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BUDGET CUTS, 'FIRE SALES' AND STATE LAWS THREATEN OPEN SPACES
Although most Americans want parklands and open spaces, seemingly unrelated events will eliminate or drastically alter many of our parks and public lands that we once thought were safe from development. In Washington, systematic attempts to assault our national parks and public lands include:
- Selling almost 300,000 acres of National Forest and Bureau of Land Management lands;
- Cutting $100 million from an already cash-starved National Park Service that has a $4-billion backlog in maintenance repairs;
- Proposing to sell about 25 percent of our National Parks;
- Pushing something called “market-based” conservation to make parks pay for themselves; and
- Issuing “mining grants” that allow the development of federal lands.
The National Park Service is no better in its stewardship:
- Using its maintenance backlog as an excuse to come up with privatization and commercialization plans that will allow businesses into our national parks, including Fort Hancock at Sandy Hook;
- Considering corporate naming rights, advertising, and other business concessions in our parks; and
- Rewriting its “mission” statement to actively promote commercial programs, such as overland biking and snow-mobiles;
These incidents are not anomalies but a systematic effort to commercialize or sell for development our public lands. In New Jersey, events are not quite as dire but they are serious:
- Facing a $4-billion budget deficit, the new administration may cut successful conservation programs, such as “Green Acres;”
- The “Fast Track” bill, now on hold, requires automatic approval of developers’ applications if tight limits on state review times are exceeded;
- Developers could swamp the state with “Fast Track” applications, allowing many questionable projects to be approved automatically;
- The Council on Affordable Housing is issuing “quotas” for many communities that threaten to undermine local zoning ordinances;
- Builders whose projects have been rejected are suing under a state “builders remedy” clause to overturn zoning laws of municipalities supposedly not meeting COAH/Mt. Laurel quotas;
- Rising property values are encouraging developers to increase the population densities of their projects;
- County and local governments, facing reduced state and federal aid, may postpone preserving open spaces to control property taxes; and
- It’s hard to believe, but New Jersey is more densely populated than India and its population continues to grow.
There is a bright side, of course.
- Surveys find that voters approve preserving open space;
- Dedicated taxes for open spaces are supported by 75 to 85 percent of local and national voters;
- Conservation groups are fighting the assaults on our public lands; and
- Concerned citizens are voicing their support for both existing parks and open space programs.
Unfortunately, local successes in preserving natural and historical resources are being overshadowed by state budget problems and national efforts to commercialize existing parks and sell off public lands. We must tell our legislators that our quality of life, health, and environment should not suffer, and that in this election year we support “Green Acres” and other open space programs.
Mrs. Judith Stanley Coleman
Middletown, NJ
Mrs. Coleman is president and founder of the Monmouth Conservation Foundation.
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