Open Space News

Trenton –A report authored by Environment America and released by state environmental and conservation groups today highlights New Jersey’s declining commitment to open space preservation as other states champion ballot measures this fall to bolster and expand their open space programs. America lost 21.6 million acres of forests, fields, and farmland to development from 1992 to 2003 – an area larger than the state of Maine. Over roughly the same time period, 1995 – 2002, New Jersey lost 106,000 acres of open space, a land area equal to two times the size of Union County.

“To preserve their natural heritage, states around the nation have set up programs to buy up open space before it is lost to the next subdivision.  As this report documents, New Jersey New Jersey program in grave doubt,” said Dena Mottola Jaborska, Executive Director of Environment New Jersey.  has always been the model for other states, but that could change if we don’t shore up funding for the state open space program this year. By failing to renew stable funding for the program year after year, Governor Corzine has left the future of the

Preserving Our Natural Heritage details how states like Colorado are expanding their programs this year, and how New Hampshire and Georgia. The report also details a wide range of problems with open space programs around the nation, from widely fluctuating funding levels to raids on funds, and failures to fully commit funds earmarked for open space.  As the report details, New Jersey has been a model program with few states allocating more funding annually to land preservation. But uncertainty about the program’s future leaves that state’s status as an open space leader in question. have recently shored up their programs by establishing new funding streams.

“When it comes to protecting Open Space New Jersey is going from First to Worst “stated Jeff Tittel Director NJ Sierra Club   “Unless the Garden State Preservation Trust Fund is re-authorized we are out of funds and the bulldozers win.”

In 1998, New Jersey moved to bring stability to its preservation funding efforts by constitutionally dedicating a .25 percentage point portion of the sales tax through 2009, garnering over $2 billion in funding for open space over the last ten years.  Faced with a depletion of that funding ahead of schedule, Governor Corzine made a series of promises to establish stable open space funding, starting in the fall of 2005 when he made 2006 renewal of open space funding a major piece of his campaign’s environmental agenda. Since taking office, the Governor has promised to establish a stable funding source, within the year, at least three times: in August of 2006, again in early 2007 and once again in summer 2008.  The Governor’s current position is that funding for open space should be established next fall, in 2009.

“The Governor promised to establish stable funding for open space when he was running for office, and he has again promised ‘next year’ every year since he has been in office. But three years later, he still has no plan to establish stable funding for the state’s open space preservation program, with the program nearer than ever to bankruptcy and the economy uncertain,” said David Pringle, Campaign Director of the New Jersey Environmental Federation.

Last fall New Jersey voters supported a ballot question to bond for $200 million in stop-gap funding for the current fiscal year July 2008 – August 2009. After filling in the gap for a shortage of funds the previous year, that funding has nearly all been spent, with the portion dedicated to farmland all appropriated and the remaining funds already earmarked for projects by the Garden State Preservation Trust Fund, and awaiting legislative approval. Without action this fall to establish new funding, the state’s open space preservation program will come to a halt for at least a year and possibly two years or more.

For the first time in decades, New Jersey is without a solid plan to fund its open space program – putting government at odds with the voting public which continues to strongly support these programs”, said Alison Mitchell, Policy Director of New Jersey Conservation Foundation.

Despite trouble in the economy, the following states are expanding their open space preservation programs this fall: 

• Minnesota:  the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment, up for voter approval this fall, would dedicate a portion of the sales tax to fund wildlife habitat and parks for the next 25 years, garnering an estimated $240 million annually for watershed land preservation, parks and wildlife protection.

• Ohio:  the Clean Ohio measure, up for voter approval this fall, would establish a $400 million bond for conservation in the Buckeye state.

• Colorado:  Colorado already dedicates 50 percent of annual lottery proceeds to open space preservation but funding is capped at $50.2 million. Initiative 113, on the ballot this fall, would expanding funding for land preservation by an estimated $50 million annually through an increase of the severance tax that the oil and gas industry pay to drill on public land (to 5 percent of revenue) and direct 15 percent of that increase to safeguarding wildlife habitat.

• Georgia: The Forest Preservation Amendment of HR 1276 is a legislatively referred constitutional amendment that will encourage the preservation, conservation and protection of the state’s forests through the special assessment and tax breaks for owners of forested lands. The state will reimburse local governments roughly $34 million annually for lost tax revenues which result from the local tax breaks provided to landowners. 

The report also highlights several states that have recently taken action to shore up their open space programs including New Hampshire which created a dedicated revenue stream for the New Hampshire Land and Community Heritage Investment program through a statewide $25 fee on all real estate deed transfers.  And in 2006 the Georgia Legislature passed a land conversation tax credit, which allows taxpayers who donate land through conservation easements to receive income tax credits of up to 25 percent of the value of the gifted land.

“With the real-estate market still reeling, states have a chance to protect their cherished landscapes at bargain prices,” said Tom Gilbert, Mid-Atlantic Conservation Finance Director with The Trust for Public Land.  “But without stable funding, New Jersey would miss this historic opportunity to efficiently protect its last remaining open spaces.”

The experience of the state open space preservation programs highlighted in this report suggest that any future state level land preservation efforts should employ the following principles, most of which New Jersey’s soon-to -be expired program currently embodies:

1) Plan for and finance preservation over the long term.

2) Create a dedicated funding stream; the only way to truly dedicate funding is constitutionally.

3) Set goals and evaluate progress.

4) Create funding mechanisms that align with preservation priorities.

5) Harness local and private resources.

6) Combine land preservation with effective land use planning.

7) Ensure taxpayers that preserved land will remain protected.

8) Seek public support through voter approval to prevent policymakers from raiding funds.

Preserving-Americas-Natural-Heritage.pdf