Public Access
3. New Jersey Public Access
While great resources exist on the Web with respect to public beach
access in general (see the Toolkit),
only a moderate amount of information is available directly for
New Jersey.
The Surfrider Foundation undertook a published in 2004
(dubbed the State of the Beach 2004) in an attempt to quantify various
aspects of beach quality around the nation, by state.
These factors included "beach access, surf zone water quality,
beach erosion, beach fill, shoreline structures, erosion response,
beach ecology and surfing areas".
While completed from a surfing perspective, the report and easily
accessible summary of public access of coastal states to ocean beaches.
Not included in this report is public access to bayside or fluvial
beaches.
New Jersey's beaches fared moderately well in the report.
With regards to public access, New Jersey received a 6 on a 1 to 10 scale,
but only a 4 on "status". Between 4-6 is rated as fair.
These values are based on mileage of shoreline per access point,
percent private ownership of beach, and quality of the accessible beach.
Some of the biggest concerns for public access in New Jersey include a lack
of a public available site inventory of public access points.
Partial lists do exist but are not digital, not available,
or incomplete. The NJ-DEP is planning to pursue this with coastal
stakeholders, and has made information available on two websites
(www.njbeaches.org and
www.earth911.org).
Additionally, a citizen advocacy group,
Citizens Right to Access Beaches, or
C.R.A.B, formed in Point Pleasant,
New Jersey, in 1996 advocates access issues across the state.
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