From the Asbury Park Press:
Land preservation funding running out
The state fund used to help keep open spaces from disappearing across New Jersey is in need of a replenishment of its own.
Local and statewide groups focused on the environment, urban parks and historic preservation have launched a campaign to renew and enhance what they described as the “chronically underfunded” Garden State Preservation Fund, the primary source of cash for park, farm, natural and historical protection. The fund is expected to run out of money in early 2007, and the coalition is advocating for additional funds from state government.
Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club, said that in the race for open space, the fund is just about out of gas.
“It is critical for us to work together to call on legislative leaders, the governor and local officials to work together to come up with a stable source of funding that’s going to get dedicated to make sure that these open space programs go forward,” said Tittel. “Time is running out, and time is of the essence.”
The coalition said the preservation program needs $225 million a year to go for acquisition of open spaces, $100 million a year for capital projects and $56 million a year for operations.
Although nearly 200,000 acres have been saved for farming, the coalition says over $450 million in applications remain unfunded. Further complicating matters, one-third of the Division of Parks and Forestry staff has been reduced over the past decade, creating a problem in maintenance and care.
I wonder how much fraud was involved in this program. Of course, it will never be investigated.
I can only speak from my experience in one town in Monmouth County, but this program saved acres and acres of land that would’ve been snapped up and (over)developed.
If you feel strongly, mifune, that there’s fraud in a program, you should communicate this to one of your representatives. Much more productive that speculating on a blog.
Ahh, but KAA my representatives are the ones I suspect of fraud.
~Rep – This is a needed program that preserves green spaces from teh eval developers – And I and my friends just so happen to have land the program can buy. Isn’t that nifty?~
I have no love of RE developers, and admire preserving “green spaces”, but I’ve lived in NJ long enough to know exactly how these things play out. Indeed its almost a perfect setup, difficult to vote against and you’d feel like a heel for complaining about it. They are anything but gaudy.
mifune–You say you suspect, but do you know? And, if you do know, are you going to your township meetings to make these facts public? I was born and raised in New Jersey, and I’m now 54, so I know how these things play out, too. But I also know that they will continue to play out in exactly the ways you fear unless people become more involved.
And, btw, though you may vote to fund the Green Space program statewide, you probably do not vote on the specific properties which are acquired through it. In the town that I’m familiar with, a volunteer committee makes property recommendations to the township council, which then votes for or against acquisition. The property owners, in fact, are generally the ones who contact the committee, which then performs an evaluation. Properties which flunk for some reason–or for which the owners want too much money–don’t get recommended for acquisition.
And, believe me, a corrupt politician would make far, far more money selling to a developer than to the Green Space program. That I have seen happen.
mifune–You say you suspect, but do you know?
If you mean “beyond a reasonable doubt” know – then no, I don’t. If you mean, “Hey isn’t the guy you’re buying from your cousin ?” then yes I do. I’ve gone to the meetings too. Its remarkable how much police attention you receive if you start asking unseemly questions. And no, I didn’t and wont report this to anyone higher, I’m not an idiot and can see where this would lead. I like my thumbs in their current condition.
I became more involved as well. I moved out of state in June.