A call to renew Garden State Preservation Trust

Officials, environmental leaders gather at Plainsboro Preserve

By: Allison Musante
   PLAINSBORO — Under a cloudy sky Wednesday at the Plainsboro Preserve, local officials called for Gov. Jon Corzine and state legislators to renew the Garden State Preservation Trust, stressing the need for a stable, long-term funding source to continue to preserve open space and a high quality of life for New Jersey residents.
   The local officials, including Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein (D-Plainsboro) and members of the Keep It Green Campaign, said the current one-year $200 million stop-gap funding is inadequate. They urged legislators to convene during the summer to identify a long-term funding source that can go before voters in November.
   At the end of the Garden State Preservation Trust Act’s 10-year life, the trust is nearly bankrupt and has roughly $500 million in backlogged projects, according to Joanna Wolaver of the New Jersey Audubon Society, citing research conducted by the New Jersey Conservation Foundation.
   If the trust does not receive consistent funding, the future of preservation efforts, especially in protecting clean water, will be jeopardized, according to Jim Waltman, executive director of the Hopewell Township-based Stony-Brook Millstone Watershed Association.
   "The GSPT is the best tool we have to keep the garden in the Garden State," Mr. Waltman said. He added that New Jersey risks losing "our cultural identity and national reputation" as a leader in preserving open space and farmland.
   Ms. Wolaver said that New Jersey loses open space to development at a rate of 40 acres a day, and that a break in consistent funding risks further development in increasingly crowded communities across the state.
   "Even a brief lapse in program continuity could throw open the door for developers, halting current and future preservation efforts," Ms. Wolaver said.
   The Plainsboro Preserve was chosen to host the press meeting for its special significance as one of the trust’s many successes in protecting open space, natural resources, and community character.
   The preserve is also important because the 14th District, including Plainsboro, is experiencing increasing development, according to Assemblywoman Greenstein.
   "This place wouldn’t be here, and other beautiful places in the 14th District wouldn’t be here, if it were not for this program," she said, with the 50-acre McCormack Lake serving as a backdrop.
   She also disputed reports that Gov. Corzine was opposed to renewing the trust. She said the governor does support open space, but in light of his recent car accident, he is still trying to get back on track.
   Former Gov. Christine Whitman established the trust in 1999 under the Garden State Preservation Trust Act to allow New Jersey to preserve 1 million acres of open space for 10 years. In its lifetime the trust successfully preserved 432,000 acres of open space.
   Under the act, the trust is the main funding mechanism for the Green Acres program, the New Jersey Historic Trust program and the Garden State Farmland Preservation program. The $200 million stop-gap fund, which the Senate and Assembly have authorized in the form of bonds, will temporarily fund these three programs.
   The Keep It Green Campaign is a coalition of over 90 environmental organizations, land trusts, sportsmen’s groups, faith-based groups, watershed associations, historic preservation, and advocates for affordable housing and urban parks.