Concurring with that sentiment was environmentalist Bill Wolfe, who served in various roles with the NJDEP for 13 years, including that of policy advisor to the commissioner, was policy director of the New Jersey Sierra Club for seven years, founder of the nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and currently writes an Internet blog called WolfeNotes.com.

Wolfe, who noted that the NJDEP has been attempting to get the commission to approve a tree-thinning project in Bass River for the past 15 years, contended that LaTourette had relied on a newly exaggerated fear of wildfires, which he claimed at one point are “out of control,” to convince the commission to endorse the amended plan.