Focus Area 13
Strategy 13.1: Improve stewardship of privately owned
natural lands and green space
What and why.
Land stewardship is an active process that aims to maintain or restore the ecological integrity of natural
lands for the benefit of present and future generations. Human activities and natural processes can
degrade the ecological integrity of natural lands. While New Jersey has been successful in preserving
open space, there is a great deal of natural land still in private ownership. Much of the private land
takes the form of large lot commercial and residential development, and runs the gamut from woodlots
to portions of parcels left undisturbed during development because of environmental constraints to
large lawns maintained by property owners.
Stewardship focuses on resource management, resource conservation, and the maintenance of
biodiversity through activities such as easements, erosion control, integrated pest management, wildlife
management (such as control of white tail deer), invasive species removal, planting natives, and control
of improper uses. For example, over-population of white tail deer in the Northeast has led to numerous
environmental problems, including loss of native plants and trees, and Lyme disease. Invasive plant and
tree species have displaced native flora, reducing biodiversity. Finally, the maintenance of massive
lawns leads to excess water consumption and surface water pollution from fertilizer and pesticide
application.
Given the dramatic loss of natural lands to development in recent decades, we cannot rely on solely on
preservation of publicly owned lands to protect critical resources and habitats. Private landowners must
be incentivized to act as stewards. A critical first step to encouraging participation is to raise awareness
through education and outreach campaigns and disseminate knowledge on best practices.
Actions.
1.
2.
Actions:
Createreate an environmental stewardship manual that
describes best practices, case studies, and includes model
municipal and county ordinances for sound stewardship
activities, including those fostering the protection of
ground water, lakes, steep slopes, trees, streams, riparian
corridors, and other natural resources. Relevant NGOs
should contribute to the publication and help to promote
sound practices to constituents.
Create a best practices manual for ongoing maintenance
and/or retrofit of green stewardship activities for
commercial and residential property owners. Activities
could include conversion to native plant species,
sustainable lawn care to prevent soil compaction and
Responsibility:
Timeframe:
Lead: NJDEP
Medium
Support: ANJEC,
term
Sustainable NJ, NJLM,
County Planners
Association, and
other relevant NGOs
Lead: NJDEP
Support: USGBC-NJ,
NJBA, NAIOP-NJ,
ISCS, and other
relevant NGOs,
Medium
term
3.
4.
5.
reduce non-point source pollution, etc. Relevant NGOs
should contribute to the publication and help to promote
sound practices to constituents.
Create municipal and county comprehensive
Environmental Resource Inventories, and adopt
stewardship and protection ordinances for critical
community resources.
Research and make recommendations (including
legislative, as necessary) related to appropriate incentivedriven conservation measures, as well as open and
government-regulated markets around the demand for
stewardship related activities, like nutrient reduction,
habitat protection, wetland creation, afforestation and
reforestation, etc.
Institute an education and outreach campaign targeted
toward government organizations and private land owners
around stewardship best management practices.
Municipal and county
governments
Lead: Municipal and
county governments
Medium
term
Possible Leads:
ANJEC, NJCF, NJ
Future, RPA,
Sustainable Jersey,
etc.
Support: NJDEP
Short term
Lead: NJDEP
Support: NJ
Highlands Council, NJ
Pinelands
Commission, USGBCNJ, NJBA, NAIOP-NJ,
ISCS, municipal and
county governments,
ANJEC, NJCF, NJ
Future, RPA,
Sustainable Jersey,
etc.
Medium
term
Focus Area 13
Strategy 13.2: Expand programs to permanently
preserve parks, open space, natural lands, and
agricultural lands
What and why.
Land preservation encompasses activities that permanently prohibit substantial future development of
land through the application of a deed restriction. The preservation deed restriction may occur through
donation or acquisition of an easement, or through fee simple transfer of a property. While
preservation alone does not ensure proper stewardship, it does prevent development on the land;
which through a comprehensive and strategic effort can lead to the permanent preservation of
contiguous swaths of lands containing critical resources. Further, the constitutional amendment to
dedicate money from the business tax toward open space preservation approved in November 2014
represents one-third of traditional funding levels for preservation. In order continue efforts in a
meaningful way, we need to institute other mechanisms to leverage and bolster preservation funding.
Actions.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Actions:
Levee a municipal and county open space tax, or consider
increasing existing tax, to better leverage and supplement NJ
state preservation funding.
Institute a transferable NJ income tax credit for a portion of
the value of a qualifying conservation donation. A tax credit
is a more robust incentive than the typical charitable
donation deduction, and allowing the credit to be
transferable expands the desirability and applicability to the
open market.
Institute a water consumption fee to be used for water
resource protection efforts, including mitigation and
stewardship efforts in critical water supply areas, as well as
infrastructure improvements in distressed urban areas.
Authorize municipal government to establish an open space
impact fee.
Require all applicants for NJ preservation funds to
implement conservation plans that establish priority
preservation areas based on resource value, contiguousness,
and other relevant factors, similar to the requirements of the
SADC Planning Incentive Grant (PIG) Program,. The state
should establish a planning grant program to assist
applicants in creating (and periodically updating) these
conservation plans.
Establish critical resource areas through the NJ State
Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan, through which
Responsibility:
Municipal and
county government
Timeframe:
Short term
Lead: NJ Legislature
Support: Garden
State Preservation
Trust (GSPT), NGO
organizations
Medium
term
Lead: NJ Legislature
Medium
term
NJ Legislature and
Governor
Lead: GSPT
Support: NJ
Legislature, NJDEP
Green Acres, NJDA
Medium
term
Medium
term
Lead: NJDEP, NJ
Legislature and
Long term
7.
new major linear development projects, such as roads and
utilities, through critical resource areas should be prohibited
(needs Legislative enactment).
Implement land use strategies that use private market forces
to permanently preserve land, including cluster, noncontiguous cluster, and TDR. (See Strategy 5.5.)
Governor
Municipal
governments
Short term
Focus Area 13
Strategy 13.3: Improve stewardship of preserved and/or
public parks, open space, and natural lands
What and why.
Simply preserving land or placing it under public ownership will not guarantee the integrity of
natural habitats and natural systems critical to human quality of life. These resources remain
vulnerable to external sources of pollution, invasive species, erosion and other human-caused
and natural phenomena. Like stewardship of private land, stewardship of preserved and public
spaces aims to maintain or restore the ecological integrity of natural areas for the benefit of
present and future generations through resource management and conservation and
maintenance of biodiversity. Our region should equip decision-makers with knowledge of
effective stewardship tools and methods, foster broad partnerships, and redirect public
revenues to those agencies which can effectively implement stewardship activities.
Actions.
1.
2.
Actions:
Create, through an inclusive public process, a toolbox that
includes best practices, technical guidance, and case studies for
environmental stewardship of publically owned open space and
natural lands. The manual should include a comprehensive set
of strategies to address the full range of urban, suburban, and
rural open space land uses.
Set stewardship priorities as part of state, county, and municipal
conservation planning.
3.
Increase funding for NJ Division of Fish & Wildlife and Division of
Parks enforcement activities.
4.
Increase NJ Division of Fish & Wildlife and Division of Parks and
Forestry enforcement fines. Return enforcement fines to the
relevant enforcing agency, rather than the state general fund.
Allow Parks and Forestry to retain concession fees in Division
budget rather than moving the fees to general fund purposes.
Establish formal stewardship and enforcement cooperatives
between the NJDEP and local land conservancies, counties and
municipalities. These cooperatives could include authorization
to conduct stewardship activities and enforcement, as well as
provide matching funds for mitigation and restoration work on
state natural and open space lands.
5.
6.
Responsibility:
Lead: NJDEP
Timeframe:
Medium
term
State, county
and municipal
government
Lead: NJ
Legislature
Support: NJDEP
Lead: NJ
Legislature
Support: NJDEP
NJ Governor
Medium
term
Lead: NJDEP
Support: Land
conservancies,
counties, and
municipalities
Medium
term
Medium
term
Short term
Short term
7.
8.
Institute a water consumption fee to be used for mitigation and
stewardship efforts in critical water supply areas as well as
infrastructure improvements in urban areas.
Maintain a NJDEP database of stewardship activities, and
monitor stewardship program activities through a matrix of
indicators and milestones.
NJ Legislature
Medium
term
NJDEP
Medium
term
Focus Area 13
Focus Area 13.4: Improve stewardship of private and
preserved agricultural lands
What and why.
Stewardship measures are also essential to minimizing the impact of agricultural activities on critical
natural habitats and natural systems. Poor farming practices can pollute and degrade soil and water and
lead to inefficient use of water resources. Farmland stewardship involves the adoption of responsible
and sustainable methods for agricultural land use, including water conservation, erosion control,
integrated pest management and proper treatment of animal farm wastes. Our region should work to
incentivize stewardship activities on new and existing preserved farms.
New Jersey already possesses effective – but currently unfunded – legislation that supports stewardship
activities through grants covering up to 50% of the costs of approved soil and water conservation
projects on preservation program enrolled farms. Our region should push for renewed funding while
working to develop additional incentives for new and existing farms to participate in natural resources
conservation service programs.
Actions.
1.
2.
3.
Actions:
Reinstate funding for the NJ Soil and Water Conservation
Grant program.
Increase staffing levels to complete Farm Conservation Plans
within a timely manner for all that request them.
Provide incentives for new and existing preserved farms to
participate in NRCS conservation programs like the
Agricultural Water Enhancement Program (AWEP) and the
Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to
encourage stream, wetlands, and forest protection and
stewardship. The NJDA should investigate requiring
implementation of Farm Conservation Plans as a part of the
deed of easements.
Responsibility:
Lead: NJ Legislature
Support: NJDA
Lead: NRCS and
NJDA
Lead: NJDA
Support: NRCS
Timeframe:
Short
Medium
Medium