yjon35MTRS
04-11-2006, 05:38 AM
This was in The Bergen Record on Sunday April 8, 2006. We need to do something about this, But I have no Idea where to begin. so any help would be appreciated!!!!
Last weekend's shooting by state park police is reigniting efforts to kick off-road vehicles out of state parklands.
Whether the vehicles triggered the Mahwah altercation or merely played a cameo role is still unclear. Authorities have released few details, other than that some civilians involved in the incident were riding off-road before shots were fired.
The confrontation has renewed calls for legislation to crack down on all-terrain vehicles, motorized bicycles and other equipment blamed for ripping up natural areas around the state. New legislation, observers hope, could ease the way for the state finally to keep its promise of establishing legal sites for off-roaders.
"This is the No. 1 threat to our public lands," said Dennis Schvejda, advocacy director for the Mahwah-based New York-New Jersey Trail Conference. "It's a huge invasion."
Riding ATVs on state land is illegal. On Monday, two days after the shooting, Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, D-Mercer, said he would introduce a bill to increase fines for the infraction and possibly give park officers the power to seize vehicles caught on public property.
The bill would make buyers of ATVs, off-road motorcycles, snowmobiles and other back-country equipment register and show proof of insurance at purchase. Right now, owners are on the honor system, which many ignore, officials said. It also would require safety training for owners and license plates to make vehicles easier to identify.
FAST FACTS
# New Jersey has only one off-road park, deep in the Pinelands preserve. It's scheduled to close at the end of 2008.
# Some all-terrain vehicle riders turn to trespassing on state lands, farms and even golf courses.
# Off-road vehicles are allowed on private land with an owner's permission.
"This unfortunate incident [in Mahwah] may be repeated unless we bring the unsafe and reckless use of ATVs under control," said Gusciora. "Since our parks are limited in size and include environmentally sensitive areas, I do not believe ATVs are compatible with our terrain."
In last Saturday's incident, park police officers allegedly chased a group that had been riding ATVs in Ringwood State Park. The pursuit continued onto Bergen County parkland. Residents and authorities give conflicting explanations of what happened next, but, in the end, a park police officer shot a New York State man three times. Two other officers were injured.
Prosecutors say park officers felt threatened by the crowd in the woods; locals say the police overreacted.
Saturday's shooting was not the first time an ATV incident got out of hand. In 2004, a state conservation officer's leg was shattered after he was run over by a vehicle he was pursuing in Cumberland County.
In 2003, the Department of Environmental Protection said park officers spent nearly half their time between May and September coping with off-road violators. The department put annual enforcement costs at nearly $900,000.
Over the past three years, the DEP has issued more than 1,500 summonses for illegal ATV riding.
As off-roading has grown in popularity, the ecological toll has risen, environmentalists say. ATV riders rip through hiking trails, erode streambeds and shatter the tranquility of parks. They blast through vernal pools, the shallow ponds that form for a few weeks each spring and provide key breeding grounds for endangered salamanders, frogs and other species.
Gusciora said his office had been drafting a bill with the DEP before the park shooting, but the event "crystallizes" the need for action. The effort could draw support from urban lawmakers, he said, because ATV use by gangs has become a problem. In 2002, he said, a boy riding an ATV through Trenton struck and killed a pedestrian.
John Parrinello, a Wanaque rider, said off-road vehicle users could live with most of the reforms in Gusciora's bill. But riders worry they're being tarnished for an incident whose details are still murky.
"The situation that happened in Mahwah, to me, is not an ATV issue at all," said Parrinello, vice president of the state Off-Highway Vehicle Association. "I think the spin has been put on it by the people who want to see ATV activities abolished."
New Jerseyans own about 212,000 off-road vehicles, he said."Rightfully, there should be places for us to go." Three years ago, state officials promised to establish two off-road parks in the state. But the effort has run into a few ruts.
The DEP quietly spent $1.2 million last year to buy an old sand quarry outside Monroe Township in Gloucester County. But when the plans became public, officials in neighboring Buena Vista howled over the potential noise and pollution. Riders and conservation groups alike now fear that the project is dead.
The search for a North Jersey location has yet to turn up a suitable site. An association of off-road users has explored creating a park in West Milford, but the land is in the Newark watershed and environmentalists and state officials oppose ATVs near the water supply.
The North Jersey search will continue, said Deputy DEP Commissioner John S. Watson Jr. The Monroe project, meanwhile, could get a boost from the new legislation. Buena Vista officials have indicated they might be amenable if police get more power to punish off-road abusers, Watson said.
"We really do believe that we must provide a legal place for these enthusiasts to ride because they are absolutely buying these vehicles each year," Watson said. "The numbers are going up, not down."
Conservation groups said the Mahwah fracas should be a wakeup call. "It's kind of logical to expect that there are going to be some confrontations," said Larry Wheelock, a Trail Conference director. "The discontent in the public is reaching toward that on both sides, so it's almost inevitable that there would be clashes like this.
Last weekend's shooting by state park police is reigniting efforts to kick off-road vehicles out of state parklands.
Whether the vehicles triggered the Mahwah altercation or merely played a cameo role is still unclear. Authorities have released few details, other than that some civilians involved in the incident were riding off-road before shots were fired.
The confrontation has renewed calls for legislation to crack down on all-terrain vehicles, motorized bicycles and other equipment blamed for ripping up natural areas around the state. New legislation, observers hope, could ease the way for the state finally to keep its promise of establishing legal sites for off-roaders.
"This is the No. 1 threat to our public lands," said Dennis Schvejda, advocacy director for the Mahwah-based New York-New Jersey Trail Conference. "It's a huge invasion."
Riding ATVs on state land is illegal. On Monday, two days after the shooting, Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, D-Mercer, said he would introduce a bill to increase fines for the infraction and possibly give park officers the power to seize vehicles caught on public property.
The bill would make buyers of ATVs, off-road motorcycles, snowmobiles and other back-country equipment register and show proof of insurance at purchase. Right now, owners are on the honor system, which many ignore, officials said. It also would require safety training for owners and license plates to make vehicles easier to identify.
FAST FACTS
# New Jersey has only one off-road park, deep in the Pinelands preserve. It's scheduled to close at the end of 2008.
# Some all-terrain vehicle riders turn to trespassing on state lands, farms and even golf courses.
# Off-road vehicles are allowed on private land with an owner's permission.
"This unfortunate incident [in Mahwah] may be repeated unless we bring the unsafe and reckless use of ATVs under control," said Gusciora. "Since our parks are limited in size and include environmentally sensitive areas, I do not believe ATVs are compatible with our terrain."
In last Saturday's incident, park police officers allegedly chased a group that had been riding ATVs in Ringwood State Park. The pursuit continued onto Bergen County parkland. Residents and authorities give conflicting explanations of what happened next, but, in the end, a park police officer shot a New York State man three times. Two other officers were injured.
Prosecutors say park officers felt threatened by the crowd in the woods; locals say the police overreacted.
Saturday's shooting was not the first time an ATV incident got out of hand. In 2004, a state conservation officer's leg was shattered after he was run over by a vehicle he was pursuing in Cumberland County.
In 2003, the Department of Environmental Protection said park officers spent nearly half their time between May and September coping with off-road violators. The department put annual enforcement costs at nearly $900,000.
Over the past three years, the DEP has issued more than 1,500 summonses for illegal ATV riding.
As off-roading has grown in popularity, the ecological toll has risen, environmentalists say. ATV riders rip through hiking trails, erode streambeds and shatter the tranquility of parks. They blast through vernal pools, the shallow ponds that form for a few weeks each spring and provide key breeding grounds for endangered salamanders, frogs and other species.
Gusciora said his office had been drafting a bill with the DEP before the park shooting, but the event "crystallizes" the need for action. The effort could draw support from urban lawmakers, he said, because ATV use by gangs has become a problem. In 2002, he said, a boy riding an ATV through Trenton struck and killed a pedestrian.
John Parrinello, a Wanaque rider, said off-road vehicle users could live with most of the reforms in Gusciora's bill. But riders worry they're being tarnished for an incident whose details are still murky.
"The situation that happened in Mahwah, to me, is not an ATV issue at all," said Parrinello, vice president of the state Off-Highway Vehicle Association. "I think the spin has been put on it by the people who want to see ATV activities abolished."
New Jerseyans own about 212,000 off-road vehicles, he said."Rightfully, there should be places for us to go." Three years ago, state officials promised to establish two off-road parks in the state. But the effort has run into a few ruts.
The DEP quietly spent $1.2 million last year to buy an old sand quarry outside Monroe Township in Gloucester County. But when the plans became public, officials in neighboring Buena Vista howled over the potential noise and pollution. Riders and conservation groups alike now fear that the project is dead.
The search for a North Jersey location has yet to turn up a suitable site. An association of off-road users has explored creating a park in West Milford, but the land is in the Newark watershed and environmentalists and state officials oppose ATVs near the water supply.
The North Jersey search will continue, said Deputy DEP Commissioner John S. Watson Jr. The Monroe project, meanwhile, could get a boost from the new legislation. Buena Vista officials have indicated they might be amenable if police get more power to punish off-road abusers, Watson said.
"We really do believe that we must provide a legal place for these enthusiasts to ride because they are absolutely buying these vehicles each year," Watson said. "The numbers are going up, not down."
Conservation groups said the Mahwah fracas should be a wakeup call. "It's kind of logical to expect that there are going to be some confrontations," said Larry Wheelock, a Trail Conference director. "The discontent in the public is reaching toward that on both sides, so it's almost inevitable that there would be clashes like this.