Panel backs open space bond issue

The Record
Tuesday, October 23, 2007

By JAN BARRY
STAFF WRITER

The Highlands Council is throwing its support behind the state's open space bond question on the ballot in November as the best way to help preserve key water supply lands.

The Garden State Preservation Trust Fund is running out of money to support Green Acres, farmland and other open space programs. The ballot question seeks voter support to authorize borrowing $200 million to continue these programs while Governor Corzine and legislative leaders develop a long-term funding strategy.

The Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council, which is creating a regional master plan for the seven-county area, notes that state grants match tens of millions of dollars in federal, county and local open space funds that are used to buy farm land and forest tracts.

The council voted unanimously last week to call for public support of the proposed bond issue.

Council Chairman John Weingart said in a news release that the legislative mandate for the 2004 Highlands Act included a "strong and significant [fiscal] commitment by the state."

"If voters pass Question 3 on Nov. 6, it will be one more important step toward protecting and conserving the Highlands region," Weingart said.

Elieen Swan, the council's executive director, noted that two-thirds of the Highlands' 88 communities and all seven counties have open space taxes -- totaling more than $100 million a year -- that are augmented by state grants.

E-mail: barry@northjersey.com

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