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Letters to Riverkeeper: Off-Road Vehicles are Outdoor Fun Dear Riverkeeper, I’m emailing your publication to voice my opinion on an article written by Hugh Carola about the use of ATVs on illegal property. I agree with Hugh, ATVs should not be used on sensitive lands. There is one sentence in the article that I have a problem with. “However, there is still much more to be done because New Jersey’s public lands belong to ALL the people, not just a select few who care only about the performance of their expensive machines.” This sentence is very closed-minded and really doesn’t make any sense. True, the public lands belong to everyone, so who is right to say how the land is to be enjoyed? Again, I do not believe certain areas should be used for activities that could jeopardize the well-being of habitats. However, I believe there should be public land that would not be impacted by the use of ATVs set aside to be enjoyed by these riders. I realize that the environment will have to suffer in some way to have land used and abused by ATVs, but many of the activities that are currently allowed have an impact on the environment. We are all the same in the fact that we want to have fun outdoors; fishing, boating, hiking, mountain-bike riding, camping, and ATV riding all impact our Earth. Not equally, but all these activities do have an impact. Hugh wrote, “not just a select few who care only about the performance of their expensive machines.” I believe that these people want to enjoy their day off from work riding their ATVs just as I do fishing the bay. It’s not that these riders care only about the performance of their expensive machines, they just want to have fun. Life is short, we all need to have fun. Not at the expense of the ecosystems that they are riding in. There should be some public land, somewhere, set aside for the use of ATVs free of charge to the riders. This is the first Tidelines I have read and I thought it was excellent. I’m glad to see concern about the environmental issues we are faced with these days. –Eric Cope Hugh responds: While I agree that everyone deserves to have outdoor fun, and that everything affects the land in some way, nothing impacts the land (and water and air) the way off-road vehicles (ORVs) do. Capt. Bill and I have witnessed the effects of off-road vehicles in wetlands, along the banks of the river and on public lands throughout the Meadowlands and the woods of the upper watershed. We’ve seen the rutted trails, torn-up wetlands and wrecked vegetation. No other “fun” activity is as destructive as this ORV vandalism. I believe that the only way to share our public lands is to follow the advice to “take nothing but photos and memories and leave nothing but footprints.” Editor’s note: The following letter is from a teacher whose 7th and 8th grade classes participate in our Urban Fishing Program and our Water Quality Education Program. Dear Riverkeeper, I want to share a story with you. Our last chemical test of the Newark Bay was Thursday (these are the 7th graders). When we got there, we saw two men fishing. They had just caught a striped bass. It was flopping around on the dock. Of course, my students gathered around. They were telling these men that the striped bass was not safe to eat, that there are advisories on striped bass in the Newark Bay. It was probably the combination of the student’s warnings, me taking pictures of the fish, and the student with the video camera in her hand (maybe the latter two, mostly), but the men ended up throwing the fish back into the water. My students literally applauded and cheered them when they did this! It was amusing–but also shows that they are “getting it.” I just wanted to let you know, because often we don’t get to see the impact that we have on students. –Barbara
DeBenedictus Bayonne, PS#14 Dear Riverkeeper, Please pass along congratulations from all of the staff here at Morris Land Conservancy to Captain Bill for winning the “River Champion” award. He has been a leader in changing the public’s perception of the Meadowlands from a wasteland into a treasure. Keep up the good work!!! –David Epstein Executive Director Morris Land Conservancy Dear Riverkeeper, Please accept my congratulations and that of Regional Director Rabbi Randi Musnitsky on being selected the Bergen County 2003 Person of the Year. There is no question that you are worthy of this award, since you have devoted much time and diligent effort towards successfully protecting our environment, specifically the Hackensack River and surrounding wetlands, from the degradation that had previously appeared inevitable. The Regional Council and staff of the New Jersey—West Hudson Valley Council of the Union for Reform Judaism are proud to have worked with you and learned from you in advocating environmental conservation consistent with the Jewish teachings that give humankind the responsibility to be stewards and caretakers of God’s world. –Paul Kaufman Assistant Regional
Director West Hudson Valley
Council Union of American Hebrew Congregations |