Parks directive hits a rough patch

TRENTON - The new federal directive has a progressive goal: giving disabled residents a better chance to enjoy public parklands by letting them use motorized vehicles on trails.

Park supervisors can prohibit such access only if they document that conditions are too rough on a given trail and publicly post the findings.

But those seemingly simple changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act have New Jersey and county parklands staff scrambling to assess thousands of miles of trails. They also are rubbing up against the state's ban on motorized vehicles in environmentally sensitive lands.

In total, officials say, they face a logistical nightmare with wide-ranging consequences.

"This is not something we can do instantly," said Larry Ragonese, spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection. "We have thousands of acres and miles of trails in New Jersey. And it's not as simple as putting up a sign and saying, 'Motor through.' "

The ADA is a 1990 federal civil-rights law banning discrimination against the disabled. Changes to its Title II, initiated by the Department of Justice, went into effect March 15. As of then, if an official study hasn't certified that a publicly accessible trail is unfit for such traffic, that trail is open to all with mobility disabilities who operate "other power-driven mobility devices." And that's regardless of whether the trail crosses privately or publicly owned land.

Several trails in New Jersey state parks already have points that are paved and that have been authorized for motor vehicle access, but only one is designated a completely "ADA-accessible" trail: the Marsh Discovery Trail in Richard W. DeKorte Park at the Meadowlands Environment Center in Lyndhurst.

Parkland stewards note that the ADA changes provide no specific definitions of "other power-driven mobility device" - whether that can mean a motorized wheelchair, golf cart, ATV, or even a pickup truck. And that's resulted in confusion. Staffers at several parks in North Jersey who were surveyed by the Record newspaper were unaware of the changes. And for residents who want to know the status of official assessments, there are few Web sources.

Before the new ADA directives, most combustion-motor vehicles were banned on most trails at the national, state, and county level because of pollution factors and the risk of damaging fragile trails and ecosystems. That concern has long been a source of conflict between motor-sport activists and environmental preservationists. Now, the new law says a blanket ban on motor vehicles will no longer suffice.

"We face imminent danger of a fundamental alteration to our backcountry trails, including the Appalachian Trail," the Appalachian Trail Conservancy wrote to the Department of Justice.