Contact Your Representatives

Take action today!

If we do not stand up and take personal action today, then we should not be surprised by the consequence.

This page will walk you through process of contacting:

NJ Governor Phil Murphy
Your NJ State Senator and Assembly
Your Municipality’s Committee

We need you to contact each of these individuals and ask them to contact the DEP, share your concerns and ask them to advocate on your behalf

Let’s get started!

Step One- Articulate Your Concerns

Here are some important tips:

You message will have a greater effect if it is personal.
It might helpful to copy and paste your message into a Word document so you can easily copy and paste your message to send to the various representatives in Step Two.
Ask your representative to take direct action on your behalf and for them to contact the DEP and share your concerns with them
It is probably easier to do this on a computer than a mobile device

Summary Concerns

The new map closes 300 miles of roads and is essentially identical to the 2015 map.
The DEP did not take into account any of the 1,610 surveys that supported keeping roads open
There are Solutions other than Road Closures, such as increased enforcement, protection projects and education.
The DEP must scrap this 2024 map and adopt the topographical maps that were codified by the Pinelands Commission.
The DEP needs to justify to the public each road they believe needs to be closed, individually.
We the citizens of your state, districts and municipalities are asking you to take any action within your power to force the DEP to scrap the 2024 map and start over.
Given the shattered public trust, there is no path forward on this current plan.

Refer to our Petition for additional ideas.

Step Two – Send Your Concerns

Now that you have your message assembled, let’s get it sent off to the appropriate parties! We made this as easy as possibly for you by either giving you the direct contact information or providing a way to look up your representatives.

Contact the Governor (Phone and email)

By Phone:

Call: (609) 292-6000
Keep it simple:
- State that you want to lodge a complaint
- Tell them in your own words that you are against closing roads in Wharton State Forest
Please be polite. The person who is answering the phone is not Governor Murphy. They will not be able to respond to your complaint, they will simply take the message.

By Email:

Copy the message below or prepare your own message:

Dear Governor Murphy,

I am writing to urge your support for our petition opposing DEP Commissioner LaTourette’s proposal to close roads within Wharton State Forest. Additionally, I implore you to intervene and prevent him from misleading both the public and lawmakers regarding the true intentions of this plan.

Commissioner LaTourette has falsely represented the plan as merely an effort to create a visitor safety map, concealing the fact that it has resulted inthe closure of 60% of roads within Wharton State Forest. Such closures would significantly diminish recreational opportunities for the forest’s 800,000 annual visitors.

For further information and supporting evidence, please refer to our petition available at:

https://opentrailsnj.org/petition

Send your email to: Constituent.relations@nj.gov

If you are from NJ include your town and county

Contact your State Representatives

Go this page to find your representatives: NJ Legislature
Look for your municipality in the list. When you find it, click on the blue district number button
Under the picture of the Senator, click on the Contact your Legislator(s) link
Send them your message
Better yet! Use the number on the page to call them and let them know how you feel
Ask them to contact the DEP and advocate for your concerns

Contact your Municipality’s Council

We have created this list of links to your town’s contact page below. We will continue to add contact information there as we find it. Don’t see your town listed? Let us know.
Ask them to contact the DEP and advocate for your concerns and to pass a resolution against the new map. Give them this link to sample resolution