Forbidden Fruit: Scrounging next to an Interstate

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R

richg

Minister of Fire
Nov 20, 2005
888
Gang,

My drive to and from work takes me past a section of dividied highway where a number of big hardwoods were just cut down. Even at 65mph (the slowest you can go in NJ without getting flattend bya semi), I was able to identify beech, oak, ash and hickory. The problem is that the wood is located in the median of a divided highway with a minimal shoulder and guard rails to prevent getting off road. I should probably just forget about it, but does anyone have any creative techniques they have used for such a situation. Mind you, no wood is worth putting life or limb in jeopardy, but we are talking the mother of all loads of free wood. Ah, NJ, gotta love her. I guess the reason the wood is still there is that you can't get at it, otherwise the locust swarms of scroungers (like me) would have tkaen it already.
 
I am also in NJ. I always see nice stuff laying on the sides. Sometimes it does disappear. Most of it is in dangerous locations.
 
Possibly late night scrounging to minimize traffic hazards?? Not sure of the laws and restrictions but if it is legal to scrounge I would think this is your safest approach
 
BobUrban said:
Possibly late night scrounging to minimize traffic hazards?? Not sure of the laws and restrictions but if it is legal to scrounge I would think this is your safest approach
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I'd say the NJ State Police would be on you quicker than a bum on a baloney sandwich if you go for it.In Ohio no pedestrians allowed on interstates. NJ probably same or worse.
 
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Hire a helicopter? ==c
 
i,m willing to bet you'd be able to buy twice that amount of wood
with the amount of fines you'd get
 
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That sounds like a terible waste to me. I think where their is a will there is a way.
 
I also see a lot of down trees and logs that the DOT has cut up on the side of the road...anybody in NY know what the rules are or where I can find them?
 
RORY12553 said:
I also see a lot of down trees and logs that the DOT has cut up on the side of the road...anybody in NY know what the rules are or where I can find them?
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Perhaps the NY DOT would know.
 
Sounds like a trap to me!
 
I would not scrounge off an interstate in any state. Especially if there is little or no shoulder.
I have scrounged off NYS highways for years with no problems. DOT, EPA, and every kind of police have driven by me countless times while I'm at it. Just be sure to stay off the road and BE SAFE! I have only done this on what I know to be public land. Unlike what others on this site have reported, around me the state or town owns the land near the road.
 
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People killed every year around here. Stopped on the side of the interstate, walking along the interstate, working on the interstate, etc.
 
make friends with someone on the state highway crew, they have to remove enough wood FROM the road they may have extra or a place they dump it all that you could scrounge at. I grew up near a state highway yard in MA, there was one corner that they dumped the wood in, another where the scrap metal went, and another pile the tire pieces went. I didn't burn wood, didn't care about scrap then, but did ask and visit the tire pile more than once to get a tread to nail onto the docks and piers to protect boats.
 
I've seen many hunters in the fall pull off the interstate and park well off the shoulder near the tree line without a problem. But these same interstates also post "emergency stopping only" signs up every few miles.
 
Even if it was legal, if you can't get way off of the road, then it's a deal breaker. Not only for your own safety but would hate to see someone get killed by driving into the back of your vehicle at 65+

pen
 
Why not just visit the local state police barracks and ask? Chances are one of them may be a fellow wood burner, and willing to offer some roadside assistance for a share of the catch.
 
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Is your life worth a few logs ? That's what I would ask myself !

Pete
 
It is possible to contact the dot and see if they have a wood dump as well. Maybe it's free for scrounges ! We have one near us and it gets filled right up then emptied by scrounges all the time.

Re-Pete
 
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