What is 1/4 Mile and its location?

[tneigel]

Been getting a good lesson in things and all views, by learning more about the quarter mile area. Read the threads and several web pages, the articles, and watched the videos over and over again, and the related ones that popup on youtube. The related threads on other sites and groups... It made me think about all the other well used areas of the pines and those conditions.

There are a lot of points of view, and they all need to be fully understood and listened to. We all use the pines and don't want to loose access to it. We also have to really listen to all sides. Even if we don't all agree, we still need to understand what folks are saying about their side, and have an open door policy for all points of view.

If we use it in any way, via hiking, horse riding, biken, boating, 4wheeling, etc., and we all do, we are all tied to the issue.

We've all heard or read some of the comments; "if you kick us outa here, we'll go to another place" or, "Well what about YOUR XX ORGANIZATION doing <this_thing> or <that_thing>".

I can't distingush a definite line between acceptable and not acceptable, and I don't just mean by a legal boundary. I can't in any group I go with, and what we may have done in our visits, or when I visit just by myself, either by vehicle or just hiking.

I'm trying to think of different mindsets and methods to help the situation, for everyone. For sure, clarifying the issues, expanding awareness, and offering workable solutions is a big part of the effort.

[gipsie]

Well said, Tom. Well said.

[mudboy]

agreed.

[yellowdog]

if your are concerned about 'ethical" wheeling..take classes..i took 2 sets of classes with Ted Gordon years ago

.. it was great to learn about the ecology and history of the pines with the "class room" being the roads and eco systems we were studying

PS..

even the ranks of environmentalists are fractured when it comes to the pines. for example : beaver dams are seen as bad by some because they sometime flood areas where orchids and rare plants grow ..while others see the beavers and their dams as a part of natures process.. same thing with FIRES..

oaks over run pines in the "pine barrens" when all the trees are not regulated by natural fires which the pine tree and it's cones are more resilient to than black jack and other oaks out there

if we keep putting out fires all the time and keep doing controlled burns ..the forest will turn from pine /oak to oak/pine to oak

if you look at areas where people lived until not log ago you can see the oak/pine because from early times they protected their property

[in fact if you see that type tree mix..plus some non indigenous plants..a bend in the road that seems to be there for no reason of terrain and elevated mounds..that's an indicator that a building or some structure was out there at some time..{the bend was to slow down carriges to stop and buy liquids, foods and other stuff} and those roads with dead ends with a circle at the end? many of them are the indicators of areas of charcoal making by colliers in the pines]

... the pines are a lot more resilient than many would admit.. mans impact from heavy industry out there can be seen eroding away..
look at harisonville paper, all the furnaces etc and what 's left..crumbling walls , foundations and in some instances just some moss covered old bricks..and the reason that some are stil there is bcause they were buried ..or fenced in to protect them

PLUS the thousands of years to restore comment about the vernal pool is not accurate if it's done by man..

many states have restored damaged or destroyed vernal pools.. google it..they dredge 12-18 inches ..replace the pan etc...

Hysterical and uniformed talk on either end of the spectrum does little to rationally and empirically solve issues in the pinelands NO MATTER HOW WELL INTENDED

If 1/4 mile was the catalyst for everyone to band together then why not look at ways to restore it?

grading and clay is not rocket science..the physical properties of the sand, dirt and clay pan there have to be restored and nature will do the rest