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Some of New Jersey's most agriculturally and environmentally important land is located in the Pinelands. The Pinelands region accounts for approximately 27 percent of the state's agriculture, contributing significantly to the cranberry, blueberry, fresh and processed vegetables, floriculture, nursery and sod industries.

Recognizing the importance of pursuing permanent preservation in the Pinelands, the Legislature in the Garden State Preservation Trust Act specifically sought to increase participation in the Farmland Preservation Program by landowners in that region. Working with Pinelands farmers, environmentalists and representatives from the Pinelands Commission, the SADC developed an alternative method of determining easement value that considers a variety of factors relevant to this unique area.

The SADC obtained appraisals on the applicants who have entered into contracts in the first Pinelands funding round. The SADC is currently obtaining and reviewing surveys and title work for those farms. There are 30 farms in this round, comprising approximately 3,300 acres. The SADC will soon begin acquiring the development easements on those farms.

The SADC extended offers to the 28 farms in the second funding round and is in the process of preparing contracts for those farms. The 28 farms comprise approximately 2,477 acres. The SADC has received legislative appropriations to preserve the farms in the first two rounds.

The third funding round is a county-administered program whereby counties submit applications to the SADC for a grant to preserve farmland in the Pinelands. Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, and Ocean Counties submitted a total of 55 applications to the SADC. The 55 applications comprise approximately 10,261 acres. The subsequent applications would also require a county match as part of the easement purchase funding round for Pinelands landowners, further stretching preservation dollars.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the delegates to the 88th State Agricultural Convention, assembled in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on January 29, 2003, support the continuing efforts of the SADC to permanently preserve farmland in the Pinelands.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we wish to emphasize to the Legislature and the Governor that farmland currently regulated in the Pinelands is not permanently preserved, and that we encourage their continued support, including funding, of the farmland preservation program using the evaluation formula developed and implemented by the SADC, as an important way to achieve permanent preservation within the Pinelands.