A change.org petition requests that the Pinelands be designated as a national park. Let's look carefully before we leap.
The folks who have signed a petition to make New Jersey's Pine Barrens into a national park have a long road ahead of them.
Presumably, the petitioners don't want it to be a paved road.
The idea behind their change.org signature drive seems to be to provide greater assurance that this national treasure isn't overdeveloped. That's been an issue under Republican Gov. Chris Christie, as well as "pro-growth" South Jersey Democrats who seem destined to loosen state protections for the pristine area and its vital contribution to our regional water quality.
The petition, aimed at U.S. Sens. Robert Menendez and Cory Booker, both D-N.J., has gained some momentum. It had nearly 5,800 supporters as of Friday. But the senators have been non-committal about whether to support the national park designation.
A Booker spokesman said the senator wasn't certain that putting the Pinelands into the park system would best accomplish the stated goals.
"Whether designation of a portion of the Pine Barrens as a national park is the best approach to preserving this natural treasure is something that should be studied with significant input from New Jersey stakeholders," said Tom Pietryoski of Booker's office.
It certainly would do no harm if Booker and/or Menendez were to introduce a resolution for the designation in Congress, or if they advanced legislation to fund the research that Pietryoski mentioned. But we share concern that national-park status for all or part of the region might have unintended consequences.
Many of our national parks, from the the Independence Hall area in Philadelphia, to wide-open spaces like Yellowstone, attract hordes of tourists. That means vehicle traffic, bus tours and possible inability to fend off the honky-tonk stuff -- refreshment stands, souvenir kiosks -- that provide extra income to the park system. Some vendors may have rights to provide these services in all national parks. That can't possibly be good for our aquifers and for Pinelands flora and fauna.
It's tempting to think that the feds would reverse what environmentalists call threats to the Pinelands as we know them. The warning signs are real: the end-run approval of a natural gas pipeline through part of the region, once Christie and his legislative friends stocked the Pinelands Commission with sycophants; the constant complaints about off-roaders ripping up the land with little being done to stop them.
But, if one can be suspicious about how Christie has treated the Pinelands, why shouldn't the same suspicions apply to a President Trump or a President Clinton? Any stepped-up effort to further "monetize" the U.S. park system would be out of New Jersey's hands.
Currently, the Pinelands are a unique "national reserve," offering some protection against overdevelopment without ceding control of the region to Washington. By all means, study the pros and cons of bringing the Pinelands under the National Park System. Let's be sure, though, that it's what the region's defenders really want.
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