N.J. town is turning an old sand pit into a nature preserve. The problem? Dirt bikers.

In four years, a mostly rural town in the Pine Barrens has reformed a former 110-acre sand mine into a vast outdoor public space, and has begun tree planting and other conservation efforts to return the land to its natural forest-like state.
The transition of the former Ole Hansen & Sons construction mine in Galloway Township to forested public space is being hampered, local officials told NJ Advance Media, by dirt bikers.
Law enforcement has been grappling with illegal riding through what is now a township nature preserve, since Ole Hansen & Sons gifted the land to Galloway in the months leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic. Local officials say the unlawful riding has damaged trails and disrupted newly planted trees from growing.
“Once people head on to our roadways, that creates a big safety problem,” Township Police Lt. Mark D’Esposito said.
It’s a delicate balance, local officials said, as they do not want to discourage the popular activity, but aim to redirect it onto permitted trails.
Galloway Township Mayor Tony Coppola said the area’s abundant woods and rustic land has made dirt biking a past time that’s really taken root in town, especially among young riders.
“I don’t look at these kids as the enemy,” Coppola said. “I just want to reeducate them that vandalism is not going to be tolerated. They’ve got to find a different place to ride.”
Illegal riding at the reserve, which is located behind Old Port Road, has been reported to police multiple times over the past four months, the most recent being Nov. 7, D’Esposito said. The riders, he said, tend to be children or young adults.
On Thursday, police announced charges against two township men, ages 23 and 18, who authorities said harassed reserve workers when they brought their bikes there late last month.
When approached about being forced out of the reserve, the riders “made obscene gestures” and used their bikes to spray “rocks, dirt, and debris” toward the workers, police said.
Before encountering the reserve’s workers, both bikers were seen riding their bikes on other roads in the area. They were charged Thursday with traffic violations, operating a prohibited vehicle in a recreational area and eluding.
“It’s a liability to the township,” D’Esposito said. “That’s not set up to be a dirt bike pit, so if somebody gets injured in there, it’s a lot of liability on Galloway Township.”
Ole Hansen & Sons, which has been a cornerstone of construction in South Jersey, used the land to harvest sand for its operations. Rather than develop it for housing, Galloway became its steward for $1, a deal that Coppolala said stretched into late 2019. The township assumed the property in early 2020.
Since then, paths and benches have been placed, along with about 15,000 saplings from Stockton University. The plantings span 20 acres, and town officials say the hope is that as the trees grow, the retired mining pit will become a thriving habitat for them.
Stockton was obligated by the New Jersey Department of Environmental to replace trees culled as part of its campus expansion. The work was completed in 2019, leaving township officials to maintain the area afterward.
“We thought, ‘what better way to reclaim this area than to utilize it for that?’” Coppola said. “We did trees that are indigenous to the area here, so these aren’t invasive species trees.”
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Eric Conklin may be reached at [email protected].