Felled Dune Pines Cause Protest, Borough Mission Remains Stalwart

AVALON – Nov. 3 was a beautiful, unseasonably warm day in Avalon. A group of environmental advocates chose that day for a protest along the 48th Street beach path through the dunes. 
The six residents who displayed signs had called a press conference to highlight what they view as egregious behavior by the borough that targeted 210 Japanese black pine trees for destruction. 
Over a span of two days earlier in the week, the borough had cut down what the advocates said were perfectly healthy trees as part of what the borough claims was an effort to rid the maritime forest of a potentially dangerous infestation of the Southern pine beetle.
The beach path was posted with official signage calling it a Southern Pine Beetle Management Area. A picture of a beetle was captioned “This bug kills trees.”  The protesters saw it differently. 
According to Martha Wright, it’s the “NJ DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) and the Borough of Avalon that kills trees.” Wright even took the step, she says, of filing a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forestry Service claiming that federal funds were part of a state grant given to the borough and used for the trees’ removal.
The grant from the state was part of an effort to eradicate the Southern Pine Beetle infestations. According to Wright, there is no evidence of the claimed infestation.
The dispute began with the application for a $24,000 grant in December 2015. A small group of residents began speaking against the borough’s plan at meetings of the governing body. 
The dispute quickly escalated into one with allegations of serious mismanagement of the grant funds.
In June the borough conducted what it viewed as a detailed investigation of the accusations made by the protesters, and took the extra step of providing the results of that effort in a public resolution passed June 22 by the governing body.
The resolution that detailed the investigation by borough administrative officials referenced a long list of confirming opinions by state environmental managers and the borough’s consultant. The result of the resolution was a statement by council that it believed its experts, that it would move ahead with its plans, and that it would not continue to engage in dispute over the issue at council meetings.
Fast forward to late October and the effort to remove the Black Pines was implemented with 201 trees removed, put through wood chippers and carted away.
For Elaine Scattergood, one of the protesters, the borough was anxious to remove the evidence that would have shown that the trees were not under attack from the Southern pine beetle. “They chipped up the evidence,” she said.
Regarding Wright’s formal complaint, officials at the borough have not been able to locate any active investigation of a complaint concerning Avalon’s use of the grant.
The Herald has a copy of an email from staff at the Government Accountability Office that references Wright’s complaint along with a letter from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Hotline that also confirms that a complaint was filed.
Wright says her first complaint was closed and that she filed a second one which is still under review.
What Wright and the others on the 48th Street pathway allege is that the borough has not provided any definitive proof that the Southern pine beetle was present in the trees recently removed.
Two members of the advocates group took the extra step of hiring Mark Demitroff, a certified New Jersey tree expert.
Demitroff had addressed borough council in the summer when the residents tried to have the removal plan canceled or delayed.
His testimony was part of the record considered when council detailed its actions and passed its resolution of support for the process.
On this day at the 48th Street path, Demitroff spoke to the media as a representative of the protesters.
He argued that the state and the borough have repeatedly failed to show convincing evidence that the beetle infestation they say attacked these black pines ever existed.
Demitroff argued that two forms of convincing evidence should be readily available if the infestation were thorough as the borough says it was.
First, the borough should be able to produce evidence of the bug. “Show us the actual beetle,” he said. He said that infected trees would have clear markings under the bark, patterned beetle trails. Either of these would be proof of the presence of the beetle. 
Repeatedly through the half-hour press conference, Demitroff and the protesters pointed to the absence of proof that the trees had to be removed, and that an infestation of the Southern pine beetle was the reason.
Avalon Borough Administrator Scott Wahl said the consideration given to the tree management effort was exhaustive.
“The Borough of Avalon continues to rely on science to make the best decisions as it relates to a healthy ecosystem in our maritime forest. The presence of the Southern pine beetle in Japanese black pine trees in our dune system has been documented and verified by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the New Jersey Forestry Service, and by Avalon’s environmental consultant, Joe Lomax, who possesses a Master’s degree in entomology and ecology. These individuals and agencies have the credentials to provide the borough with the direction it needs to make responsible decisions,” Wahl stated.
With the 210 trees gone, the protesters who had fought to stop their removal turned their efforts to a new goal, a moratorium on tree removal without the involvement of a certified tree expert.  
The borough sees no need to add expertise to what it already has.
Avalon recently received its third consecutive approval on a five-year Community Forestry Management Plan and had established a related Dune Vegetative Management Plan.
The borough will likely continue to follow its plans, relying, according to Wahl, “Solely on the guidance of its credentialed experts.”
The protesters have already dismissed that guidance as inadequate and are likely to continue their opposition to any future removal of the Japanese black pines from the dunes.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.