NJOA Declares Victory On Park Re-Openings

Trenton – Sportsmen coalition thanks legislators, other leaders for their support.

The New Jersey Outdoor Alliance on Wednesday released a statement declaring victory on the parks re-opening issue and thanking a bipartisan list of local and legislative leaders for taking decisive action to re-open the state’s open spaces.

“The New Jersey Outdoor Alliance congratulates the Governor on listening to the chorus of common sense and re-opening parks. The parks re-opening was a no-brainer – and the science is clear that outdoor activity is key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle and both physical and mental health during this crisis.” said NJOA Vice President Cody McLaughlin, “The NJOA have advocated for the safe and responsible re-opening of parks since day one of this order. Nothing is of higher priority to our members and supporters and we are proud to celebrate our outdoor heritage with this win for common sense re-opening.”

In addition to the Governor, the NJOA would like to thank the following leaders and others for their support on this issue:

• NJOA’s thousands of members and supporters who called their leaders and the Governor’s office relentlessly to be heard on this issue.
• Senate President Steve Sweeney for his support
• Senators Steve Oroho, Declan O’Scanlon, Teresa Ruiz, Troy Singleton, Anthoy Bucco, Tom Kean and Mike Testa for joining our calls to re-open parks safely and responsibly.
• Assemblymen Jay Webber, Parker Space, Hal Wirths, Greg McGckin, John Catalano, Holly Schepisi, and Serena DiMaso for their vocal and consistent support on this matter.
• NJ GOP Chairman Doug Steinhardt for his repeated calls to re-open parks.
• NJ Department of Environmental Protection staff for their work to make park openings possible.
• Bipartisan Freeholders from Passaic And Sussex Counties for their repeated calls to, and to Sussex Freeholder Dawn Fantasia especially for being a vocal voice of reason on this issue.

The New Jersey Outdoor alliance repeatedly called on the Governor to re-open parks in what has been undoubtedly the most controversial of the governor’s executive orders during the COVID-19 crisis, and ultimately released a comprehensive plan to re-open parks safely and responsibly which are well-represented in the Governor’s parks re-opening plan.

About the New Jersey Outdoor Alliance: New Jersey Outdoor Alliance’s mission is “preservation through conservation.” NJOA serves as a grassroots coalition of outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen dedicated to the conservation of natural resources and environmental stewardship that champions the intrinsic value of fishing, hunting and trapping, among opinion leaders, policy makers, and the public at-large. To learn more about the organization, please visit: https://njoutdooralliance.org/.