Greenies Trip Up Jersey Boardwalk Plans

Tourists swarming New Jersey’s most popular shore this spring probably won’t notice the wooden planks underfoot, but officials and environmentalists have been fighting over them, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Wildwood's plan to import lumber from Brazilian rain forests—for a $3.5 million boardwalk renovation—has angered greenies who say the city vowed to pick environmentally friendly wood.

Wildwood’s mayor says he wanted “to do the right thing” by using American wood, but the wood the city received was inadequate; the supplier said the wood only looked bad, and has been used successfully elsewhere on the Jersey Shore. One shopowner hopes the dispute is settled soon: “We need to be ready when that first tourist sets foot on that boardwalk," she said. "Otherwise, in this economy, we're sunk.”
(More New Jersey stories.)