Earth Day 2009 Open Space Victory!

On Earth Day, NJEF celebrated a great open space victory - Petty's Island is officially being preserved as an ecological, cultural and historical preserve. NJEF has been fighting to preserve Petty's Island, a 529-acre island located in the Delaware River, close to Camden, for the past three years. Petty's Island is a treasured area, home to nesting bald eagles, endangered herons, and other wildlife. It will be permanently protected as one of the last parcels of open space amidst a sea of sprawl.

Protecting the New Jersey Highlands

In 2003, NJEF helped to pass the NJ Highlands Protection Act, one of New Jersey's most important drinking water laws. The NJ Highlands consists of 800,000 acres of forest stretching from NW Bergen County to Northern Hunterdon County.

• The law will protect the Highlands' natural resources, especially its water supplies, the source of half the state's drinking water (for 5.4 million New Jerseyans). These resources are critical to NJ's economy: our 3 largest industries (food processing, recreation-tourism-fishing, and pharmaceutical) are all water-dependent. Nearly 150 threatened and endangered species call the NJ Highlands their home. If the Highlands are not adequately protected, the cost for additional water treatment (excludes additional health care costs) in its service area alone would be $100 billion over 50 years

The Highland's Act's implementation is years behind schedule. The NJ Highlands Final Draft Regional Master Plan (RMP) has been released, but it does not provide adequate protections. NJEF is working to strengthen and implement the RMP as soon as possible. The protection of this crucial resource is an environmental, moral and economic imperative for the people of New Jersey. The RMP should be strengthened by the following measures:

• Development in Water Deficit Areas (110 of the 183 subwatersheds in the Highlands) should not be allowed-i.e. no more development where water is not currently available.
• Extension of sewers and "package plants" in the Preservation Area should be prohibited except as specifically provided for in the Act, i.e., for health and safety, not for clusters and redevelopment.
• Eliminate exemptions to the requirement for 300' buffers around important waters.
• Practical Guidelines must be in place to protect, enhance and restore Natural Resources: There must be a clear hierarchy of preventing damage to natural resources requiring applicants to move through avoidance as the preferred alternative, minimization second, and mitigation as the last resort including benchmarks to prove its success before more development can. In addition, forest resources should be protected and enhanced by requiring state certified forester approved Forest Stewardship Plans, not the weaker Woodland Management Plans in all cases.
• Ensure environmentally sensitive features in Existing Community Zones receive strict protections.
• Make clearer and more protective standards for Map Adjustments to prevent "lets make a deal".
• Expedite the development of documents, standards and guidance which must be in place to meet the bar set by the Plan's Objectives.

Garden State Preservation Trust (GSPT)

The Keep It Green Campaign is a coalition of over 90 environmental organizations, land trusts, sportsmen's groups, faith-based groups, watershed associations, and historic preservation, affordable housing and urban park advocates from across the state working to ensure funding for the state's GSPT. The GSPT has been the nation's most successful open space program, saving hundreds of thousands of acres a year, but is running out of funding. Protecting open space is not only important to the environment, but it is also a key cog in NJ's economic engine.

Historically, voters have supported funding for open space. For example, on Election Day 2007, voters decided YES on Ballot Question #3, the Green Acres, Farmland, Blue Acres and Historic Preservation Bond Act, to provide funding to protect NJ's open space, farmland, and historic places from development.

NJEF and the Keep it Green campaign have been working hard to preserve NJ's open space. In 2007, we ran radio ads and held numerous press events to support funding for the GSPT.

We must protect open space and stop sprawl or we will continue to see adverse impacts on the state's drinking water supply, as well as the loss of parks and recreational opportunities for our children and families.

Listen to the ad (.mp3)

Critical Habitat

NJEF, along with NJ Audubon and other environmental groups have launched a campaign to protect New Jersey's critical wildlife habitat. Habitat protection rules exist but have yet to be released for comment. While we wait, towns like yours continue to lose ground and critical habitat to over-development. Critical habitat areas:

• Are treasured open space and allow for recreation and eco-tourism.
• The last refuge for our rare and disappearing wildlife.
• Critical to protecting our drinking water.

Please call or write your local officials and mayor and tell him/her to sign onto the Critical Habitat Rule letter we recently sent urging the governor to propose the "ready to go" and long overdue critical habitat protection rules.

• Find your legislator
• Find your mayor
• Find our if your mayor has signed on our how to get them on board
• Find Additional Information about critical habitats.