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April 20, 2019 – April 26, 2019 Photo By Ryan Marchese
Trees obstructing the view from one side of the Bass River Fire Tower.
CLEARCUTTING CLEARANCE Pinelands Commission Approves Application to Clearcut 16.4 Acres By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer
BASS RIVER—A site application, resubmitted in January by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP)’s New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS), to clearcut 16.4 acres of white pine and loblolly pine trees obstructing the view from atop an 86-foot-tall fire tower in the Bass River State Forest has been approved by the Pinelands Commission. The April 12 vote was preceded by more than a year of controversy since the clearcutting plan was first unveiled by the NJFFS at a stakeholders’ meeting. It was also the second commission vote on the plan as it failed to secure enough votes for passage, despite a recommendation for approval by Executive Director Nancy Wittenberg, during an unprecedented Aug. 10, 2018, Pinelands Commission meeting. “I a m a n envi ron ment a l st ud ies professor,” said Pinelands Commissioner Jordan P. Howell just prior to the April 12 vote. “When my colleagues in physics tell me something, I believe them. I am not enough of physicist to know whether or not
they are telling me the truth. But I have that level of trust that they have the integrity in what they are doing to tell us the truth. “T he first time a round with th is application, I felt like I still had questions that they needed to explain, in the same way that I might ask my physicist colleagues to explain further how they reached their conclusions. The second time around, for my purposes, a lot of those questions were answered. I have to defer to the expertise of the people who are out there fighting fires, and planning to fight fires in the future, as much as they may also care to preserve the natural beauty of the Pinelands.” However, last Friday’s vote was not unanimous as Commissioner Mark S. Lohbauer, in what was an impassioned speech, spent over ten minutes questioning the NJFFS’ decision to not further consider alternatives for the tower presented for a second time to the commission last month by a group of Bass River Township residents opposed to the clearcutting. The 16.4-acre clearcutting area is in the vicinity of West Greenbush Road, Stage Road, and the Garden State Parkway in
Bass River. Trees in excess of 90 feet in height are impairing the Bass River Fire Tower’s lines of sight, blocking the view of communities such as Nugentown, the Village of New Gretna, Ocean Acres, Smithville, Tuckerton and Warren Grove. Removal of these trees will restore visibility from atop the tower. Some 270 degrees of the 360-degree view has at least a partial or full obstruction. From the tower’s cabin, you can see for 110 feet looking north, 170 feet looking south, 390 feet looking east and 10 miles looking west, according to NJDEP Spokeswoman Caryn Shinske. Several residents of that municipality have suggested relocating the fire tower to a higher elevation in the municipality, building a taller, new fire tower where the existing structure is located, raising the height of the existing tower, or installing a camera system to spot wildfires in the area. Jeremy Webb er, a ssist a nt forest firewarden for the NJFFS, wrote in the latest application that any cameras would be focused on a wildfire, should one occur, and thus a camera system would no longer
be scanning the surrounding area for other wildfires. He added that it was determined that a camera system, only good for about four or five years, could cost about $802,000 to install. Additionally, Webber wrote that a consultant was not willing to raise the existing tower because of the concern that such an operation might make the tower structurally unstable. Webber also said in the latest application that a vendor provided the NJFFS with a “firm estimate” of $483,000 to build a new tower and that a $728,000 estimate was recently received to rebuild another fire tower in the state to a greater height of 120 feet. Karl Swanseen, a member of the Bass River group opposed to the clearcutting, presented the commission last month with an example from Alabama, in which the 110 feet high Longleaf Fire Tower, built in 1939, was moved at a cost of only $30,000. The tower at issue, he pointed out, is just over 80 feet high and was built in 1936. He also cited thirteen tower raises and moves See CLEARCUT/ Page 16
INDEX Health................................ 14 Leo the Lion....................... 23 Scanner............................... 9 Here's My Card.................. 18 Local News.......................... 3 Worship Directory.............. 12 Hobbyist............................ 17 Marketplace....................... 21 Jobs................................... 22 Opinion.............................. 10
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