Children from the Voorhees Middle School look on as Govenor James E. McGreevey signs Green Acres legislation at an event held at John Connolly Park, Voorhees Township, Camden County.

DEP Commissioner Campbell Announces New Green Acres Open Space Priorities High Priority Placed on Protecting State's Water Resources

Supporting Governor McGreevey's commitment to smart growth, Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bradley Campbell recently announced new Green Acres open space acquisition and park development priorities that allocate greater funding for developed communities, protect the state's water resources and enact more stringent measures to safeguard existing Green Acres properties against pressures of development.

"The new Green Acres open space priorities enable us to make wiser property purchases by placing a greater emphasis on the quality not the quantity of land purchased in New Jersey," said Governor James E. McGreevey. "This more strategic approach to open space acquisitions bolsters my Administration's smart growth priorities and ultimately ensures that New Jersey's children grow up next to parks, not parking lots."

The top three priorities of DEP's new Green Acres policy include: the establishment of a Parks for People initiative that will increase grant and loan funding for local and county governments and nonprofit organizations to purchase recreational lands and develop parks in cities and older, densely developed suburban communities; greater state and local funding allocations focusing on open space that protects water resources and critical wildlife habitat; and more stringent measures to protect all Green Acres-encumbered parklands from being disposed of or diverted for non-recreation/conservation purposes.

Placing high priority on the protection of critical natural resources, DEP's new open space policy directs Green Acres to prioritize land purchases that protect the state's water resources and critical plant and wildlife habitat. A new priority ranking system established through legislation (P.L. 2002 c.76) and signed by the Governor will be established that triples the priority value for water quality and water supply protection and doubles the priority value of those lands that will protect flood prone areas. The ranking system also will provide for greater prioritization of lands with endangered or threatened species habitat independent of water resource protection. Green Acres will be more proactive in pursuing the purchase of high quality water resource-related lands. To ensure the long-term protection of New Jersey's preserved open space and recreation lands, under its new open space policy the DEP will establish more stringent measures that prevent existing Green Acres-encumbered parkland from being disposed of or diverted to non-recreation/conservation purposes. These measures include: § An increase in the ratio of replacement land to parkland proposed for disposal or diversion. Presently, the minimum replacement to diversion/disposal ratio is one to one.

• Rules that prohibit the use of dedicated open space tax funding for the purchase of replacement lands.

• Required public hearings for diversion/disposal applications so that the public is informed - as early in the process as possible - that Green Acres-encumbered lands may be used for purposes other than recreation or conservation.

In addition to the DEP's new Green Acres land acquisition priorities, New Jerseyans can impact open space policy in the state when they cast their votes on November 4, for a ballot proposition initiated by Governor McGreevey to provide an additional $150 million in open space and recreation funding. The Governor has committed to dedicating $75 million of this funding to establish or improve local parks, with another $75 million going to open space purchases in the Highlands.