N.J. plan to manage off-road vehicles in the Pine Barrens draws 500 to meeting

New Jersey’s 124,000-acre Wharton State Forest has become prime ground for 4x4s, pickup trucks, and Jeeps, sometimes with organized rallies of up to 100 vehicles, rolling through the famed sandy roads of the Pine Barrens.

While most stay on designated roads, some illegally veer off, plowing over sensitive wetlands. Others get lured by GPS into hundreds of miles of confusing, unimproved roads, some in use since the American Revolution. Their ill-suited vehicles sink in sugar sand, and they get stranded. Locals, meanwhile, use the hundreds of miles of roads as cut-throughs and for pleasure.

Overall, 800,000 people enter the park each year. The state Department of Environmental Protection is trying to craft a plan to better manage it all with a potential map of allowable areas for driving in Wharton, a key swath of the 1.1 million-acre Pinelands National Reserve. The plan would apply to street-legal vehicles; dirt bikes and all-terrain vehicles are already illegal.

Public interest is so high that an online meeting by the state Department of Environmental Protection on Wednesday drew 512 people, with 55 people speaking during the three-hour session. Others submitted written comments.

An overwhelming majority — including some from Pennsylvania — spoke against a potential vehicle-permitting system. Hunters, hikers, and paddlers said that they need road access and that the real problem is a lack of enforcement of existing rules that prohibit off-roading.

Many, including several public officials, said families have used the roads for generations, and a permit would unfairly penalize them. Meanwhile, understaffed park police often have no more than two people on duty to patrol the vast forest.

“I’m against the permit system,” said Richard Chierici, who spoke at the meeting. “I don’t think an additional burden should be put upon people who access the roads responsibly … and are doing the right things.”

“I’ve been trying to do something about the illegal off-roading for years. The destruction is horrible,” said Paula Yudkowitz, who also spoke. “And it seems to me the DEP has come up with this convoluted permit system instead of just doing its job … law enforcement is not active in Wharton tract. We have called and, quite frankly, there are a lot of officers that don’t want to ticket, they don’t want to give warnings and they don’t want to confiscate.”

Wharton has hundreds of miles of unpaved roads, with little enforcement by the DEP or state police. The Pinelands Commission, a state agency, issued its own map of allowable roads in 2017 but has no enforcement power. The DEP, which oversees the State Park Police, said the map was created with outdated information and would create its own, but said most roads would remain open.

John Cecil, an assistant DEP commissioner, led an effort for an online survey of park users last fall. He presented the findings to the public Wednesday night as part of a lengthy process to form a plan, still a ways from any adoption.

“We have challenges with what I like to believe is a small majority, a small percentage, of people that are coming into the forest and really abusing the space with ATVs,” Cecil said before the meeting. “Motorcycles, heavily equipped off-road vehicles, souped-up trucks damaging roads, and going off-road and damaging wetlands. That’s ultimately the issue that we’re trying to address.”

Cecil also noted that phone GPS units now guide people unawares onto unpaved roads.

“Their signal dies, and they can’t find their way out,” Cecil said. “They get stuck in a big mud puddle or pit that requires state park police response towing companies. We’ve had medical emergencies associated with those.”

He said one goal would be to have clearly marked access routes, possibly paved, that would provide a drive with nature stops through Wharton, much like a scenic drive through a national park. Street-legal vehicles would be allowed to use the roads, but not drive off-road.

A permit is being considered for a “limited set of roads,” Cecil said, similar to a system at Island Beach State Park for 4x4 vehicles. There, a three-day permit costs state residents $75 or $195 yearly. Cecil said permits for Wharton would likely be much cheaper. Fees could possibly be waived for hunters or anglers with permits for those activities, he said.

The state has already increased fines for illegal off-road vehicle use and damage to $250-$500 for a first offense and up to $1,000 for a third offense. The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission prohibits ATVs and dirt bikes in all state parks and forests. Permitted Enduro motorcycle competitions are allowed in some areas.

In all, the DEP received 1,610 responses to its survey, from 27 states, with a cluster from Pennsylvania. One person from Oregon responded. Most respondents were white men, aged 40 to 59. The top zip codes of respondents were in Burlington County. Most respondents said they visit Wharton for scenic driving, which, officials say, wasn’t surprising given the focus of the survey. That was followed by hiking, dog walking, visiting historic sites, wildlife watching, back packing, photography, and horseback riding.

The Atsion and Batsto entrances are the way most enter Wharton and then follow roads along the Mullica River, with Lower Forge and Quaker Bridge as midpoint stops. The survey allowed people to draw their desired areas for vehicle use in the park. Cecil said the data was less useful than hoped, since users mapped 52,000 acres on average — or nearly 42% of the park.

Most respondents supported “plans for responsible and sustainable access.” But, like those who spoke Wednesday, an overwhelming majority were against permits, though some were for some type of system of control. Rally organizers say they try to be good stewards and often host forest cleanups and are also against permitting.

“I think the DEP needs to do their job and follow the rules that already exit,” said Heather McGarvey, a resident of Shamong Township, who spoke against permits. ”We don’t need any more rules.”