I. History of the Pinelands
II. Industries

A. Forest Activities and Industries

1.Sawmills

2. Charcoal

3.Tar kilns and turpentine stills

B. Shipbuliding and seafaring

1. Sneakboxes, garveys, and oreboats

2.Schooners and sloops

3. Powerboats

C. Hunting, gathering, trapping, and fishing

D. Agriculture

1. Grist mills

2. Row crop and truck farming

3. Cranberry growing

4. Blueberry growing

E. Iron

F. Glass

G. Minor rural industries

 

 

 

III. Land Transportation
IV. Commercial Centers, Religious and Industrial Structures
V. Ethnic Settlements
VI. Tourisim, Recreation, and Vacation Houses
VII. Cultural and Ethnic Groups

A. Baymen

B. Blacks

C. Germans

D. Italians

E. Jews

F. Mixed Urbanizing

G. Puerto Ricans

H. Quakers

I. Rural Residents

J. Russians

IIX. Cultural Resources
IX. Landscape
X. Historic Sites of Cultural Interest

A. Whitesbog

B. Savich Farm

C. Carranza Memorial

D. Harrisville

E. Renault Winery

F. Batsto

XI. Hunting and Farming Areas
XII. Varied Perceptions of the Future

A. Development with technology

B. Development with sensitivity

C. Leave us alone

D. Resource harvest and extraction

E. The National Interest

F. Land use conflicts

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

This information has been extracted and condensed from the New Jersey Pinelands Commission's Comprehensive Management Plan

HISTORY OF THE PINELANDS

At the time of European contact, the Lenape Indians inhabited the Pinelands region. As Europeans began to populate southern New Jersey, the Indians sold or abandoned their lands. Disease and sporadic fighting with whites reduced the native population. By 1758, the few remaining Indians in the state were placed on the Brotherton Reservation at Indian Mills (Shamong Township), located within the Pinelands. This 3,258-acre reservation was one of the first in North American. By the turn of the 19th century, most of the Indian families had left Brotherton and moved to New York or to Indian territory in the West.

The first Europeans to come to the Pinelands were woodcutters. From the early 1700's, these men exploited the vast forests. For lumber merchants, the Pinelands represented an untapped and apparently inexhaustible supply of materials for shipbuilding, pitch, tar, and turpentine. By 1749, the reduction of timber in some areas was so great that Benjamin Franklin "advocated conservation and intelligent forestry to combat the reckless and wanton slaughter of woods" (Pierce, 1957).

The maritime industry in the Pinelands was flourishing prior to the Revolutionary War. New Jersey's coastal plain provided most of the raw materials needed for shipbuilding, including timber such as cedar, oak pine, maple, hickory, walnut, and wild cherry. In addition, the Pinelands yielded tar used to caulk hulls, pine resins used to produce turpentine for hull preservation and iron products necessary to make ship hardware. By 1800, the shipyards of southern New Jersey supplied 10 percent of the vessels needed for commerce in the Philadelphia area.

Another important 18th century economic activity was the production of iron from the limonite ore found in stream beds and bogs throughout the Pinelands. From the mid-1700's to the mid-1850's, the forests provided the ore, the charcoal used to produce the iron, and the water power used to operate the furnaces. "Company towns" developed around the furnaces and forges, with the local population serving as the labor force and wealthy residents of the Delaware Valley acting as.. the financiers.

Unlike the lumber industry, the bog iron industry required enormous outlays of money. Businessmen were willing to make substantial investments in the Pinelands in the hopes of reaping great profits. But some furnaces ran into financial difficulties even before they were completed. With the discovery of anthracite in Pennsylvania during the 1840's and the advent of the railroads in the 1850's, the New Jersey bog iron industry could no longer complete with the Pennsylvania ironworks.

As the bog iron industry collapsed, the buildings and water-power installations were converted to glass factories, paper mills, cotton mills, sawmills, and brick and tile factories. These industries, however, could not assure continuity of employment. Persistent forest fires plagued the mills and factories. Workers often migrated between towns in search of job opportunities.

After the Civil War, production of cranberries in the Pinelands began on a commercial scale. By 1928, approximately 13,000 acres of lowland were cleared for use as cranberry bogs. By the mid-1950's, however, only 6- ' 136. acres were being worked. Blueberry cultivation began on a commercial. scale before 1916, and occupied 8,500 acres by 1963. Cranberry and blueberry growing represent domestication, improvement, and commercial use of plants native to the area. The industries are self-sustaining, in contrast to lumbering, which was self- destructive for lack of conservation practices.

Since the 18th century, the Pinelands have been a refuge of European immigrants. The earliest settlers favored coastal areas. They generally avoided inland areas, which were unsuitable for agriculture and which posed transportation problems because of swamps (Rutgers, 1978). After 1850, ethnic groups including Germans, Russians, Italians, and Jews began to move into the interior areas of the southern Pinelands (south of the Mullica River). They were drawn by the availability of land previously used for industrial ventures, the introduction of chemical fertilizers to make the soil more suitable for farming, and the presence of railroads which permitted easier access (Marsh, 1979).

Industries

Forest Activities and Industries

Sawmills (1700-present): Saunnills were often the sites of earliest settlement in the Pinelands. Many local industries, such as shipbuil.ding, iron, glass, cotton, and paper, require wood. Since early saw mills could not be moved, permanent communities developed around them. With the advent of steam-powered mills in the 1870s, mills could be moved; mobile gasoline-powered mills still exist. After the 1830s, however, the number of small mills began to decline as it became more economically feasible to cut the timber and truck the logs outside the Pinelands to large sawmills. Long-time rural residents continued to operate approximately 50 mills throughout the region in order to supply local needs for housing. and boat construction. An example of a restored 19th century sawmill in operation is located at Batsto, a bog iron community in Washington Township, Burlington County.

Charcoal (1740-1960): Charcoal was vital to the bog iron industry. After 1850, it was used primarily for fuel and cooking. In the 19th century, newly arrived immigrants, especially Irish and German, often became colliers and made considerable amounts of money. The last colliers quit work in Whiting during the early 1960's after a steady decline in the industry during the prior 100 years. A large but uncounted number of coaling sites remain throughout the Pinelands, although no associated cabins are known to exist. Remnants of this former forest industry can be discerned by the absence of vegetation and the presence of scattered charcoal.

Tar kilns and turpentine stills (1700-1890): Little is known about tar kilns and turpentine stills in the Pinelands. Both tar and turpentine were used for shipbuilding but apparently were never major industries. For example, turpentine was distilled in large quantities only during the Civil War. The kilns and stills were operated by long-time rural residents up until the turn of the century, when these activities were' abandoned. The number and location of the former kilns and stills can only be estimated. These sites should be found in association with shipbuilding along major rivers and the coast.

Shipbuilding and Seafaring

Sneakboxes, garveys, and oreboats (1700-present): Sneakboxes and garveys are indigenous to the New Jersey coast and were the basic means of sbort-distance travel until automobiles became common. Small boat builders and their places of business played important roles in communities along the coast and up the major rivers, especially the Mullica, Great Egg Harbor, Maurice, and Toms. Today, these small boats are still in demand for such activities as waterfowl hunting and shellfishing. Related sites can be found in most commercial and community centers.

Schooners and sloops (1700-1900): Until 1850 schooners and sloops were the major carriers for goods from the eastern section of the Pinelands. No rural industrial center, such as Batsto or Mays Landing, could have existed without its boat building industry. During the last half of the 19th century, the introduction of railroads made schooners and sloops increasingly obsolete. By 1900, these ships were no longer being constructed. Several sites of large boatworks have been located at the forks of the Mullica River, and in Mays Landing, Dorchester, and Leesburg. No associated buildings are extant. While some of these boats may still exist in the Chesapeake region, only sunken hulls are left in the New Jersey coastal areas. The list of known wrecks is extensive. However, this list does not include the many aging vessels driven into banks on extreme high tides to become bank retainers.

Power boats (1930-present): The construction of rum runners, PT boats, and recreational power boats in the Pinelands has been a source of local pride since the 1930's. These boats are internationally known, and the older ones from local boatworks are considered to be collectorls items. Working sites can be found on the Bass and Mullica Rivers, and at Egg Harbor City and Mays Landing. Most of the builders are long-time residents.

In summary, there are numerous documentary references to, and physical remains of, shipbuilding and seafaring activities in the coastal Pinelands from the Revolutionary War period to the present. Historic evidence exists of the boats and ships, shipyards, lighthouses, Coast Guard stations, and workers' housing, as well as the tools of the carpenters, carvers, glaziers, joiners, sailmakers, coopers, and blacksmiths who were involved in the various aspects of construction. Two sites in the Pinelands National Reserve associated with these activities have received state or national recognition. The Barnegat Lighthouse in Ocean County is listed in both the State and National Registers of Historic Places. The Mullica River-Chestnut Neck Historic District, located in parts of Atlantic, Burlington, and Ocean Counties, is listed in the State Register. This district includes the site of the original settlement of Chestnut Neck, (a center for smugglers during the colonial period and privateersmen during the Revolutionary War), as well as the remains of vessels destroyed and sunk by the British in 1778. At least two of these vessels have been located in the Mullica River.

Hunting, Gathering, Trapping, and Fishing (1700-present)

Hunting, gathering, trapping, and fishing represent the oldest ongoing activities in the forest sections of the Pinelands. These activities were and are basic to the lifestyles of both old-time and present-day rural residents, and are undertaken for subsistence, recreation, and commercial purposes. Hunting clubs are scattered throughout the region, with more than 200 clubhouses.

Agriculture

Grist mills (1700-1920): Many grist mills were important sites in the Pinelands' commercial centers. These mills were often located on "little" dams upstream from sawmills. Little dams needed several davs to build up enough water so the mill could operate. Therefore, such mills worked only intermittently. While most grist mills were powered by water, a few wind mills existed. The precise number of grist mills in the Pinelands is not known, but probably no more than 50 ever exited. The best working example is at Ratsto Village.

Row crop and truck farming (1700-present): This is the most important economic activity in much of the western Pinelands region from Gloucester County north to Wrigbtstown, and it occurs to a lesser degree elsewhere. Throughout the years, crops have been produced for both market and local uses. Barns, farmhouses, and market places associated with row crop and truck farming are found in all areas of the Pinelands except in the mo ' st forested sections. Examples include the Johnathan Haines House in Burlington County, listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places, and the Berlin Auction site in Camden County.

Cranberry growing (1835-present): The cranberry industry represents an important agricultural activity in the northern and southern forest sections of the Pinelands. Because the industry is a distinctive feature of the Pinelands culture, many bogs, as well as industry-related structures, can be considered historic resources. The site of the first commercial bog is Burr's Mills pond near Vincentown. The only early cranberry packing ~ouse known to be still standing is at the Birches near Tabernacle, Burlington County. Approximately 200 acres of cranberry bogs and an associated village have been preserved in Double Trouble State Park in Ocean County. Many former bogs have been converted into recreation sites for boating, fishing, and camping.

Blueberry growing (1935-present): Wild blueberry or huckleberry gathering was a seasonal occupation here before the domestication of the blueberry in the early 20th century. Since 1915, blueberry fields and related structures have become important aspects of the Pinelands landscape. The most famous of these are located at Whitesbog, Burlington County, where Elizabeth White, pioneer of the cultivated hydrid blueberry, was active.

Iron (1765-1865)

The iron industry accounted for the century-long population boom in the forest areas of the Pinelands. Iron production required charcoal, which consumed enormous amounts of pine wood and thus helped to create the modern landscape. About 30 furnaces and forges existed here during the 100-year history,of this industry. Although most of the associated buildings have disappeared, many of the sites contain significant archaeological resources. One of the more famous ruins, Martha, was investigated by an archaeologist but was covered over again to prevent further vandalism. The furnace at Batsto, originally built in 1766, rebuilt in 1786 and again in 1829, continued to cast iron until 1848. As with many furnances, a village grew up around it. Ratsto village included a lime kiln, charcoal house, stamping mill, sawmill, gristmill, store, and workers' cottages sufficient to house over 500 people. The site has been restored by the state and it attracts thousands of visitors.

Glass (1800-1875)

Glass was an important rural industry in the Pinelands. It supported the 19th century population after the decline of the furnaces and forges. The glass houses were worked by long-time rural residents with the help of Germans and Belgians who immigrated to the region in the 1830's and 1840's. Twenty-eight glass house sites have been located in the area from Cumberland County to the north central region of the Pines. Most of these sites contain archaeological remains. Estellville, the best preserved, is unique for its stone construction. A few glass houses were worked until 1920.

Minor Rural Industries (1830- 1930)

Some rural industries were never considered major economic activIties in the Pinelands. After the collapse of the bog iron industry, paper and cotton producers took over the abandoned buildings. For example, Pleasant Mills (first known as Clarks Mill) was a gristmill as early as 1740. The major development of the village, however, centered on a fulling mill, which later became a cotton mill., and then a paper mill. The paper mill closed in about 1926. It remains standing today along with three 18th century houses. Other vestiges of these rural industries have been found in good cond~tion at Harrisville (a paper mill), Atsion (a cotton mill), and Pasadena (a terra-cotta factory).

Land Transportation (1700-present)

The transportation network along with the associated taverns and stations constitute important historic resources. Roads and railroads served important commercial functions and prompted development throughout the region. For example, new towns were created around railroae stations, and existing villages' were often enlarged. Taverns, usually found at crossroads, became certers for social and political gatherings.

Many sand roads dating from the eighteenth century still exist in the Pinelands, the most famous being the Tuckerton Stage Road. Three well- known tavern sites are located along this road- Quaker Bridge, Mount, and Washington. U.S. Route 9, or the Shore Road, is an historic road that runs along the coast. In addition, railroad routes can be found throughout the Pinelands. Several historic railways stations, such as the one at Chatsworth, still stand.

Commercial Centers, Religious and Institutional Structures (1700-present)

This category includes taverns, hotels, schools, municipal buildings, libraries, churches and graveyards, all of which tend to be clustered in crossroads communities. It may also be considered to cover houses in those communities. A wide range of architectural styles, including Federal, Greek and Gothic Revivals, Italianate, and Queen Anne can be found in a variety of adaptations. Some reflect prevalent pattern book detailing, while others seem to represent a more locally distinct vernacular. The clustering of many of these resources indicated potential for locally designated or State and National Register historic districts.

Ethnic Settlements (1700-1960)

The Pinelands have been a cultural refuge for the English, Irish, Germans, Italians, and Jews in the 18th and 19th centuries, and for Russians, blacks, and assorted urbanites in the 20th Century (see the section on cultural resources). About a dozen ethnic settlements were founded in the southern half of the region, including ones at Hammonton, Egg Harbor City, and Woodbine. Of the few scattered settlements in the north, Rova Farm, a Russian community in Jackson Township, Ocean County, is the largest and most successful today. These settlements have given the Pinelands an added cultural dimension as an "ethnic archipelago" (Marsh, 1979). None of these settlements have received State or National Register recognition. Although the synagogue at Woodbine has been nominated for Register listing, the historic district potential of Woodbine (and other ethnic settlements) has not yet been realized.

Tourism, Recreation and Vacation Houses (1850-present)

Scattered throughout the region are recreation and vacation structures. They include the hunting lodges, which were discussed above. A number of the speculative land development schemes which the Pinelands have harbored over the past 100 years have included recreational spots and vacation homes. Few of these were built. Medford Lakes, however, the site of an 18th and early 19th century industrial area, was developed in the 1920s as a summer colony. A consciously rustic "log cabin" style characterized its buildings. This study unit includes Sunshine Park in Atlantic County, one of America's early nudist camps, many children's camps in the forest regions, and the site of Prince Mario Ruspoli de Poggio-Suasa's villa. Next to the villa, the prince and his friends built the Chatsworth County Club, modeled after Chatsworth, the noted English country house. Although that turn-of-the century pleasure ground was short-lived, the nearby community of Shemong was renamed Chatsworth.

Cultural and Ethnic Groups

Residents of the Pinelands display a range of cultural differences. It is possible to identify groups of these residents based on similar land use activities, ethnic and religious backgrounds, and family ties. In recent years, scholars have paid increasing attention to the identification and study of these groups. One investigator has described the rich cultural heritage of the southern part of the Pinelands as an if ethnic archipelago" (Marsh, 1979).

Work performed for the Pinelands Commission resulted in the identification of a number of these cultural or ethnic groups (Sinton, 1980). The following is a brief discussion of these groups, including their geographic location, economic activities, and relative stability within the Pinelands today.

Baymen

The first European settlers in the region came from Long Island to establish small fishing communities along the seacoast. Their descendants, the present-day baymen, run their lives seasonally, making most of their income from shellfishing in spring, summer, and fall, and trapping in winter. They do not constitute the majority of any Pinelands community, but they have a powerful voice in running local affairs in the Barnegat Bay region. The viability of small-time fishing is now in doubt. Unless steps are taken to ensure its economic feasibility, the younger baymen will search out other means of livelihood and the culture will vanish.

Blacks

Chesilburst in Camden County is the Pinelands' oldest black community, originating before the Civil War. Other small, rural black communities were begun by people who came to New Jersey from the South after World War I. They tend to be family-oriented, stable communities whose residents farm, hunt and work for such institutions as the state schools or for the building trades. One community where blacks exert political influence as a group is the South Egg Harbor area of Galloway Township. The character and social structure of these communities is stable and expected to remain so.

Germans

Several German settlements developed in southern New Jersey in the mid-19th century, including the farming communities of Germania and Cologne, and Egg Harbor City. Only Egg Harbor City remains as a German center, and the German elements of this area are being assimilated into the cultural mainstream. Few young people speak any German, and people of Italian descent from nearby areas like Hammonton are moving into once solidly German neighborhoods. The last remaining German cultural group is expected to blend into the larger mixed urbanizing groups of Atlantic County.

 

Italians

Construction of the railroad brought many of the first Italian- American f amilies to the Pinelands. In time, many of them turned to agriculture. They remain the predominant cultural group in the truck and row crop agricultural regions, and form large stable elements of the population in such areas as Hammonton and Williamstown. They are expected to remain a stable cultural group.

Jews

Several Jewish communities have been founded in the southern third and along the northeastern fringe of the Pinelands. The earliest of these settlements, including Woodbine, Norma, Alliance, and Garton Road, were established in the 1880's along the net of rail lines that operated in the southern Pines at that time. Those in the north came later, and were settled primarily by persons who fled Europe during and after World War II. Many of the Jewish settlements lasted no more than a generation, although Woodbine continued as a viable ethnic community until 1950's. Today, Woodbine's Jewish community has the strongest ethnic identity remaining in any of these settlements.

Mixed Urbanizing

As development has increased in the region, many areas of the Pinelands have steadily lost their distinctive cultural differences. Persons associated with the mixed urbanizing groups fall into the following categories: suburbanities and exurbanites, chiefly from the Philadelphia and New York City metropolitan areas; people attached to military installations, especially Fort Dix; and residents of coastal areas dominated by second homes, many of them vacant more than half of the year. It is anticipated that in areas slated for growth under the Comprehensive Management Plan, mixed urbanizing communities will supercede cultural groups associated with more rural lifestyles.

Puerto Ricans

Puerto Rican communities are found principally in Atlantic and Camden Counties, although some are also associated with cranberry operations in the central Pinelands. While Puerto Rican migrant workers have worked in southern New Jersey since World War II, families have tended to settle permanently in the Pinelands only over the past 15 years. Church and family ties are strong. Most families rent rather than own their land, but their communities are stable and expected to remain so.

Quakers

The old towns of Medford and Marlton on the Burlington County Pinelands fringe form part of the originally extensive pattern of Quaker settlements throughout the Rancocas Creek basin. In these areas, the influence of long-time resident Quaker families remains strong despite large influxes of suburbanites and exurbanites in the past decade. Quaker cultural elements are expected to remain stable.

Rural Residents

Rural residents, including Pineys, have disparate backgrounds. The majority are of English, Irish, and Scottish extraction, and are descendants of people who came to the Pinelands in the 18th and 19th centuries. These settlers were joined by the Dutch, Germans, and a few blacks and other ethnic groups. More recently, some long-time hunters and vacationers from the Delaware Valley and other parts of New Jersey have taken up this rural lifestyle on a permanent basis. Rural residents share cultural traits which include scattered or loosely grouped settlements, orientation toward family and church, and frequent participation in seasonal activities such as hunting, fishing, and berry gathering. Many rural residents are employed either full-time or part-time by local industries or government. The continued existence of this culture in the Pinelands depends on the extent of available open space and the freedom with which people will be allowed to pursue their activities. The more that development impinges on extensive, rural land uses, the more tenuous the traditional Piney culture becomes.

Russians

Three Russian-American communities exist in the Pinelands. Rova Farm in Jackson Township was settled in the 1930's, and the other two, in southwestern Atlantic county, in the 1950's. Of the three, Rova Farm is the largest and most stable. It is expected to remain an important Russian cultural center. The fate of New Kuban in Buena Vista and the small settlement near Mays Landing will depend on the desire of the younger residents to sustain the identities of their communities.

Cultural Resources

Cultural groups leave their marks physically on the landscape. Because of members' shared values and activities, they tend to produce distinctive structures and landscape types. These physical manifestations may be defined as cultural resources. From another perspective, cultural resources are those physical things which help to define and unify a cultural group. They are things and places which the group values and uses such as the landscape itself; historic sites; physiographic areas for hunting, agriculture, or recreation; and contemporary cultural sites (churches, cemeteries, volunteer fire houses, Grange and VFW halls, etc.).

Landscape

To a large degree, the traditional Pinelands landscape is a product of extensive land use. The existence of vast amounts of open space contributes to the essential Pinelands character as well as to the region's national significance. Nevertheless, settlement and the signs of society also characterize certain portions of the Pinelands. Analysis of residents' attitudes toward the region's actual appearance, including both natural and man-made elements, is important in determining which landscape elements rank highest as cultural resources. A preliminary analysis has been performed for the Commission, but more research is needed in this area.

Historic Sites of Cultural Interest

Historic sites can be important to a culture because their links with the past lend historic continuitv to a cultural group. Many historic, archaeological, and architectural sites are significant from the viewpoint of a professional. Historic sites of cultural. interest, however, are defined internally by local residents.

The sites listed are of historic interest in an academic sense and are of cultural value to residents as well (Sinton, 1980). These sites are all well known to local residents, who use them for recreational and other activities or value them simply as part of their heritage. Examples include:

Whitesbog - a berry production area in Pemberton Township historically significant because of its association with the development of the cultivated blueberry.

Savich Farm - a site near Marlton which is on both the National and State Registers of Historic Places because of its historic and prehistoric importance. The existing buildings date from the late 18th Century. The site also contains a wealth of prehistoric Indian artifacts.

Carranza Memorial - a site in Tabernacle Township of local and national interest. It is in the area where Emilio Carranza, a Mexican aviator on the return leg of a goodwill fight between Mexico and New York, crashed and died in 1928. Each year a service is held at the memorial commemorating this event.

Harrisville - formerly known as McCartyville, in Washington and Bass River Townships. Harrisville was the site of 18th and 19th century industry including a sawmill and paper mill. Ruins of the paper mill still. exist in the area. Harrisville Pond is noted for its scenic and recreational value.

Renault Winery - another site on the National Register, located in Galloway Township. The winery was started in 1864 by L.N. Renault, and is still active.

Batsto - probably the best known and most visited historic site in the Pinelands. Batsto was a major industrial village which produced iron from local ores from 1766 and 1855. The village contained a sawmill, grist mill, over 60 houses, a mansion and a large farm complex. Many of these structures have been restored by the state.

Hunting and Farming Areas

Many areas in the Pinelands are culturally significant because they form part of a common social experience. The most important are hunting areas, agricultural areas, and areas valued for aesthetic reasons.

Hunting and trapping are extremely important activities for both residents and non-residents of the Pinelands, as indicated by the fact that there are more than 200 gun clubs throughout the region. These serve as important social gathering places. The oldest club, Atlantic County Game Preserve, was founded in 1905, while most clubs were founded in the 1930's. Membership in many gun clubs is closely associated with membership in voluntary organizations such as fire companies. Because of the large land use requirements of hunting, gun club members have a stake in preserving hunting territories and, therefore, open space in general.

There is a long history of people moving into the Pines and adopting rural lifestyles as a result of their hunting experience here. Joe Albert and his late brother George were prime examples of this trend. The Alberts moved from Middlesex County to the Waretown area in the 1930's, and eventually inspired the formation of the Pinelands Cultural Society, a country music group.

Like hunting, agriculture is an old and culturally important activity in the Pinelands. It provides physiographic areas such as bogs and blueberry fields which are part of the residents' shared experiences and activities. Newly researched data supports the position that agriculture has been and continues to be of cultural importance in the Pinelands. The catalogue of historic sites prepared for the Pinelands Commission includes all known historic cranberry bogs, and shows that these bogs encompassed four times as much land as today's operations. The second data source is 19th century census schedules, which reveal that Pinelands residents, even in the darkest economic times during the last third of that century, continued to produce marketable quantities of agricultural items.

Today, the presence of agriculture remains a prominent aspect of the Pinelands character, and is an important element of the rural lifestyle. Berry cultivation is compatible with, and in fact dependent on, the maintenance of large, unspoiled open spaces which characterize much of the Pinelands. Consequently, agricultural areas also have aesthetic appeal.

Varied Perceptions of the Future

Throughout the past several years there has been much heated discussion over how the Pinelands should be governed. Issues such as "State vs. Local Control" and "Rights of the Property Owner vs. Powers of the State" have been frequently debated.

The following attitude descriptions summarize approximately 300 interviews conducted during the winter of 1979-1980 for the Commission as part of its sociocultural factors study.

These varied perceptions of what the future should bring have been grouped into five categories which are referred to as: "Development with Technology", Development with Sensitivity", "Leave Us Alone", "Resource Harvest and Extraction", and "The National Interest". These are composite descriptions drawn from field observations and analysis of conversations and historical data.

"Development with Technology"

In areas with pressing housing market demand, commercial and construction interests have long favored the maximum development allowed under the regulations. If the regulations have proven ineffective in protecting the people and the environment, then the merchant community and other concerned interests have successfully called on the state to provide a monetary and technological fix for the situation. As long as minimum standards pertaining to health and welfare are met, advocates of this scenario feel that development should be able to proceed into areas deemed accessible by the market. State and federal intervention is important because the same merchant community relies heavily on the quality of the environment to attract seasonal visitors and homebuyers. Polluted bays, sewage in the streets, and sand-clogged inlets are not only unsafe but also unprofitable. As long as technology can meet the problems and money exists to pay for the remedial work, this scenario represents a viable use pattern for the Pinelands in the minds of many.

"Development with Sensitivity"

Development with sensitivity represents a commonly held interpretation of the federal and state Pinelands legislation. Development should be allowed to take place, but the government should provide strict standards and guidelines for its location, construction, and performance. Science will provide the answers, for in the process of protecting unique, critical, or otherwise special areas from development, the guaranteed cleaner environment will attract both homebuyers and more seasonal recreationalists. The state will make major purchases-. There will be strict guidelines for the preservation of cultural, archaeological, historical, and aesthetic resources. These measures will protect "the character of the area" and at the same time allow the economy to function at an acceptable level. There may be some compromises between "Development with Technology" and this scenario, and thus not everyone will be satisfied. The scenario involves utilization of the state of the art of environmental planning.

"Leave Us Alone"

Many long-time residents of the Pinelands express this sentiment. They do not want development. They do not want sophisticated planning. They simply want nobody in the Pinelands except their families and their friends. A lot of this feeling stems from a perceived North Jersey-South Jersey split. It also relates to the desire on the part of many to live a rural lifestyle. Many of these people's relatives have moved out of the Pinelands because they believe municipal ordinances are restricting their rural ways. They cannot set up a trailer without paving a driveway, or keep animals as they did before. These people usually do not join in the debates over "growth or no growth," "conservation or preservation. " They simply do not like what is going on around them. "Other people have messed up their places; now they covet ours," is the attitude. These people resent the people who build houses without taking care of the streams. Nor do they want to be told not to pick flowers, nor informed how clean the water is or should be. Their solution to the preservation of character problem is: "Keep it empty, keep it open." Like many others, they want clear streams, intact wetlands, and wooded swamps, open vistas from the few but significant hills, unpolluted bays, and views and memories of old buildings, both public and private. They want to use the land. Closely allied to these feelings is the importance of resource harvest and resource extraction, a discussion of which follows.

"Resource Harvest and Extraction"

To significant numbers of users, the Pinelands represent harvestable crops and renewable resources. Many of these people are engaged in the traditional pursuits of bog or blueberry agriculture; forestry, trapping, hunting, and gathering; crop agriculture; sand and gravel mining; and shellfishing. Their idea of use is heavy use, with management programs that allow for the fastest and most sustained regrowth of the resource (where regrowth is possible). Because of the emphasis on use, and because many of these people do not want increased visitors, increased regulation, or increased urbanization, this scenario has many attributes of "Leave Us Alone." Resource harvesters look for state controls to curtail development and to put speculative land into production, but not to increase tourism, public multiple use, or total preservation areas. This point of view also includes allowance for small amounts of development that do not damage the environment or hinder its uses.

A surprisingly large number of people have a significant stake in this type of future. Their numbers include, but clearly are not limited to, the woods people who rely totally on the continuance of a diverse ecosystem for their livelihood; bog agriculturists; and scientists and others who subscribe to the ideas associated with resource extraction because these entail an understanding of the interactive nature of Pinelands ecosystems. These people all accept heavy use, and assume that with an understanding of the ecosystem underlying the planning process, yield, income, and environmental quality can all benefit.

"The National Interest"

The interest in preservation of the region has a broad national base. The designation of the Pinelands as the prototype for the National Reserve concept offers both opportunities and challenges. What is going to be the New Jersey style in this first federal, state, and local cooperative effort to implement a management plan for a National Reserve? How will the Pinelands Commission protect and manage an area which has been recognized as being of national significance? What kind of plan can be developed which will meet the "burgeoning demand for the preservation of outstanding landscapes (while providing) a human living environment for an urban population"? (Florio, 1977).

Both within and outside the region, there has been a sufficiently high level of interest to bring about designation of the Pinelands as an area of national significance. These individuals and groups recognize the import of fulfilling the mandate set forth in the state and, federal legislation. To them, the Pinelands are an area which must be preserved and protected for present and future generations. Their goal is to see that the stated objectives are fulfilled, The challenge is to carry out the preservation goals by means other than direct government acquisition.

Land Use Conflicts

These five perceptions of the future are drawn from many ideas that were expressed in the course of the interviews. It is apparent from the range of these opinions that they highlight many potential land use conflicts. The following is a list of major land use conflicts within the Pinelands as perceived by residents:

Public ownership vs. lost municipal tax revenues

Land-use restrictions (zoning, etc.) vs. private property rights

State and federal regulatory power vs. home rule

Extensive vs. intensive land uses

Preservation of lifestyles indigenous to the Pines vs. the wish for technological improvement

Preservation of traditional lifestyles vs. suburbanization

Preservation of open space vs. need for housing of long-time residents

Preservation of open space for residents vs. preservation of open space for non-residents

Intensive recreational use vs. light recreational use

Development of recreational fisheries vs. development of commercial fisheries

Free and unlimited public access vs. access for wilderness needs and research

Preservation of historic sites vs. development for recreation

Preservation of present landscapes vs. needs for resource use and habitat restoration

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