Coalition pushes open space bond

Thursday, September 20, 2007 BY DUNSTAN McNICHOLStar-Ledger Staff

With New Jersey's open spaces disappearing at the rate of about 16,000 acres a year, environmentalists are planning an urgent campaign to win support for a November ballot question that would authorize $200 million in state bor rowing to bankroll preservation efforts for a year.

The coalition of more than 90 organizations, which calls itself the "Keep It Green Campaign," said it plans to spend hundreds of thou sands of dollars on the campaign.

At a Trenton news conference announcing the effort, the group promised to blanket the state with mailings, radio ads and phone banks in support of Ballot Question No. 3 on the Nov. 6 ballot.

"We're running this campaign as if it were a person," said Jeff Tit tel, New Jersey Chapter director of the Sierra Club. "We want this to pass by one of the largest margins in state history."

If approved, the new borrowing would give the state enough money to continue operating the existing Green Acres and farmland preservation programs, as well as bank rolling historic preservation, park development and the acquisition of homes and businesses in flood- prone areas.

Supporters say the new funding is vital to maintaining an open space preservation program until lawmakers can devise a permanent source of funding from budget revenues.

Information on the campaign may be found at their web site: www.NJKeepItGreen.org.

Dunstan McNichol may be reached at dmcnichol@starled ger.com or (609) 989-0341.

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