Wharton State Forest Visiting Vehicle Map now in effect…

[RHolbrook609]

Nov2024-WhartonVisitingVehicleUseMapGeoref.pdfWell the DEP completely disregarded all public input and finally released the Wharton State Forest Visiting Vehicle Map… The map closes over 50% of roads in Wharton and makes access to a lot of spots more then a mile or more hike in. I grew up and live right in the heart of Wharton and hunt majority of the times out there. On the map they have 28 miles of roads only accessible to hunters, during hunting season. That means Trappers and people going to fish aren’t included…. The best part about this, is they released this today without any notice. So if you have stands or equipment out on a road they closed which isn’t under hunters access then your already breaking the “rules” if you go to pull your stuff. I can promise you, Wharton is not gonna be the last state forest this happens to. I expect Bass River or Brandon T Bryne to be next. They already released hunting maps for them where it’s legal to hunt…. 

https://www.nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/wharton/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR12CWU1tenZvPbxESKsTE7NvpJ710ge7-7OhSvtulpxprv4-IPCmLvpHP0_aem_WCe9lfWxFdBWleiwmRtTOA#about

 

 

[Silver Belly62]

Doesn't surprise me one bit, this pos state.

[rocky]

They did that out west years ago. Once open roads were closed with big piles of dirt or ditches.

[BowhunterNJ]

9 minutes ago, rocky said:

They did that out west years ago. Once open roads were closed with big piles of dirt or ditches.

I remember when they did this at Turkey Swamp WMA when I grew up.  Same thing, big piles of dirt to block off roads.  If I recall, a lot of it was due to dumping.

[Bucksnbows]

27 minutes ago, BowhunterNJ said:

I remember when they did this at Turkey Swamp WMA when I grew up.  Same thing, big piles of dirt to block off roads.  If I recall, a lot of it was due to dumping.

Wharton also has a lot of T&E species. That’s likely a main driver here although I don’t know that for a fact. 
 

That said, we as hunters in NJ are exceptionally lazy. It’s normal considering we can’t walk a full mile in a straight line without encountering a road of one sort or the other. We have become addicted to easy access and it is hard to change that now. 

[kohunter]

54 minutes ago, BowhunterNJ said:

I remember when they did this at Turkey Swamp WMA when I grew up.  Same thing, big piles of dirt to block off roads.  If I recall, a lot of it was due to dumping.

It sure doesn't keep out the dirt bikes.

[BowhunterNJ]

15 minutes ago, kohunter said:

It sure doesn't keep out the dirt bikes.

Yep they just ride over it, or create a trail around it.

[mazzgolf]

I tell you what - they close all these roads to vehicles, I'm going to now call EVERY... SINGLE... TIME I see an ATV or dirt bike ripping through there...

When I went to Batsto last year to attend one of those meetings where they had the maps displayed and had state park people there to answer questions about this plan, I explicitly asked what they are going to do about all the dirt bikes and ATVS.. they told me once this plan is in place it would "make it possible for more enforcement". Well, we'll see about that.

Everyone needs to call in reports of all the dirt bikes and ATVs that rip through that place now. No way they should close our access but still allow people to illegally ride without any consequences.

[kohunter]

2 minutes ago, mazzgolf said:

I tell you what - they close all these roads to vehicles, I'm going to now call EVERY... SINGLE... TIME I see an ATV or dirt bike ripping through there...

When I went to Batsto last year to attend one of those meetings where they had the maps displayed and had state park people there to answer questions about this plan, I explicitly asked what they are going to do about all the dirt bikes and ATVS.. they told me once this plan is in place it would "make it possible for more enforcement". Well, we'll see about that.

Everyone needs to call in reports of all the dirt bikes and ATVs that rip through that place now. No way they should close our access but still allow people to illegally ride without any consequences.

Exactly

[kohunter]

When you have to hunt state land with the dirt bikes being a problem, you don't have to worry about your 140" bucks dissappearing. Just  sayin.

[BowhunterNJ]

1 hour ago, mazzgolf said:

I tell you what - they close all these roads to vehicles, I'm going to now call EVERY... SINGLE... TIME I see an ATV or dirt bike ripping through there...

When I went to Batsto last year to attend one of those meetings where they had the maps displayed and had state park people there to answer questions about this plan, I explicitly asked what they are going to do about all the dirt bikes and ATVS.. they told me once this plan is in place it would "make it possible for more enforcement". Well, we'll see about that.

Everyone needs to call in reports of all the dirt bikes and ATVs that rip through that place now. No way they should close our access but still allow people to illegally ride without any consequences.

I saw they allow enduro races/bikes/whatever with a permit.  Explicitly says no UTVs under any circumstances, even if street legal.

[mazzgolf]

See 5m 19s mark...

Let's see... $500 for first offence... well, that's a pretty cheap land-use fee if you ask me... so basically I pay $0 up front to go rip through Wharton with my ATV anytime and anywhere I want -- if I HAPPEN to run across park police and they ticket me (a rare thing to happen), then I'll be happy to pay my $500 membership fee (which is basically what it amounts to). If I don't get caught, I get access for free. Hooray for me!

"Vehicles may also be impounded" -- yeah, uh huh.. right.

 

[BowhunterNJ]

FWIW, I called the wardens after my truck got sprayed with rocks from a group of 20+ dirt bike and ATV riders going through a WMA at a stupid fast speed (just a matter of time before someone loses control and hits a tree).  Some of them made it a point to slow down when passing me, others did not and all I heard was rocks deflecting off my truck.  Wardens said they can't chase them.  The riders know it, so they just run.  

[Alltickedup]

I haven't followed this closely, but will the state allow Enduro races to still use fire cuts ?

That doesn't damage the fragile ecosystem ? 

[mazzgolf]

7 minutes ago, BowhunterNJ said:

Wardens said they can't chase them.  The riders know it, so they just run.  

Exactly. That's the same story we are going to be told even after these roads are closed. It isn't right they close roads that I use, and then say, "We can't do anything about people illegally riding because we can't catch them". Again, it's the law-abiding citizens that get screwed, while the people breaking the law aren't affected one bit.

See 6.52 mark : "Park visitors who encounter ATVs or other non-street legal vehicles on or off established park roads or see suspicious or illegal activities on DEP managed public lands may call 1-877-WARN-DEP"

I'm calling now, every time I see something (and I see something literally every single time I'm in Wharton. I can't remember the last time I was in Wharton when I didn't see at least one ATV or dirt bike ripping through. Just saw it again 2 days ago.)

 

Edited November 26, 2024 by mazzgolf