MV offroad use on Pine Barrens?

jerseyjeep2003 · Jan 31, 2011

Does anybody know of any laws prohibiting MV (M35A2) use on the trails in the Pine Barrens? I was told today that one ranger (maybe more) will be issuing citations to any deuces on "HIS" trails. Any thoughts what he could write them for? I am 100% legally registered as a historic Jeep truck, I am running standard USAA insurance full liability, and not required Inspections or emissions testing. I am not some young buck out there tearing up the beauty of the Pines, just an old fart doing trail rides. I have spent many years in the past doing my part with clean-ups and volunteer work, now they are gonna start hassling me because I have deuce? Anyway, if I am driving sanely and not digging deep holes or rutting up the trails do they have anything they can stop me with ? Citation wise that is..hahaha.

Sirblissfull · Jan 31, 2011

Better keep a camera with you and document the activist ranger writing tickets for " HIS " trail if your stopped.

Heck mount a couple front and back in the cab with a Microphone so you can video your trail rides.

Post them so we can see what we are missing.

panshark · Jan 31, 2011

stop in to the local ranger station, ask to get specifics on trail limitations. (If I were you, I would not drive yer bobber for them to eyeball during your question and answer session.) If they look at you like you're stupid, pretend to be upset and that you'd heard rumors that jeeps weren't allowed on the trails. I would not tell them that your jeep happens to be a modded 2 1/2 ton truck. Write down who you talked to, even better, put them on speed dial on your cell, and tell them that you WILL CALL THEM if you have more questions. When it comes down to getting a sturdy defense, maybe a ranger will "let you off with a warning" until he can regroup and get clarification on his own rules. 2cents

TURKEY131 · Jan 31, 2011

Just read this. :sad:

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/upcoming-events/59294-trail-ride-southern-new-jersey-2.html

Marlboro · Jan 31, 2011

I've heard that about the pine lands too, From what i was hearing deuces started to really take over the pines, so these trucks getting the boot doesn't surprise me... I suspect some laws to come into effect for regular driving in NJ. The bobbers and deuces are multipling like rabbits around my area! Sad part most who are buying them up have no skill or respect for these large creatures... They run them into the ground in a few short months them try to turn a profit with them... Sadder yet when the first break issue accurs there driven recklessly to there selling spot

jerseyjeep2003 · Jan 31, 2011

Marlboro said:
I've heard that about the pine lands too, From what i was hearing deuces started to really take over the pines, so these trucks getting the boot doesn't surprise me... I suspect some laws to come into effect for regular driving in NJ. The bobbers and deuces are multipling like rabbits around my area! Sad part most who are buying them up have no skill or respect for these large creatures... They run them into the ground in a few short months them try to turn a profit with them... Sadder yet when the first break issue accurs there driven recklessly to there selling spot

I think I stopped by your shop a couple of weeks ago, if you are who I think you are. I agree with you about the ones that are running them to the ground. Even though this is my first MV, I have always been anal about my other 4x4 stuff that gets run on the trails, and even my regular cars. I think the people that have given trail runs a bad rap by tearing up the trails are also the same ones that are partying and leaving their trash all over the place for responsible people to clean up behind them. Personally I would like to carry gravel into these rutted out areas and fill in those Jeep swallowing mud holes. I love the woods and I respect the beauty of the Pine Barrens. The group that I usually run with are my age, older and seasoned, and we avoid the deep mud holes and try to avoid tearing up any trails. For the time being I won't mention the club affiliations (multiple clubs represented) But, we all do our part to clean up every time we go out. Up until now I have always gone out using a well modified Wrangler.
From what I understand, the rangers now have a sign up sheet to volunteer for a trail cleanup every month, to keep trails open by trimming branches and what not, basically keeping the trails from becoming overgrown. I am planning on looking into this and will post more on it later. Also are their any sanctioned MV clubs close by here in SJ?

Marlboro · Jan 31, 2011

Nah you have't been by my place, we haven't met... If you make any head way with the dictator's down that way let us know, I'm sure a clean up with a large military vehicle presence couldn't hurt...

jerseyjeep2003 · Jan 31, 2011

We had the Jeep clean up last October with I'm guessing like 5 or 6 MV present and accounted for. Still trying to show not everybody out on the trails has reckless abandon.

Jersey4x4 · Apr 17, 2011

If it is a legal vehicle to drive on the road then it can be driven in the pines, stay on the trails, use signals, dont spin the tires(around the 5-0 anyway) The rangers are not the issue any more it is the fish & Wildlife police in the durangos. They have full jurisdiction anywhere in the state and they carry guns. Lock your doors or they will do a site search(They are only allowed to search where they can see sitting in the drivers seat without permission and you can not be cuffed while they do a search. Also the state speed limit is 25mph on unimproved roads in NJ and thoes bastards will radar you in the woods. The rangers even have problems with the wild police, go to batsto and ask, they will tell you. If you have a modded vehicle they will ask you to leave because there is a group of people with bobbers ripping up the park mostly in the quarter mile area but the police is asking everyone to leave because of it. There is a guy in Hammonton building Mud trucks and because of the QQ loop hole they are street legal and doing all kinds of damage to public and private land. Bottom line, enjoy the Pines, have fun, be safe and smart. If you get stuck call me I have the wrecker standing by.

greenjeepster · Aug 16, 2011

I used to trail ride in the barrens all the time as a teenager. My cousin and I got stopped about 10 years ago between Forked River and Bamber for trail riding in a jeep. We were let go with a warning, but I know people who have been fined and the price is steep. I don't know of any vehicles being impounded. The only roads legal to drive on are the Fire Service Roads, those are the big wide two lane trails. You can get a map from the forest service. Another thing to consider is that there is private property all through the pine lands and the trails cross private property in places.... Don't get caught on private property.

NJDEP-News Release 02/95 - DEP Commissioner Campbell Announces Off-Road Vehicle Policy; Reinforces Ban on Public Lands; Seeks Maximum Fines, Additional Sanctions for Illegal Use

itsbrokeagain · Sep 18, 2011

i was actually just asking my friend about this who lives down in Spotswood...he has a CJ and I asked him about going down there in a deuce and he said they passed laws recently to get them prohibited from the trails, citing too great of an environmental impact.

guess I will have to find another place to go enjoy mother nature

rickf · Sep 18, 2011

I can tell you that "QQ" tags, or antique tags, are not allowed off road. According to law they can only be used for going to or from a sanctioned car show. Most of the time this is not enforced on the street but it is in the woods. There are no sanctioned shows in the woods so they have every legal right to stop you. The main problem is the damage done by those who don't care. It is a minority but it is those people that ruin it for all. I have been riding the pines since 1968 and I have seen it all. Nobody cares anymore and there is trash everywhere.

Rick

jerseyjeep2003 · Sep 18, 2011

rickf said:
I can tell you that "QQ" tags, or antique tags, are not allowed off road. According to law they can only be used for going to or from a sanctioned car show. Most of the time this is not enforced on the street but it is in the woods. There are no sanctioned shows in the woods so they have every legal right to stop you. The main problem is the damage done by those who don't care. It is a minority but it is those people that ruin it for all. I have been riding the pines since 1968 and I have seen it all. Nobody cares anymore and there is trash everywhere.

Rick

I am running "QQ" tags on mine, and 75% of the times that I do see a ranger, I have been told about "QQ"tag usage. Every time has come with " get off the trails, and/or next time will be a citation" I have seen how destructive people have become, with no regard to the fact that they are making FIRE trails almost impassable for the fire service to get to where they are needed. I am not a kid, and in NO WAY condone these actions. What is giving the deuces a bad rap with the forestry service is that a handful of kids really enjoy trying to put their trucks to the test and will spin their wheels until they are buried. This is not only deuces but, also highly modified trucks and Jeeps. These people also through trash and beer cans all over the place. These actions are what are making anybody that does trail riding look like the bad guy...being stereo-typically grouped into the trouble maker category. There are several groups out there trying to combat this by doing an annual clean up starting at the Atsion ranger station. I believe this years clean up is scheduled for the 3rd Sunday in October. Google Atsion Jeep cleanup to get the exact date. PLEASE come out, bring your truck and help to make a positive impact for the wheeling community.

Jersey4x4 · Sep 19, 2011

Here is direct info on the cleanup for this year.

10th ANNUAL PINE BARRENS CLEANUP at WHARTON STATE FOREST

10 YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! a DECADE!!!!!!!!

Come and take part in the largest one-day volunteer event at Wharton State Forest in New Jersey. On Oct 23rd 2011 at 9:00 AM the 10th annual PINE BARRENS 4 WHEEL DRIVE CLEANUP will begin with a sign up at the Atsion Ranger stations [where raffle tickets will also be sold to help defray the cost of wings and to support toys for kids] and conclude with the raffle and wing fest at the Pic a Lilly restaurant on rt 206 [they always help us out too]

Last year OVER 300 men, women and children collected two 30 cubic yard dumpsters full of trash while making new friends and enjoying the wonders of the pines. While doing this they worked up a voracious appetite that was satiated by hundreds of wings donated by clubs, businesses and individuals. Everyone had a great time and said they couldn’t wait till next year.

We are now soliciting past participants, 4 wheel drive clubs and local and national business’ to contribute time and resources to make this year’s event another overwhelming success.

This as a great opportunity to showcase a partnership for keeping our state lands clean and our right to transverse them unhindered. The rangers and staff at Wharton have embraced us and lend their time and support to help us have a safe and fun time. Terry at the ranger station has been a godsend to us and NOW MORE than ever the state of NJ park and forest system needs our help.

ALSO REMEMBER to bring toys for the disadvantaged kids who live where we wheel..

Last year we collected a lot of stuff for needy children for the holidays at the sign up spot at the Atsion ranger station and bought an additional 850 dollars worth of toys with the money YOU contributed!!!!!!!

Please be a part of this worthwhile event. Contact me to see how your family, organization or business can contribute to this worthy cause.

Thank you in advance for your dedication to a beautiful, clean and accessible state forest system.

PLEASE COPY AND PASTE THIS ON YOUR LOCAL CLUB or MAGAZINE EVENT PAGE TO GET THE WORD OUT!

SEE YOU THERE!!!!!!!

jerseyjeep2003 said:
I am running "QQ" tags on mine, and 75% of the times that I do see a ranger, I have been told about "QQ"tag usage. Every time has come with " get off the trails, and/or next time will be a citation" I have seen how destructive people have become, with no regard to the fact that they are making FIRE trails almost impassable for the fire service to get to where they are needed. I am not a kid, and in NO WAY condone these actions. What is giving the deuces a bad rap with the forestry service is that a handful of kids really enjoy trying to put their trucks to the test and will spin their wheels until they are buried. This is not only deuces but, also highly modified trucks and Jeeps. These people also through trash and beer cans all over the place. These actions are what are making anybody that does trail riding look like the bad guy...being stereo-typically grouped into the trouble maker category. There are several groups out there trying to combat this by doing an annual clean up starting at the Atsion ranger station. I believe this years clean up is scheduled for the 3rd Sunday in October. Google Atsion Jeep cleanup to get the exact date. PLEASE come out, bring your truck and help to make a positive impact for the wheeling community.

rickf · Sep 19, 2011

The club I used to belong to was doing cleanups 20+ years ago. It does not matter because what the hikers and horse peopple see are the azzholes tearing the place up. Every kid that has a 4X4 has to show he can go further than the other guy. We used to have a couple of spots that we played in and we stayed in that area and cleaned up after ourselves. Remember 1/4 mile water hole? The rangers used to sit on the tracks and watch just for the entertainment. Remember Hidden lakes before the trrails? I do, I have pictures of the lakes when there was nothing there but a dock and a tree swing. A lot has changed and not for the better.
I remember Chief Ranger Langton telling me that the kids were ruining it for everyone and things were going to close down. The horse people have a LOT of clout with the politicians. A lot of the mpoliticians are horse people that go out there.
Rick

jerseyjeep2003 · Sep 21, 2011

rickf said:
The club I used to belong to was doing cleanups 20+ years ago. It does not matter because what the hikers and horse peopple see are the azzholes tearing the place up. Every kid that has a 4X4 has to show he can go further than the other guy. We used to have a couple of spots that we played in and we stayed in that area and cleaned up after ourselves. Remember 1/4 mile water hole? The rangers used to sit on the tracks and watch just for the entertainment. Remember Hidden lakes before the trrails? I do, I have pictures of the lakes when there was nothing there but a dock and a tree swing. A lot has changed and not for the better.
I remember Chief Ranger Langton telling me that the kids were ruining it for everyone and things were going to close down. The horse people have a LOT of clout with the politicians. A lot of the mpoliticians are horse people that go out there.
Rick

YUP, I do remember those areas the way they were. It really comes down to the people (kids & adults alike) that have no regard for how beautiful and fun the pines can be for EVERYBODY. They have and continue to destroy those areas. Because of the ones that have deuces and other MV's, I have to deal with the stereotypical attitude that all MV's are bad. Before I got my deuce I used to respectfully play in both of those areas, but, we would always clean up other peoples messes before we left the trail. What really hurts us is when these idiots make videos of their stupid actions and post them to youtube and some of the other such sites. The rangers, activists and politicians use that against all trail vehicles....they watch the videos and see everybody with a MV, lifted truck, quad, dirt bike, etc. I have met many "horse" people that are decent and they really don't care that we use the trails...as long as we don't ruin them. They hate the same things we do.

I would always help if I came across someone stuck in a "hole", but I am becoming more selective about who I lend assistance to anymore. I won't help the ones that have the "don't care" attitude, or are chugging down a beer while they spinning their wheels even deeper. I don't even want to be associated with those guys. I will help a stock Jeep/truck that got stuck in the previous mentioned idiot's ruts.

Enough of my ranting, I'll be at the clean up this year....WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!

ETBaals · Sep 21, 2011

Rick
QQs are allowed if it is a club event, We had a club sposered trail ride in April of this year ( South Jersey MVPA) and did run into some rangers, The rangers stated that due to enviormental impact 3 or more axel trucks are not allowed. There was a bobbed duece with us and he was not bothered. Registrations and isurance was checked on all trucks and we went on our way.
Now, if you are alone at night with QQs in the woods, they may say something. Usage on QQs is pretty limited by the state and insurance companies anyway, It has always bugged me that people abuse the QQs priviledges. I would like to see a few more of those types made an example of
Ernie

Ressoldier · Sep 21, 2011

OHV Volunteer Programs

I am from the other side of the Country here in California. The San Bernardino National Forest has a Non-profit associated with it the San Bernardino National Forest Associtation. Most of the groups are tree-hugging anti OHV, however there are two important groups in there that apply and may help you out with your Forest district. We have the Adopt A Trail program where 4x4 clubs adopt a trail and keep it maintained to the rating assigned by the NF (Green, Blue, Black). There is also the OHV Volunteer group and we go out on patrols and are the eyes and ears of the Forest. Basically we are trained to look for people going off trail, not abiding by the Tread Lightly principles illegal campfires etc. We call into service on Forest radios and if a "guest" is not being cooperative or we feel there may be a threat we simply call in to dispatch and have a LEO come out. As a volunteer we have no legal power other than observation and ability to call someone that does, but due to the magnetic signs we put on our vehicles and the NF logo on our shirt we carry a lot of weight. The SBNF was the only Forest last year to gain trails, sure we lost some but added a few others. We have also found that trail clean-ups or partnering with the -ologists and taking them safely to the sites they want to examine has helped keep our hobby in our Forest. Please pass this information on to your local Forest, other Forests have already been contacting the SBNF to copy/implement similar programs in their region.

www.nationalforestassociation.org/ohvhosts.php
www.nationalfoerstassociation.org/ohvadopt.php

I firmly believe that programs like this will be the only way to keep our land open to use. If you have a MV club in the area I would strongly suggest showing a large presence at the Clean up posted earlier. MV vehicles can be used for the load out and haul off of the trash. If you would like more information or POC at the Forest Service that manages the programs PM me.

Jersey4x4 · Sep 21, 2011

I have been asking state officials about something like this for well over 15 years and the issue only goes so far then it falls off the table. I have not been on the trails as much because of all the idiots out there thinking they can do what ever they want and believe it or not allot of them are 4x4 clubs or a small group/klick from within a club that goes out and just romps through the woods and try everything the can to get muddy. Quarter mile is the worst, there is a group of people with MVs and civi trucks that go there to drink and mud bog and that is all they do then as said, they video it and post it on youtube and facebook and myspace and TWAT about it and then the Eco-Terrorists see it and blame us all which is not fair to the majority of the people who use the trails.

Ressoldier said:
I am from the other side of the Country here in California. The San Bernardino National Forest has a Non-profit associated with it the San Bernardino National Forest Associtation. Most of the groups are tree-hugging anti OHV, however there are two important groups in there that apply and may help you out with your Forest district. We have the Adopt A Trail program where 4x4 clubs adopt a trail and keep it maintained to the rating assigned by the NF (Green, Blue, Black). There is also the OHV Volunteer group and we go out on patrols and are the eyes and ears of the Forest. Basically we are trained to look for people going off trail, not abiding by the Tread Lightly principles illegal campfires etc. We call into service on Forest radios and if a "guest" is not being cooperative or we feel there may be a threat we simply call in to dispatch and have a LEO come out. As a volunteer we have no legal power other than observation and ability to call someone that does, but due to the magnetic signs we put on our vehicles and the NF logo on our shirt we carry a lot of weight. The SBNF was the only Forest last year to gain trails, sure we lost some but added a few others. We have also found that trail clean-ups or partnering with the -ologists and taking them safely to the sites they want to examine has helped keep our hobby in our Forest. Please pass this information on to your local Forest, other Forests have already been contacting the SBNF to copy/implement similar programs in their region.

www.nationalforestassociation.org/ohvhosts.php
www.nationalfoerstassociation.org/ohvadopt.php

I firmly believe that programs like this will be the only way to keep our land open to use. If you have a MV club in the area I would strongly suggest showing a large presence at the Clean up posted earlier. MV vehicles can be used for the load out and haul off of the trash. If you would like more information or POC at the Forest Service that manages the programs PM me.

Ressoldier · Sep 22, 2011

I have been around to many people and clubs like that, and cleaned up after them. I was fortunate enough to stumble on these groups/programs after my brother and other wheeling buddies got smart and left California. I wont wheel alone so now I get to enjoy my hobby and give back to it all at the same time. We have been very fortunate that because of all the hours volunteered in both programs helps the Non profit get their grant money so they keep us around. There are several factions of it that would rather see us gone and the Forest closed down to motorized use. What they don;t understand is that would mean even them when they want to access a remote area to study something. We have even helped the Archeologists find/ get to locations they thought were gone, instead they just werent looking in the right spots.

I know the Marines have a group that is part of the Adopt A Trail and I have had my Army unit help with some projects so it goes a long way. Of course actual Milusing MV's can be taken differently than Civi MV users.

MV offroad use on Pine Barrens?

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