OFFICERS:

Important News:

2/23/08

Call to Action:

At the budget hearings today, Commissioner Jackson said that no parks would be completely closed. Many would be open for "passive recreation" This means parks open - but with NO STAFF!

Tell all your representatives that Passive Recreation at State Parks still means CLOSED!!!

Please contact Parks and Forestry at 1-800-843-6420 and/ or njparkscomments@dep.state.nj.us and emphasize all/some of the following:

* Parks and historic sites need people to staff them ... for safety and stewardship.

* No open parks without staff! We need ALL our parks staff to stay ... Superintendents, maintenance, customer service reps, police AND interpreters!

* We love the interpretive programs at parks and historic sites. Don't cut the interpretive staff!

* Don't cut the school programs!

* Don't cut the public programs!

*We deserve full use of these parks and the already limited staff that is in place!

If you have time/feel so inclined, please also send those messages to the Commissioner, Governor and legislators (See list below)

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO SAVE YOUR STATE PARKS…

URGENT! Hand-write a letter, email and/or call:

Chairs and members of the Assembly and Senate Budget Committees (list of members below)
Your own NJ state legislators (How to find your legislator info is below)
NJ DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson (address below)
Governor Corzine (address below)
Senator Lautenberg, Senator Menendez and your Representative in Washington. (They don't have direct control of the state budget, but may offer a little support for the cause)

Please politely express your feelings about the state park closings and the losses that will be experienced by millions of people. Request the parks funding be fully restored (No layoffs; they are already short-staffed). Request a stable source of dedicated funds for parks operations and programs so this fight doesn't have to be fought every year. Don't forget the naturalists and historians who look after the state's treasures and teach our children all about them … These programs are very important. Can you imagine a National Park without its Ranger staff to inspire thousands of people with their wonderful programs?
 

Please contact your township mayor and ask them to come to speak out at the Sunset at High Point Press Conference on May 10th.

HOW TO CONTACT THESE PEOPLE …

Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/committees/senate.asp  (Click on their names on this web page to get their street and email addresses)

Buono, Barbara – Chair Phone Number: (732) 205-1372
Sarlo, Paul A. - Vice-Chair Phone Number: (201) 804-8118
Bucco, Anthony R. Phone Number: (973) 627-9700
Cunningham, Sandra B. Phone Number: (201) 451-5100
Haines, Philip E. Phone Number: (856) 654-1498
Lance, Leonard Phone Number: (908) 788-6900
O'Toole, Kevin J. Phone Number: (973) 237-1360
Oroho, Steven V. Phone Number: (973) 300-0200 (Sparta)
Redd, Dana L. Phone Number: (856) 384-5862
Ruiz, M. Teresa Phone Number: (973) 484-1000
Stack, Brian P. Phone Number: (201) 330-3233
Sweeney, Stephen M. Phone Number: (856) 251-9801 (Thorofare)
Turner, Shirley K. Phone Number: (609) 530-3277
Vitale, Joseph F. Phone Number: (732) 855-7441

Assembly Budget Committee http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/committees/assembly.asp

Greenwald, Louis D. - Chair Phone Number: (856) 435-1247
Schaer, Gary S. - Vice-Chair Phone Number: (973) 249-3665
Burzichelli, John J. Phone Number: (856) 251-9801
Cryan, Joseph Phone Number: (908) 624-0880
Johnson, Gordon M. Phone Number: (201) 541-1118
Karrow, Marcia A. Phone Number: (908) 782-5127
Malone, Joseph R. Phone Number: (609) 298-6250
McHose, Alison Littell Phone Number: (973) 300-0200
O'Scanlon, Declan J. Phone Number: (732) 933-1591
Pou, Nellie Phone Number: (973) 247-1555
Quigley, Joan M. Phone Number: (201) 217-4614
Vas, Joseph Phone Number: (732) 324-5955

How to find your NJ Legislators ...  Go to http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/

Down the left column, click on "Find Your Legislator".
On the next page, look on the yellow box on the right, you can search by your home town.
This will take you to the number (eg District 11) click on that number once or twice and a list of your 2 Assemblymen and one Senator should appear - along with their phone numbers and addresses.
Click on their names and you'll get to their web sites and email addresses.

Lisa P. Jackson, Commissioner
401 East State Street
7th Floor East Wing
P.O. Box 402
Trenton, NJ 08625-0402
(609) 292-2885

Governor Jon S. Corzine
Office of the Governor,
P.O. Box 001
Trenton, NJ 08625
(609) 292-6000
http://www.state.nj.us/governor/govmail.html

For more information on what you can do to save your parks, go to
www.njkeepitgreen.org and www.CWA1037.org

Don't stop until we get back what is rightly ours!
 

4/5/2008 NEWS BULLETIN:

Sierra Club Calls Park Closings "Unconscionable"

 

CURRENT EVENTS:

Wednesday May 7 is our General Meeting.  Please come join us to watch Inconvenient Truth.

Saturday May 10 - Sunset at High Point Press Conference.  Our group has invited all mayors from Sussex, Warren & Hunterdon counties to come out and make a brief statement on how the proposed closure of our State Parks will impact their municipality and residents.  Please contact your township's mayor and ask them to attend and speak out on your communities behalf.  Ask them to adopt a resolution condemning or opposing the closure of our State Parks; our group has sent each mayor a sample resolution they can use if they wish.

Start time is yet to be determined but is expected to start between 5PM & 6PM

Our group would like to welcome two new members to our executive committee;

Sandy Raviv and Herb Wolff will co-chair outings and events for our group.  Sandy and Herb are planning to lead some very interesting outings this spring, which are listed below. 

 

For 2008 our group is focusing on the following goals:

Building a more active and vibrant group.

Scheduling more guest speakers and hosting more frequent outings that are related to the issues and interests that concern our members and the general public.

Our Group will work to change the view our municipal governments have of us, so that we can help motivate the preservation of our region's wilderness.

These goals can not be achieved without the help and commitment of our members. We need to fill our open positions to build a new team. We need members to keep us informed of environmental concerns in their communities. So please come out and meet with us during the next few months.  If you can't attend our meetings then try to attend your town's planning/zoning board or land use board meetings. 

 

GENERAL MEETINGS:

 

Our group meets the FIRST WEDNESDAY of EVERY month,

7pm at The Grist Mill Café, located in the Andover Post Office Shopping Plaza on Rte 206 (Rte 517 intersection) in Andover.

Phone: (973) 786-6400

 

 

MEETING ACTIVITIES:

General discussion regarding growth in our area.  If you are aware of any large development proposals in your town that may have a negative environmental impact PLEASE come to a meeting and tell us about it.  We rely on our members to keep us informed and strongly encourage members to attend their town Land Use or Planning/Zoning meetings. 

When we do not have a guest speaker scheduled we will be viewing various environmental programs/movies. 

 

Current Program List:

Inconvenient Truth 

Planet Earth

The Blue Planet

Grizzly Man

NJN's The Race for Open Space

CNN's Planet in Peril

 

Suggestions are encouraged and welcome.

 

GUEST SPEAKER SCHEDULE:

 

Currently no guest speakers are scheduled. 

          Suggestions are encouraged and welcome.

 

Please visit the websites of our previous guest speakers if you were not able to attend.

Larry Gibson from Kayford Mountain WV

Larry provided us with an eye opening presentation on Mountaintop Removal Mining. 

Larry Gibson's family has lived on or near Kayford Mountain since the late 1700's. More than 300 relatives are buried in the cemetery on Kayford Mountain. Larry and his family used to live on the lowest lying part of the mountain, and looked to the mountain peaks that surrounded them. Since 1986, the slow motion destruction of Kayford Mountain has been continuous -- 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Eighteen years after the "mountain top removal" project began, Larry Gibson now occupies the highest point of land around; he is enveloped by a 12,000 acre pancake in what was previously a mountain range.

Visit Larry's site to learn more about this devastating type of mining:

http://mountainkeeper.org/

 

Jackie Feinberg from The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA)

Jackie came to inform us about the need to support America's Redrock Wilderness Act

Not a single member of Utah's congressional delegation supports America's Redrock Wilderness Act, the Utah wilderness bill expected shortly to be reintroduced to Congress. Yet polls show that Utah residents strongly favor more designated wilderness in their state.

Please find the time to:

Write to your senators and representative in Congress, urging them to cosponsor America's Redrock Wilderness Act.

Write letters to the editor saying that we, as American citizens, are all proud co-owners of these magnificent lands, and they should be protected.

Contact the Utah Wilderness Coalition (www.uw coalition.org), the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (www.suwa.org), or the Wildlands Center for Preventing Roads (www.wildlandscpr.org).  Also visit www.sierraclub.org/wildlands/utahwilderness.

 

 

SPECIAL OUTING ESPECIALLY FOR GROUP MEMBERS:

May 31 (Sat) - Join us for a double-feature outing: 10am - Tour Grey Towers in Milford PA, the ancestral home of Gifford Pinchot, first Chief of the US Forest Service and twice Governor of Pennsylvania. In 1963, Gifford Bryce Pinchot donated the site to the US Forest Service.  For more information visit http://www.fs.fed.us/na/gt/index.shtml.  Admission is $5.  2pm - Tour the Delaware Valley Raptor Center, also in Milford PA.  It is a private, not-for-profit state- and federally-licensed rehabilitation and conservation center for birds of prey. For more information visit http://www.dvrconline.org/dvrc.html.  Admission is also $5. Both tours are limited to 20 people. 

Registration is required by May 25: sraviv@optonline.net. Please bring a bag lunch to enjoy between tours. 
 

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June 15 (Sun) 10am - Visit the Black Creek Village Site in Vernon, a traditional Lenape Native American site that was occupied 10,000 years ago at the edge of a great post-glacial lake. Starts with an informative slideshow. More than a decade of archaeological research has produced thousands of artifacts that tell a compelling story of human life during the Great North American Stone Age.  At Noon we will begin the guided historic trail walking tour winds through meadows and forest for three quarters of a mile with additional interpretive signs along the way.  Limited to 30 people. Rain Date will be Sunday June 22.  Bring a Bag Lunch to enjoy before the walking tour.  Registration is required by June 8: sraviv@optonline.net.  
 

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Minisink Outings Overview

 

We are offering a series of five outings on the Kittatinny Ridge of the Minisink area. 

 

Minisink is named after the Minsi tribe, one of the three tribes of the Lenni-Lenape (Indian name) or Delaware (white man name) Indians encountered by Giovanni de Verrazano when he discovered the coast of New Jersey, New York and Delaware in 1524.  During the French and Indian War (1754-1763), the Minisink area was the western frontier of the American colonies, and during the American Revolution (1775-1783) it was one of the most strategic areas of the colonies.  In more recent history (1960+), the controversy over the Minisink, the Tocks Island Dam Project and the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (DWGNRA) is arguably cited as the harbinger of the modern day environmental movement.  It goes without saying that, the Minisink is a site of significant historical development in American history and natural history as well!

Each of the five Minisink outings will consist of relatively easy hikes of 2-5 miles, and are centered upon specific historical, cultural, and/or geological points of interest, which the leader will overview throughout the outing. 

 

Outing Start and End Times and other Information

All outings will begin on a 9:30am (Saturday) and conclude no later than 1:00pm.  We urge participants to bring appropriate supplies of water and snacks. 

Rain dates for each outing will be the following day (Sunday) at 9:30am. 

 

Additional Outing Information

Additional information, including directions to the trailhead, trail names and length, average slope, total climbing, elevation change, scenery/interest, trail surface, contact names and phone numbers will be  provided as the outing date approaches. 

 

Outing Signup

All outings are open to the public.  Signups are encouraged no less than five days before the outing date. 

Group size will be limited to 15-20 persons on a first-come basis. 

Last-minute signups will be accepted on the day of the outing subject to the group size limitation. 

All outing participants will be required to sign standard Sierra Club waivers prior to the start of the outing.  

For signup, email herbwolff@live.com to register for any of these outings.

 

Outing Trails and Leaders - Safety

Hikes will follow marked trails usually maintained by the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference. 

At least one outing leader will be certified in Basic First Aid, CPR and Wilderness First-Aid.