NEW JERSEY VOTERS APPROVE FUNDS FOR OPEN SPACE, DESPITE POOR ECONOMY

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MORRISTOWN, N.J., November 7, 2008 --/WORLD-WIRE/-- On November 4, voters nationwide approved $7.3 billion in new public money to protect land for parks and open space—the highest amount ever according to The Trust for Public Land (TPL), a national land conservation organization. The increase can be attributed in large part to the Minnesota Clean Water, Land and Legacy constitutional amendment accounting for $5.5 billion. Overall, 62 out of 87 measures (or 71 percent) were passed by voters.

In New Jersey, voters approved 14 of 22 county and municipal measures generating $191 million in conservation funding. New Jersey more open space ballot measures than any other state. In Hunterdon County, voters approved the largest measure and the only county measure on the ballot, with 76 percent voting to continue the current levy of three cents per $100 of assessed property value to fund the Hunterdon County Open Space Trust Fund indefinitely rather than letting it expire next year. The move is expected to generate $7.6 million annually for open space, farmland, and historic preservation efforts, as well as stewardship of county and municipal parklands.

In Ocean County, Ocean Township voters approved increasing the open space tax from 1.2 to three cents per $100 of assessed value, and voters in Barnegat Light Borough approved a new one-cent open space tax. Both measures will provide funds to help acquire lands important to protecting water quality in the Barnegat Bay watershed. In Mercer County, Hopewell Township voters approved a one-cent increase to the open space tax that will generate an additional $459,000 annually for preservation efforts.

A complete list of results from local and state balloting on conservation and parks is available online today from LandVote 2008—www.landvote.org.

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