Private groups shouldn't have to pay for state's responsibility

It's been almost 12 years since then-Gov. Christine Todd Whitman pledged to provide as many interpretive centers as possible at New Jersey's state parks.

She made the promise on June 21, 1997, the day officials cut the ribbon and dedicated the new Island Beach State Park interpretive center on Shore Road in Ocean County.

"After touring the center, one can appreciate just how vital environmental education is to New Jersey's future," Whitman said. She also noted that a statewide open house of all interpretive centers was slated for the fall.

"Through these events, DEP's Division of Parks and Forestry and Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife will reach out to teachers, youth group leaders, environmental organizations and every child and adult in the state," Whitman said.

But the state Department of Environmental Protection hasn't done much reaching out lately.

The DEP's Division of Parks and Forestry put the kibosh on winter interpretive programs at the park back in November, a move that horrified local environmental groups.

So they quickly formed the Coalition to Save Island Beach State Park Interpretive Program. And members of the three groups didn't just fire off letters to the DEP and area legislators, they opened their wallets.

Members of the three groups — Save Barnegat Bay, the Friends of Island Beach and the Emily de Camp Herbarium — have been paying out of their own pockets to staff the interpretive facilities and programs at the park since Nov. 8, when the state stopped, said William deCamp Jr., chairman of Save Barnegat Bay.

"As of November 1 through March 31, we are privately funding the interpretive program, and the Division of Parks and Forestry hasn't even thanked us," he said. "They are treating us like we are a pain in the neck."

And the state's shabby treatment of Island Beach goes back years, he said.

"The State of New Jersey has been neglecting Island Beach State Park above and beyond the necessities created by the current fiscal crisis," coalition members said in a Jan. 5 letter to 9th District legislators Christopher J. Connors, Brian Rumpf and Daniel Van Pelt.

"Since August the Division of Parks and Forestry has taken steps to curtail the Interpretive Program at the park," the letter states. "Many of us have conscientiously attempted to work with the Division of Parks and Forestry to sustain the program, but with limited success."

The state left one of two critical natural resource interpretive specialist positions at the park unfilled for years. The last remaining park interpretive specialist retired in August 2008. Now there are no interpretive specialists at the park, deCamp said.

Coalition members pay for a private worker to run the interpretative center, and three part-time employees for the educational programs, like Saturday nature walks, deCamp said.

"So we have private employees running a state facility," he said. "We had to get permission and they made all kinds of stipulations, like we had to pay for the heat. It's on our insurance."

The coalition's biggest fear is that the state's move last November is the beginning of the end for the park's interpretive program.

"As of now, they have not cut the funds for the spring," de Camp said. "But they very well might. When all the planning occurs in the winter and they cut the winter program, it makes everyone concerned that another shoe is going to drop."

The coalition wants a commitment from the state that the interpretive program will

not be terminated or curtailed; a full-time natural resource interpretive specialist be assigned to the park; full funding maintained for seasonal workers and that school buses have free entry into the park.

The park's interpretive facilities include the Nature Center, the Forked River Coast Guard Station No. 112 Interpretive Center, and the visitors station at the Ocean Bathing Unit No. 1.

Jeanne Brower, president of the Friends of Island Beach, said the 125-member group was "pretty concerned" about the unfilled naturalist position and the impact it could have on the interpretive program.

"But so far, it looks like there is a good chance it will be picked up," Brower said.

One of the Friends' primary objectives is to support the park's interpretive program, she said.

"One of the main reasons to keep it going at this time of the year is for the dune grass program," Brower said. "You have to start ordering plants at this time of the year, make connections with the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts to come out in March and April to plant. It has to start. You can't wait until the spring. The dune grass planting is one of the most important projects."

The coalition is paying for a seasonal park employee to oversee the dune grass planting project this year, she said.

"We can't afford to do it permanently," deCamp said. "We are honored to be able to help bridge a temporary difficulty. But the problem is the state looks increasingly disinclined to fund the program."

Island Beach brings in more revenue from visitors than most state parks, Brower said.

"A lot of people say, "What do you need to be open in the winter for?' " Brower said. "But look at yesterday [Sunday]. There were probably many people in Island Beach.

The state needs to have a new interpretive naturalist in place by the spring, de Camp said.

"The state is going to have to find someone to lead the interpretive program in the spring," he said. "There has to be an organization hand-off there."

A representative from the state Department of Environmental Protection could not be reached for comment on Monday.

Patricia A. Miller is the managing editor of the Brick Township Bulletin.