Poplar Wildlife Sanctuary,
River Vale – Local Bergen County activists, Environment New
Jersey and Asw. Charlotte Vandervalk and Sen. Gerald Cardinale gathered today
to spotlight Bergen County’s unrelenting battles to
preserve open space and to call for further action from the Legislature this
year.
Even
after a one-year $200 million stop-gap measure passed the Legislature on the
last day of the session, the solvency of the Garden State Preservation Trust is
still unresolved. Environment New Jersey is launching a state-wide
pledge campaign targeting the Legislature, asking them to ask the Legislative
leadership and the Governor to finalize long-term funding for the open space
trust fund by the end of the summer, and then pass the measure after the fall
elections.
“In New Jersey, we can’t afford to scramble every year to assure
open space funding. The Legislature should be leading the charge to protect
open space for the long-term this year, and not give developers the upper
hand,” said Anne Halkias, Environment New Jersey’s Ridgewood canvass director.
The moment for action in Bergen County couldn’t be
more urgent. According to land-use data
compiled by Professors Richard Lathrop and John Hosse of Rutgers
University, Bergen County has effectively been fully developed. Over
2,298
acres were lost to development between 1986 and 2002, and the county
has less
than 10% open space left.
“The renewal of the Garden
State Preservation Trust is not a debt for our future, but really an investment
in our future to make sure there are places in New Jersey where we can enjoy
air, water and a peaceful environment,” said Senator Loretta Weinberg (D-37) in
a prepared statement.
The legislative pledge was
distributed to all legislative offices starting last week. The pledge, which is
attached to this release, consists of three main planks:
1)
Encourage
legislative leaders and the Governor to develop a stable funding plan before
the end of the summer to fully renew the fund
2)
Work for passage
for full funding before the end of the legislative session of dedicated funding
of $380 million a year for 10 years for open space preservation and park
maintenance and operations
3)
To ensure that
the stop-gap funding of $200 million, if approved by the voters, is fully
appropriated by early next summer to keep the trust fund robust in early 2008.
“Developers don’t take a
vacation during the summer, and we can’t afford to wait till next summer to
solve this crisis,” Halkias said. “The
loss of our open spaces – and the lack of full funding for the open space trust
fund – means the Governor and Legislative leaders should hit the books early
and hammer out a plan.”
Environment New Jersey, along with our coalition partners, will also educate
the public about the open space ballot question facing the public this fall and
will work to deliver a resounding yes vote on the measure. This summer,
however, is a golden opportunity for the Legislature to solve the larger
problem of long-term stable funding for the open space program.
Environment New Jersey’s Ridgewood canvass office
has been talking with Bergen County residents all summer, going
door-to-door across the
county about full open space funding and encouraging Legislative
action. The
office, which has had over 20 full-time canvassers, will surpass over
50,000
citizens talked to by August.
In Bergen County, the value of the open space fund can be seen in
three intense development battles:
1) Paramus: Local activists are fighting to preserve the Paramus Wetlands, a
35-acre site of environmentally sensitive land which is located in a 100-year
flood plain and feeds streams which feed the Oradell Reservoir. A key hearing
is expected on Thursday.
2) Fair Lawn: The fight to preserve Daly Field has drawn a cadre of
citizens who have rallied together to attempt to get state funding to preserve
the property in downtown Fair Lawn and create a
central downtown park.
3) River Vale:
The Poplar Road watershed lands
are 26 acres comprised of three parcels
immediately bordering the Lake Tappan Reservoir
and its feeding waterways in addition
to the Poplar Wildlife Sanctuary.
Local towns were outspoken on
the need for stable funding for the program. Over 145 municipalities and 11
counties as well as the New Jersey Association of Counties passed resolutions
in support of renewing the Garden State Preservation Trust this year.
The Garden State Preservation
Trust provides the main funding mechanism for the Green Acres and Farmland
Preservation program and the New Jersey Historic Trust as well as grants for
urban park acquisition and improvement projects. Initiated in the late 1990s, the Trust has
successfully preserved over 400,000 acres of open space. The open space trust
fund provides matching grants for the over 226 municipalities and all 21
counties that collect local open taxes.
“New Jersey loses close to 50 acres to more sprawl every day, and
the Governor and Legislative leader can’t afford to wait till next year. The
time is now to hammer out a plan to fully protect our open spaces and give us a
fighting chance against developers,” Halkias concluded.
***
Save Our Parks, Farmland, and Historic Treasures
Pledge To
Secure Long-Term, Stable Funding For The Garden State Preservation
Trust
I, _________________, of District ________, pledge
to secure and support a constitutionally dedicated stable funding source for
the Garden State Preservation Trust.
As part of this pledge, I will:
1) Encourage legislative leaders and the Governor to
devise a plan for securing a
constitutionally dedicated, stable funding sources for the Garden State
Preservation Trust by August of 2007;
2) Work for passage of the stable funding source during
the current legislative session dedicating $380 million a year for ten years for
open space preservation, including $15
million a year for state and local parks improvement and $32 million each year
thereafter, $60 million a year for state and local park maintenance and
operation, and increased appropriations for the NJDEP Fish and Wildlife, Parks
and Forestry, and the Office of Natural Resources Restoration in the state
budget to provide adequate stewardship of the state’s preserved open space and
wildlife resources.
3) Ensure the stop gap funding of $200 million on the
ballot this year is spent before June of 2008 to ensure the program remains
robust while the stable source is identified and adopted.
These actions are essential for the state of New
Jersey to meet the following goals:
To ensure that funding for
the Garden State Preservation Trust will be predictable in the future, so that
New Jerseyans of today and tomorrow may enjoy the state’s valuable preserved
lands and open spaces, and benefit from the tremendous environmental protection
and ecosystem services these programs provides; and
To support the over 226
municipalities and 21 counties that collect local and county open space taxes
and rely on the matching support of the Garden State Preservation Trust; and
To protect and maintain New
Jersey’s drinking water supply, allowing municipalities to provide clean
drinking water to their residents without over stressing water treatment
facilities and supply lines; and
To maintain New Jersey’s
agricultural heritage by ensuring that constitutionally dedicated funds are
available to farmers wishing to include their lands under the Farmland
Preservation program; and
To protect New Jersey’s cultural and historic heritage with continued
funding for the New Jersey Historic Trust.; and
To provide increased and
enhanced parks and recreational opportunities in urban communities; and
To purchase flood prone
properties from willing sellers under the recently created Blue Acres program,
preventing future environmental disasters like the April 2007 nor’easter which
forced evacuations throughout New Jersey and caused millions of dollars in property damage.
Save Our Parks, Farmland, and Historic Treasures Pledge To Secure Long-Term,
Stable Funding For The Garden State
Preservation Trust
Why This Pledge Is Needed
The Garden State Preservation
Trust is in desperate need of a reliable funding source for two reasons:
1) We are losing open space
and parks at an unprecedented rate, close to 50 acres or nearly 50 football
fields a day. New Jersey is projected to reach full build-out in the next 30
years, according to a Rutgers University study conducted by Richard Lathrop. 2) a $200 million stop gap funding measure
was just approved by the Senate and Assembly to keep the Garden State Preservation
Trust afloat for only one fiscal year. While this will continue to fund the
Trust’s programs in the interim, the entirety of these funds will be allocated
by June of 2008 if these programs continue to operate at their historic
levels. This means that we need to place
a ballot question in front of the voters in November of 2008 constitutionally
dedicating a long-term, stable funding source for the Garden State Preservation
Trust to prevent any lapse in program operations.
What this means is that New Jersey’s last remaining open spaces, farmland, and historic
sites are at great risk:
1) Shrewsbury - The moment
for action in Monmouth County couldn’t be
more urgent. According to land-use data compiled by Professors Richard Lathrop
and John Hosse of Rutgers University, Monmouth County is ground
zero for sprawl in the state. Between 1995 and 2002, it was ranked top in the
state for annual increase in urban acres (1,801), top in loss of farms (annual
loss of 1,038 acres) and top in annual loss of wetlands (353 acres).
2) Great Falls, Paterson – Paterson, New Jersey has a wonderful history as being the nation’s first planned industrial
city. It is also home to the second-highest large-volume falls on the East
Coast. The Great Falls National
Historic Landmark district is slated to
become home to one of New Jersey’s newest
urban state park initiatives. The state proposes to undertake the majority of
the proposed work in this effort. However, park efforts cannot be thoroughly
completed and maintained unless a stable funding source is in place for its
support.
3) The Paramus
Wetlands – More than 35 acres of environmentally sensitive land is
currently threatened by JDME Acquisition’s proposal to build 144 units, an
over-sized high-density project dubbed Enchantment at Paramus. The land is home
to Soldier Hill Brook, a Category One stream as well as other waterways that
drain into the Musquapsink Brook which directly feeds the Oradell Reservoir, a
source of drinking water for over 750,000 people. The land is also located in the 100 year
flood plain.
Solution
The solution to preserve open
space, farmland, historic sites, protect our drinking water supply, and
maintain our quality of life is to secure a stable, long-term funding source for
the Garden State Preservation Trust, funding acquisition, capital improvements,
and the operations and maintenance of New Jersey parklands, farmlands, and
historic sites.
The public has overwhelmingly
supported open space ballot questions in the past, demonstrating your
willingness to act on an issue that truly resonates with your constituents.
The State of New Jersey must
constitutionally dedicate a stable, long-term funding for source of $225
million a year for open space preservation (which can be bonded for far more),
$15 million a year for state and local parks improvement and $32 million each
year thereafter, $60 million a year for state and local park maintenance and
operation, and increased appropriations for the NJDEP Fish and Wildlife, Parks
and Forestry, and the Office of Natural Resources Restoration in the state
budget to provide adequate stewardship of the state’s preserved open space and
wildlife resources through the Garden State Preservation Trust.
