

We can leave things the way they are and the damage will continue,  or we can get these parks up and running and finally put an end to the  damage.


Plan may boost ATV traffic in Water Gap
Foes fear environmental harm, while backers cite need increased access

Wednesday, February 22, 2006
BY JIM LOCKWOOD Star-Ledger Staff

The National Park Service has proposed changes in parks management that could end up allowing all-terrain and off-road vehicles, snowmobiles and personal watercraft in parks, including the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in northwest New Jersey.

If the new rules are approved, it could mean the 67,000-acre park, which straddles 40 miles of the Delaware River between New Jersey and Pennsylvania, may one day provide the only public facility for ATVs in northern New Jersey.

Some conservationists and environmentalists who oppose the proposed changes say such expansions would cause pollution, harm wildlife and create conflicts with passive uses, such as hiking.

"Basically, they're opening up the park to suburban assault vehicles," said Jeff Tittel of the Sierra Club's New Jersey chapter.

Others disagree and favor some expanded uses.

"The growing intent of people today is more toward protection, rather than use," said Richard Gross of Matamoras, Pa., who is a member of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area's Citizens Advisory Commission.

"My feeling is we've got to allow some of this use, but it's got to be carefully picked where you're going to allow it," said Gross, a former director of the New Jersey Division of Fish and Game in 1962-63. "I don't want to see the environment destroyed, but I do want to see people have more opportunity to enjoy the environment. The thing is where do you draw the line."

Dale Freitas, president of the New Jersey Off-Highway Vehicle Association, has similar sentiments. Freitas likens the situation to having a boat launch or beach, in that they do not cover all of a shoreline. With ATVs, a park could create a trail head and a 5-mile loop, he said.

"That's really all you need. You don't have to have impacts on hikers or lakes," Freitas said. "It doesn't mean you have to have ATV trails in every square mile of the park. There's plenty of space. They can put it in a corner of the park where it won't have impacts."

There is only one legal off-road facility for ATVs and motorized dirt bikes in the state: the nonprofit New Jersey Off Road Vehicle Park near Chatsworth in the Pine Barrens. However, that 80-acre facility is scheduled to close by 2008.

The state was supposed to have created two facilities last year, one in the north and one in the south, but they never materialized. Some smaller, private racetracks offer weekend riding opportunities for motorized vehicles such as ATVs.

Because illegal and unregulated ATV riding in state parks, forests and wildlife areas is rampant, proponents of creating legal facilities in parks claim they would be beneficial on several fronts, including: improving the environment by regulating where riding could occur and curbing illegal use; promoting rider education; and spurring tourism dollars.

"We're trying to be real responsible and do it the right way," Freitas said. "We're going to try to keep making something happen. If it's not at the Water Gap, then in state parks. We're not going to go away."

Brad Clawson, acting chief ranger of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, said any changes in park use would have to go through an approval process.

"The key terms in there (the proposed management policy changes) are 'appropriate use for a particular park.' We would do nothing to impair the resources we are here to protect," Clawson said. He would not speculate on whether it would be likely that the Water Gap park uses would expand to accommodate the motorized vehicles.

The proposed update of the National Park Service's Management Policies was released Feb. 1 for public comment. The policy helps guide park managers to "achieve the Park Service's mission to conserve park resources while providing for their enjoyment by present and future generations," the NPS states.

One of the big proposed changes is to "give more latitude to park managers to determine what appropriate uses would be," Clawson said. Those park managers could be top officials with the National Park Service, he said.

In 2001, the Bush administration reviewed bans on Jet Skis and similar watercraft at the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and three other national parks. That review provoked concern among conservationists that bans would be weakened or overturned. But critics of the bans cheered the move, saying some parks officials had acted precipitously in prohibiting use of popular Jet Skis and other small motorized craft. Those bans remained in place.

The official comment period on the latest management proposal ended Saturday. The comments now will be reviewed by the National Park Service.

The revised management policies can be found at www.nps.gov.

Jim Lockwood covers Sussex County.
He may be reached at jlock wood@starledger.com or (973) 383-0516.


Snow brings all-terrain vehicles

February 13, 2006 4:16 AM
By LEAH ZERBE
Bucks County Courier Times

As the snow started to stick and quickly stacked higher on the roadways Sunday morning, the air filled with the vrrrooom-vrrrooom of revving four-wheelers.

Police officers around the county cringed.

"Very rarely do I see them, other than when it snows," Bristol Officer Pete Faight said. "You hope nobody gets killed."

Four-wheelers fishtailed and spun all over local streets as many bundled drivers playfully rode from Point A to Point B or just merrily navigated a wandering winter joyride. Many all-terrain vehicle riders operated their quads with relative ease compared to some of their unlucky sedan-like counterparts, breached in drifted ditches alongside roads.

There were quad sightings all over the area after Mother Nature dumped a thick blanket of snow over the weekend, but local police want riders to know that snow doesn't offer an open invitation for riders to overtake slippery streets.

A 17-year-old male was transported to Frankford Hospital's Torresdale campus after the Suzuki four-wheeler he was driving rammed into a stopped Mercury Mountaineer SUV on Wilson Avenue.

Bristol police did not release the teen's name but said he was conscious and alert after the accident. His injuries were not life threatening and he will be cited, according to authorities.

The teen was not wearing a helmet, police said, and he didn't have registration or insurance for the four-wheeler, something that is mandatory in Pennsylvania, according to Pa. Department of Conservation and Natural Resources guidelines.

Police want to curb riders' weather-related exodus to the roadways, but one officer said cracking down on ATV drivers on public roads is easier said than done - chasing them could create even bigger hazards and accidents.

Faight estimated that about a quarter of four-wheeler riders buzzing around public roads are under the age of 16, adding that police will be enforcing ATV laws by issuing citations that could reach $1,000.

Leah Zerbe can be reached Saturday to Monday at 215-949-4172,
Thursday to Friday at 215-322-9715 or at lzerbe@phillyBurbs.com.


Keep ATVs between the lines

February 10, 2006
Newark Star Ledger

Thousands of all-terrain vehicle owners are looking for the perfect place to ride: a nice mix of woods and fields, long straight-aways to build up speed, tight curves to challenge cornering abilities and one or two good hills to get the machines airborne.

The state Department of Environmental Protection has been looking for the same thing, correctly figuring that providing dedicated riding spots will help cut down on the growing problem of trespassing ATVs and dirt bikes.

Unfortunately, they're all looking in New Jersey. Rural areas in the nation's most crowded state invariably have at least one housing development nearby. Homeowners don't want the racket; environmentalists oppose the air pollution and the soil damage.

Precisely such opposition has stalled a DEP initiative to create an ATV park at an abandoned gravel pit in Monroe Township, Gloucester County. The pressure to create a new legal riding place will intensify when the state's one existing off-road park, in Chatsworth, Burlington County, closes in two years, per a long-standing agreement with the state Pinelands Commission.
ATV owners represent a legitimate recreational constituency and if they can be accommodated, that is to the good. But given New Jersey's dearth of appropriate open space and ubiquitous community opposition, a new park could be a nonstarter.

Whether new legal parks are built or not, lawmakers and local judges need to rev up enforcement against illegal ATV and dirt bike riding on public land.
A loutish minority of riders trespasses through parks, wildlife refuges and other sensitive tracts, endangering not only the environment but too often also the park rangers and conservation officers who try to apprehend them.
The law now allows for fines up to $1,000, but local judges rarely issue penalties of more than a couple hundred dollars. Judges can help by slapping heftier fines against riders, or, as is often the case, churlish parents who give their kids ATVs and don't care where they drive them.
Lawmakers should do their part by raising the fines, and by allowing the cops to impound the machines of repeat offenders.

As the state continues to search for appropriate spots for off-road motoring, it must be able to stop riding on the vast majority of public land where ATV use is neither legal nor welcome.


Park use may be expanded

Thursday, February 9, 2006
By JESSICA SEDA
Herald Staff Writer

Changes to the way national parks are managed could allow for more recreational opportunities in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, which could include the use of off-road vehicles, such as ATVs and snowmobiles.

The National Park Service is proposing updates to the policies which govern management of the natural park system and is accepting public comment on the revisions through Feb. 18. The policies are used by park superintendents and other employees to implement procedures for each area.

The draft of the update started in response to a request from Congress and the Department of the Interior. Last updated in 2001, the changes take into consideration increased population pressures on parks, improvements in technology and changing demographics.

The new rules could be seen as a "matter of interpretation," which would give park management the power to make the final determination, said Doyle Nelson, Deputy Superintendent for the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.

"A shift in the policy direction would shift how the park is used," Nelson said.

In August, a change to the policies, made by Paul Hoffman, deputy assistant secretary with the Department of Interior, created heated controversy as many said park superintendents would have to show permanent resource damage to veto many activities including dirt bikes, off-road vehicles, cell-phone towers and rock concerts in parks and seashores. The original draft was withdrawn and a new version resurfaced in October.
Dick Gross, vice chairman of the National Recreation Area's Citizens Advisory Commission, said there has been some debate over the proposed changes.

"I take a different stand because I believe the park is there to be used," Gross said. "I believe in protecting the environment but also in outdoor use. That's why recreation areas were made."

Others fear increased recreational use would lead to environmental problems and disturbances, Gross said.

The proposed changes are available on the National Park Service's Web site, parkplanning.nps.gov/waso. For more information, the park's headquarters in Bushkill, Pa., can be reached at (570) 588-2418. The phone number of the New Jersey district office in Walpack is (973) 948-6500. The Office of Research and Resource Planning in Milford, Pa., is at (570) 296-6952.


Opinion: State shouldn't scrap concept for ATV park

Tuesday, February 7, 2006
From the Editor of the CourierPost

All-terrain vehicle riders ought to have designated areas where they can ride.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection should continue looking at building a park for off-road vehicles at a former Monroe sand mine.

With a change in administrations at the DEP, opponents of the ATV park are working to kill the plan. Environmental activist Ed Knorr wants the Monroe Township Council to pass an ordinance prohibiting all-terrain vehicle parks in the township.

However, there's a clear need in South Jersey for ATV riders to have public places where they can ride. And, if state lawmakers work to mandate licensing and training for ATV riders, they ought to have somewhere where they can enjoy this legal hobby.

Between October 2002 and September 2005, state conservation officers issued more than 1,600 summonses for illegal off-road-vehicle riding. Officials and residents living near some state forests say many more break the law and aren't caught. This needs to stop.

In 2002, former DEP chief Bradley Campbell issued a directive to build two all-terrain vehicle parks by 2005. The idea was to give off-road vehicle riders a place to go so they'd stop riding in sensitive Pinelands and other areas.

Last year, the DEP spent $1.2 million to buy the former Sahara Sand Inc., a 213-acre property on the Monroe-Buena Vista border, with the intent of building an ATV park there.

As environmentalists have pointed out, these vehicles can be very damaging to plant and animal life in the Pinelands. They can also cause erosion from the ruts they leave in the ground.

Some people may see these as reasons not to build the park. However, the environmental damage caused by all-terrain vehicles is exactly why ATV parks are needed. It's far better to let off-road vehicle riders tear up the already disturbed grounds of a former sand mine than to have them continue to illegally ride on thousands of acres of sensitive Pinelands because there aren't designated public places to ride.

Certainly, before a park is built in Monroe or anywhere else, the DEP needs to fully study the plans. Ultimately, if the noise from such a park could not be minimized and would prove to be a great disturbance to residents, then it would not be wise to build it.

Also, a park should be built in conjunction with lawmakers doing what should have been done long ago: approving mandatory licensing and training for anyone who owns an all-terrain vehicle. The money generated from licensing could be used to fund the safety training, help pay to build and maintain ATV parks and for more law enforcement in state forests to keep ATV riders off those lands.

The Monroe council should hold off on any ordinances regarding all-terrain vehicle parks and allow the DEP to study this worthy idea further.


Judge clears way for Westampton housing

Tuesday, February 7, 2006
By JASON HARRIS
Burlington County Times

MOUNT HOLLY — A Superior Court judge signed off on settlement of a developer's lawsuit against Westampton Township yesterday that clears the way for construction of 528 housing units on 234 acres near the intersection of Woodlane and Irick roads.

The agreement, approved by Assignment Judge John Sweeney, allows Bensalem, Pa.-based Orleans Homebuilders to construct 276 age-restricted single-family homes, 228 unrestricted single-family town houses and a 24-unit age-restricted apartment building on land that once included the Sunnyside Farms dairy farm and retail store.

The apartment units would qualify as affordable housing and the remainder would be sold at market price.

Under the terms of the agreement, the township will change the zoning from industrial to residential.

The agreement also certifies Westampton's affordable housing plan and grants the township immunity from similar so-called “builder's remedy'' lawsuits until December, when the township is required to submit another plan to meet requirements of the state Council On Affordable Housing.
COAH is a state agency with the power to determine low- and moderate-income housing needs in each municipality. The agency also reviews and approves plans for such housing.

A developer can file a builder's remedy lawsuit when it wants to build a development that includes affordable housing in a town that either has not met its affordable housing requirements or, like Westampton, did not have an affordable housing plan certified by the state.

Michael Karmatz, Orleans senior vice president, said the company would submit a site plan to the township in two to three months. He said construction probably wouldn't begin for at least a year.

The lawsuit was originally filed in 2002 by owners of the land, Westampton 70 Group, who were seeking to build affordable housing on 72 acres next to the now-defunct farm. Orleans joined the suit later, seeking the right to build on those 72 acres and an adjacent parcel that includes the farm.

Another part of the settlement requires Orleans to pay $1.75 million to the Borough of Palmyra in lieu of building 50 affordable housing units in Westampton as part of a regional contribution agreement.


Confrontations rise as illegal riding 'explodes' across state

Sunday, February 05, 2006
BY BRIAN T. MURRAY AND STEVE CHAMBERS
Star-Ledger Staff

Just as state biologists were about to release an anxious 321-pound bear at the Wild Cat Ridge Wildlife Management Area in Morris County, a high-pitched buzzing signaled the approach of off-road vehicles.

"Stop! Stop! Don't come in here. You can't ride here," shouted biologist Kelcey Burguess, frantically waving as he tried to head off the four-wheeled machines.

But his warnings were drowned out as both ATVs sped by, the second narrowly missing Burguess as he stood in the trail.
The November incident was one of many confrontations biologists, hikers, hunters and state officers reported having last year with trespassing off-roaders, both on state and private land, officials said.
"In the last 20 years, the problem has exploded. Thousands of people are buying these vehicles and they have no place to ride them. They are out destroying (wildlife) habitat all over the place," said Emile DeVito, manager of science for the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, a nonprofit organization that purchases land for preservation and public use.

On state-owned land alone, conservation officers issued 1,516 summonses over the past three years for illegal riding -- a fraction of the reported offenses, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

But catching and prosecuting offenders is difficult, and even dangerous.

One conservation officer was out of work for a year with a shattered left leg after being hit May 18, 2003, by an ATV he was pursuing in a state preserve in Gloucester County, according to the DEP.

Assault charges were filed against the ATV rider who injured conservation officer Tracy Stites. But in October, a jury cleared the driver after his lawyer argued that the officer stepped into the ATV's path.
John Parrinello, a former Wanaque councilman and off-road advocate, attributed such incidents to "a few bad apples." He said the real problem is a lack of places to ride.

"Most of us would prefer to ride on legal areas without looking over our shoulders," said Parrinello, the New Jersey representative to the National Off Highway Vehicle Conservation Council. "But the state has to give us a place to go."

For people without law enforcement authority, confronting riders is more problematic.

A security guard at the New Jersey Conservation Foundation's property in the Pinelands recently encountered several dirt bike riders, caught one by the handlebars of the bike and recognized the juvenile.

It seemed like an open and shut case.

But when the foundation threatened to file charges for illegal riding, the parent of the youth threatened to file assault charges, claiming the guard improperly detained the boy. Facing a legal battle, the foundation backed down.


Track's closing pits riders, environmentalists

Sunday, February 05, 2006
BY STEVE CHAMBERS AND BRIAN T. MURRAY
Star-Ledger Staff

Most weekends and many weekdays, the roar of motorized dirt bikes and ATVs echoes through the Pine Barrens at the state's only legal off-road park. Motorcycles soar off jumps, and four-wheelers spin through the mud on tracks and wooded trails.

By 2008, however, the 80-acre park in Chatsworth is slated to close -- setting up an unlikely showdown between the riders and some environmentalists.

The argument comes down to this: Riders are holding the state to a promise to find them a new home, and environmentalists are fighting any plan that will use public land for it.

And caught squarely in the middle is the state Department of Environmental Protection, which also is trying to crack down on illegal riders.

Last spring, the DEP quietly purchased a 213-acre, abandoned gravel pit on the edge of the Pinelands in Monroe Township, Gloucester County, hoping to turn it into an off-road park.

But when residents learned of the plans, particularly those living in neighboring Buena Vista, opposition grew. Critics expressed fears the vehicles would wander into forests and trails beyond the property.
Because local approvals also may be needed, opponents and many ATV supporters believe the proposal is dead. But Jay Watson, an assistant DEP commissioner, said it may be salvaged.

Watson said the issue has been foisted upon DEP by rampant illegal riding in state forests and wildlife areas of increasingly powerful all-terrain vehicles. He said the DEP preferred private concerns set up legal tracks and parks, but it hasn't happened.

"It's widely believed that we won't be able to rein them (ATVs) in until we provide a place for them to ride," he said, noting that lawmakers have been loath to impose heavy fines on illegal ATV riders with so few legal tracks in place. (In addition to Chatsworth, some smaller private racetracks offer weekend riding opportunities for motorized vehicles like ATVs.) WHERE TO GO?

Frustrated riders say at least three parks -- in north, central and southern New Jersey -- are needed to meet demand and cut illegal riding. But environmentalists are divided on the value of opening legal trails, with some arguing they will simply encourage more purchases that ultimately will result in illegal riding.

Frustrated riders say at least three parks -- in north, central and southern New Jersey -- are needed to meet demand and cut illegal riding. But environmentalists are divided on the value of opening legal trails, with some arguing they will simply encourage more purchases that ultimately will result in illegal riding.

Others, like Emile DeVito, manager of science for the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, said it may be possible to find places -- polluted brownfields in industrial areas, for example -- that would woo illegal riders out of the woods.

He praised the nonprofit group that runs the New Jersey Off Road Vehicle Park outside Chatsworth, which was organized in the mid-1990s on a defunct gravel mine owned by the foundation. Before that, DeVito said, outlaw riders had turned the area in "a zoo," setting fires and using drugs.
"I'm hoping the state is able to find the right place because this is a very legitimate group," DeVito said. "They have the insurance, the machines and the expertise."

At the Chatsworth track, more than 5,000 member riders pay $300 in annual dues or $50 for a day pass. That helps cover building and maintaining the facility and annual liability insurance premiums.
Despite his praise for the Chatsworth track managers, however, DeVito said the location inside the Pinelands preservation area and amount of endangered species in the vicinity means it must close as originally agreed by 2008.

Dennis Farmer, a longtime dirt bike rider from Ocean County and president of the Chatsworth facility, said riders are frustrated because "when you find a town that actually wants you, then the town next door complains."

Farmer said in the 1970s he could ride from his house in Dover Township to the Pinelands beneath power lines and on fire roads. But as development has pressed in and law enforcement grown more persistent, it has gotten more difficult ride.

"These vehicles are purchased legally," he said. "People are paying sales tax on them, and they are people's livelihood." THE COST TO RIDE

Dirt bikes start at about $1,000 and ATVs several times that amount, although it is common for beginners to buy used equipment. Gear also costs several hundred dollars, and riders need pickups or trailers to transport the vehicles.

Dale Freitas, who heads the New Jersey Off Highway Vehicle Association, said the answer for corralling some of the 130,000 New Jersey riders who may be abusing nature is establishing legal tracks and, perhaps, forcing broader state registration. The current honor system allows riders to register after a purchase, but only 6,978 have done so. While it is illegal to ride dirt bikes and ATVs on state land, there otherwise are few rules and no age limit governing the operation of such vehicles in New Jersey.

"Think of the revenues," Freitas said. "I don't mean to overstress that point, but by registering the vehicles ... you could support park programs, enforcement and, like a magnet, lure in these riders who are outlaws only because they don't have a place to go."

An organized effort by ATV riders to locate a track on the defunct Jungle Habitat property in West Milford prompted outrage by environmentalists, who insisted it would harm the water supply.

Dennis Schvejda, advocacy director for the New York/New Jersey Trail Conference, said exasperated volunteers who maintain trails have quit because the ATVs are so destructive.

But riders said the West Milford battle is another example of extremism driving off-roaders into the woods.

Wally Tunison, owner of the Bicycle Hub in Marlboro and a longtime dirt bike advocate, said the community is not going to disappear.

"There are tens of thousands of riders," he said. "If some folks don't get on the bandwagon (of establishing legal tracks), there is no way they are going to control them."
Steve Chambers may be reached at schambers@starledger.com or (973) 392-1674 and Brian Murray at bmurray@starledger.com or (973) 392-4153.

ATV park foes spring into action

Saturday, February 04, 2006
By LISA GRZYBOSKI
Courier-Post Staff

MONROE The state Department of Environmental Protection's push to open an off-road vehicle park here has cooled since last month's change in commissioners, prompting some opponents to try to scuttle the proposal now while it's weak.

Acting Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Lisa Jackson has replaced former DEP chief Bradley Campbell, who issued a policy directive in 2002 to build two all-terrain vehicle parks by 2005 to curb illegal riding. The DEP targeted a 213-acre abandoned sand mine off Jackson Road as a possible site.

"We're in the middle of changing administrations so we don't want to move forward too aggressively," said John Watson, assistant DEP commissioner for natural and historic resources.

Ed Knorr, a local environmental activist, and Chuck Chiarello, the mayor of neighboring Buena Vista Township, are seizing the opportunity to criticize the proposal as unsuitable and potentially disastrous.

Knorr is asking township council to write an ordinance to ban ATV parks from all areas of the 46.5-mile township. Chiarello has already personally presented Jackson with his written opposition to the ATV park.
"We don't want the problem the state has with illegal ATV riders to be dropped on Monroe Township," said Knorr, who heads the Green Action Alliance.

In a letter to the council, Knorr said his request wasn't intended "to deem ATVs or their riders as social outcasts, but to stay consistent with the health and protection of our environment . . . ATVs can produce smog clouds, dust and debris, trash, a threat to our water, destruction of woodlands and wildlife and the list can go on."

Council President Marvin Dilks said the governing body will consider Knorr's proposal while it waits for a response from the DEP on the project's status.

The DEP used $1.2 million from the Green Acres program to buy the Sahara Sand Inc. property in Monroe in May 2005. In an early January letter sent to a homeowner living near the mine, Campbell wrote that the state acquired the land with the intent of building an ATV park there. But he noted the DEP hadn't made a final determination.

The DEP is, by no means, giving up on the proposal, Watson said, noting it's been regularly consulting with the Division of Fish and Wildlife and the Pinelands Commission.

"It won't take us long to put forward a plan if that's the direction we decide to take," Watson said.

Chiarello, who met with Campbell and Watson late last year to express his concerns, said neither he nor a coalition of environmental groups from around the state will support an off-road vehicle park until the state Legislature requires registration and licensing of ATVs; strengthens the state's enforcement authority against ATV use on public and private property; and creates an education and training program for riders.

The DEP is pursuing such legislation in tandem with its ATV park efforts, Watson said.

Joan Stahl, who lives about 90 feet from the sand mine's entrance, worries the DEP will try to sneak something past residents when they're not expecting it. After all, she said, the DEP never notified her it was buying the property with the intent to put an ATV park there even though she lives across the street from the site.

Tom Pannone worries that the park won't get built, forcing ATV enthusiasts to either go to other states or ride illegally in New Jersey.
"The state said there would be legal ride parks by the end of 2005. That's come and gone," said Pannone, who owns Goodfellows Motor Sports, an off-road vehicle dealer in Monroe. "The state is dragging their feet, I do believe. Now, there's a new administration and we're at the bottom of the list . . . That past directive was basically just a lie."

Reach Lisa Grzyboski at (856) 251-3345 or lgrzyboski@courierpostonline.com



Six preserved farms sold

Saturday, February 04, 2006
By JOHN REITMEYER
Burlington County Times

CHESTERFIELD — The Burlington County Board of Freeholders sold six preserved farms at auction yesterday for a combined $5.9 million.
The farms total 964 acres. They were sold with deed restrictions that prohibit development unrelated to agriculture.

Freeholder William Haines Jr. and other county officials attended the hour-long auction organized by Max Spann Real Estate Auctions Inc. at the Chesterfield Firehouse on Bordentown-Chesterfield Road.

Haines said proceeds from the auction would be spent to preserve more farms in the county.

“We have generated substantial revenue which will enable us to preserve significant additional acreage in our priority farm belt,” said Haines, who serves as freeholder liaison to the county Department of Resource Conservation.

A 238-acre property in Mansfield fetched the highest price at the afternoon event. The farm sold for $2.37 million to Sierra Farms LLC of Upper Freehold, Monmouth County. The freeholders purchased the farm in 2004 for $7.3 million.

A 244-acre farm spanning Lumberton and Southampton sold for $1.02 million to Hwang Sun Bok of Hamilton, Mercer County. The freeholders bought the farm in 2004 for $2 million.

The board also sold three farms in Pemberton Township purchased for a combined $2.5 million in 2004.

A 151-acre farm and a 76-acre farm sold to Dragonland Development, a Long Island vegetable-market operator, for $500,000 and $450,000, respectively. A 127-acre farm sold to Timothy and Nancy Gower of Southampton for $625,000.

The freeholders sold a 128-acre farm in Lumberton for $875,000 to Edward and Kathy Allen of Southampton. The board acquired the land in 2002 via a land swap with Rancocas Valley Regional High School District.

Haines said resale of the farms as preserved properties returns the land to the agricultural community, one of the main goals of the county's farmland preservation program.