Last night a number of leaders in the recreational fishing community were invited by the NJ DEP to a closed door meeting to discuss the proposed Public Access rules. In attendance was 15 other people (I think,,, forgot to take a count while we were all in the conference room).
The fact of the matter is that 99% of the bad news you've all heard about this proposal is BS and misinterpretation. There are a number of things that should (and will be) ammended, but it is in no way shape or form the evil document that it has been portrayed to be. Even in its current form, it STRONGLY supports the Public Trust Doctrine and seeks to enhance, expand, and protect public access points to the tidal waters.
I was very impressed and pleased with the cooperation of the DEP and their attentiveness to our concerns, even though MOST of the concerns that were raised by fishermen in the meeting were either eroneous, outside the jurisdiction of the DEP, or problems that already exist under the current laws.
As it stands, the document will be accepted as it currently stands, but BEFORE it is accepted, those who were present at last night's meeting will be emailed a draft of ammendments to it that are to be submitted at the same time, based on what was promised by the DEP last night, so that we may provide comment and feedback to them to "make sure they got it right" before the ammendments are officially submitted for another public comment period.
We will also be put on an email list and will be notified and have a chance to comment upon EVERY SINGLE municiple access plan BEFORE it is approved by the DEP and submitted for its 2 public hearings and comment period. We will also be notified via email of the time and place of every municiple hearing on submitted MAPs. The DEP was VERY accomodating in EVERY respect with regard to communicating with our usergroup specifically. They made many promises last night. The proof will be in the pudding, so to speak, with regard to how well they follow through.
As of right now I am very optimistic
