In county, Corzine pitches land fund

Friday, November 02, 2007
By Pete McCarthy
pmccarthy@sjnewsco.com

FRANKLIN TWP. Gov. Jon Corzine used a 200-acre orchard here as the backdrop to stump for the public question that will decide whether to spend $200 million on land preservation.

Corzine visited Schober Orchards on Buck Road Thursday morning to ceremonially sign legislation that will appropriate $137 million from the dwindling Garden State Preservation Trust Fund.

"It is absolutely essential that we save our remaining farms," Corzine said. "To do that, we need to refresh our Garden State Preservation Trust."

After Thursday's bill signing, the Farmland Preservation Program's balance was down to zero. There is still some money for other preservation.

Corzine's efforts come days before residents will be asked to vote on whether to spend $200 million. The money doled out through Public Question No. 3 will go to preserve farmland, open space, flood-prone properties and historic sites.

Corzine said that if the money is approved on Nov. 6, it will be enough to preserve land in New Jersey until June 2010.

The governor said the state would use that time to begin developing a long-term solution.

"I don't think we can afford to not make these investments," Corzine said. "If we want to keep the garden in Garden State, we need to push forward."

Although the state is in a financial crisis, Corzine indicated there is no way he can give up on preservation.

"This governor believes strongly in this program and will do whatever he can to keep it alive," Corzine said. "We have a big problem that is much broader than dealing with open space. There are plenty of demands on our financial means."

Gloucester County has reached a milestone, Corzine said. The county has preserved 10,000 acres of farmland on 132 farms.

Schober Orchards was an appropriate choice for Thursday's event.

All but 40 of the farm's 225 acres are preserved.

"I've been here all my life," said Schober Farm owner John Hurff. "Lord willing, I can stay here all my life. It's all I ever wanted to do."

Hurff is the fourth generation to farm the land, which mostly produces apples, peaches and nectarines.

New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Charles Kuperus said that between 1910 and 1992, New Jersey lost about 56 percent or 78,400 acres of its open space.

"That's gone," Kuperus said. "It's not ever coming back."

According to Environment New Jersey, 10,027 acres of open space in Gloucester County were lost between 1986 and 2002. The numbers in Salem and Cumberland counties during that time frame were 3,565 and 6,220, respectively.

"Development is going to eat everything up if it's not preserved," Hurff said. "They're just building left and right. I was born and raised on a farm, and I don't want to see it go away."

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