Here in NJ there are no, repeat no, legal campsites on the entire Atlantic Coast. The best you can do is paddle some miles inland in a few places to a commercial campground. This also extends along the shore of Delaware Bay and River all the way up to Trenton. I'm on the steering committee for the Delaware River Canoe Trail and camping opportunities are the great lack in the Lower section from the Water Gap on down. Nothing at all save for one state park on its shores and perhaps two commercial campgrounds. You concerns about encroachment and subsequent loss of campsites is well-founded here as well. There are some islands in the Delaware where people practice "commando camping", sometimes more overtly. As time progresses, many islands are becoming publicly owned. The immediate result is that they are closed to camping. Usually, it is explained as being a sensitive ecological habitat/area, or contains fragile archaeological sites. The word "Potential" is always omitted. For the most part, there is no evidence that either of the above is the case. Rather, the responsible agency has stewardship over the property, but no personnel not funding to carry it out... So the public is excluded as a precaution... WRT wildlife refuges, one nearby absolutely prohibits and canoes or kayaks -- or any boat, for that matter. On the other hand, another one in Northern NJ welcomes paddlers, even providing parking areas and access points. They also have guides/maps to the area. I guess it depends at least in part on the Superintendent. We also lose accesses because we are not a high-profile sport. Not a few accesses have disappeared because no official was aware that the place was used (legally) as an access. Many parking spots get cut off by new guard rails. Sometimes there is a lack of communication. A few years ago there was a road realignment at a spot used as an access by both paddlers and fishermen. They were aware of us so in the process they put in a macadam pad for us to park in. Five days later the local power company, installing a new high voltage line, plunked a huge pole smack in the middle of it, making it virtually unusable... We're generally a placid bunch, not given to public displays. It's part and parcel, really, of why we paddle. But I do wonder whether in the long run this quiescence is not the best course. Joe Pylka jpylka_at_earthlink.net *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Feb 03 2005 - 10:07:52 PST
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