§§1,2 -

C.13:1L-11.1 &

13:1L-11.2

 


P.L. 2019, CHAPTER 99, approved May 10, 2019

Senate, No. 542 (Second Reprint)

 

 


An Act designating High Point State Park as High Point 2[Veterans’]2 State Park 2and New Jersey Veterans Memorial2 and amending and supplementing P.L.1983, c.324.

 

     Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

     1.    (New section)  The Legislature finds and declares that:

     a.     In 1918, the New Jersey Department of Conservation and Development proposed the creation “on the Kittatinny Mountains in Sussex and Warren counties a great forest park for the benefit of the whole people.”

     b.    In 1920, Director Alfred Gaskil of the Division of Parks and Forestry suggested “that the park be established as the State’s memorial to its sons who had made the supreme sacrifice in the Great War.”

     c.     1[In fulfillment of this plan,]1 Colonel Anthony Kuser deeded his mountaintop summer estate at High Point to the State in 1923 for a public park and avian sanctuary.

     d.    In November 1927, Colonel Kuser further donated $500,000 to erect a granite-clad obelisk on New Jersey’s highest peak to honor the veterans of all wars.

     e.     The High Point 2[Veterans’]2 Monument was dedicated to the “Glory and Honor and Eternal Memory of New Jersey’s heroes by land, sea, and air, in all wars of our Country” in June 1930.

     f.     Although the High Point 2[Veterans’]2 Monument is one of the most visible and best known landmarks in the State, and is a symbol of the State’s parks and forests, the purpose for which it was built has 1[receded from memory] diminished over time1, and the surrounding park is 1[now]1 only known by the name High Point State Park.  

     g.    It is therefore appropriate to rename the entire park to 1[emphasize the original purpose to which it was dedicated and to] match the honoring of veterans for which the iconic monument was dedicated, and thereby show1 respect 1to1 the men and women who have given their lives to protect this country.

     2.    (New section)  a.  High Point State Park is designated as High Point 2[Veterans’]2 State Park 2and New Jersey Veterans Memorial2.

     b.    The Department of Environmental Protection, through its Division of Parks and Forestry, shall alter its official publications to reflect this designation, and shall make expeditious efforts to replace any existing signs, advertisements, or any other public indicators of the park’s name to reflect this designation. 

 

     3.    Section 11 of P.L.1983, c.324 (C.13:1L-11) is amended to read as follows:

     11.  a.  In specific regard to High Point 2[Veterans’]2 State Park 2and New Jersey Veterans Memorial2, the department shall not allow the shooting or trapping of birds on park grounds, other than that of vermin, and then only by authorized representatives of the State.

     b.    As Island Beach State Park is a unique recreational resource and is highly valued for its topography, flora and fauna, it shall be preserved, maintained and improved in such a manner as the department determines will best perpetuate the present physical state.

(cf: P.L.1983, c.324, s.11)

 

     4.    This act shall take effect immediately.

 

 

                                

 

     Designates High Point State Park as High Point State Park and New Jersey Veterans Memorial.