OFFICIAL SITE OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY

New Jersey’s open space provides a variety of environmental and economic benefits¹ including protection of water resources, preservation of biodiversity and wildlife habitats, creation of greenways, enhancement of urban centers, and support of recreational opportunities. In addition, parks and open spaces promote public health by encouraging active lifestyles that improve physical and mental wellness.²  Acquiring open space also is a vital strategy to preserve land for agriculture, protect rural landscapes, and sustain the State’s tourism industry.³ Furthermore, public land acquisition, park development, and natural resource stewardship projects are important to successful urban redevelopment initiatives.

Green Acres was created in 1961 to effectively drive land preservation in the state. The program acquires open space and parkland for the state and funds local and nonprofit land acquisition, park development, and stewardship projects across New Jersey. Areas of focus include improving urban parks, preserving historic sites, increasing resilience to flooding and climate change, and protecting important state resource areas such as the Highlands, Pinelands, coastal zone, forested land, and natural heritage priority sites. The state land acquisition program was one of the first in the nation, underscoring New Jersey’s early and enduring commitment to its natural resources.

As the demand for outdoor recreation continues to grow, conservation and preservation of public lands are essential parts of building capacity for recreational spaces.  Green Acres accomplishes its mission of open space preservation and recreational development by directing funds from state bonds and dedicated taxes. The Green Acres program has shown success from its start, consistently winning overwhelming support of voters for each of the 14 ballot measures, investing over $3.3 billion in funding since 1961. The latest referendum, approved in 2014, also provides a Corporate Business Tax (CBT) dedication that permanently allocates 6% of collected taxes to open space, farmland, and historic preservation activities.

In July 2015, a portion of the 4% of the revenue derived from the Corporate Business Tax Act (CBT) (C.54:10A-1 et seq.) that was set aside for environmental programs, began to be dedicated to Green Acres, Blues Acres, and Farmland Preservation programs as well as historic preservation under the New Jersey Open Space Preservation Funding Amendment. In 2019, the CBT dedication for environmental programs was increased to 6% and has generated an average of $156.6 million annually since then for open space, recreation, farmland, and historic preservation efforts.⁴ In addition to state funding, 233 municipalities and 21 counties in New Jersey assess a tax for land preservation, park and recreation projects, and historic preservation which generated $357.6 million in 2022.⁵

In the past five years, the United States has seen an exponential growth in residents participating in and making use of parks and outdoor spaces. Much of this growth came as a reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic beginning in early 2020, which initially limited indoor recreation options as governments enacted quarantine restrictions for public health and safety. Residents looked to the outdoors for ways to spend time and turned to public lands. Since March 2020, the number of Americans participating in outdoor recreation increased by 6.9%. Even as restrictions were lifted and indoor activities became more available in 2021, participation in outdoor recreation retained momentum across the nation. As of 2021, 164.2 million Americans participated in outdoor recreation.⁶

Mirroring the U.S., New Jersey has also seen a sustained increase in participation in outdoor recreation. As the demand for outdoor recreation continues to grow, preservation of public lands is an essential part of building capacity for recreational spaces.  As of December 2022, New Jersey has preserved 1,326,826 acres of public open space. With 247,402 acres of preserved farmland, the total of preserved open space is over 1,500,000 acres.⁷ Data suggest that the acreage of open space and preserved farmland continue to increase annually (See Figure 1).  To encourage more public usage of public open space and recreation areas, in the past two years (2022 and 2023), the state has offered free entrance to state parks, forests, and historic sites.

Figure 1. Open space and farmland preserved in New Jersey over time

While significant progress has been made in open space preservation, as shown in the graph above, population growth and development continue to be the major threats to preservation efforts. With a population of 9,288,994 as of April 1, 2020, and an estimated 1,263 people per square mile⁸, New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the U.S.  The state’s population is projected to increase by 4.8% or 444,000 by 2034.⁹  In the last five years, the number of residential building permits for new construction issued throughout the state increased by over 32% compared to the previous five-year period. Total non-residential and multi-family single family permits increased by nearly 20% over the same timeframe.¹⁰

The combined pressures of development and population increases make open space preservation a critical issue. Given the amount of buildable land remaining in the state and potential rates of land development and preservation, New Jersey could be built out by the middle of this century.¹¹ Coupled with the fact that New Jersey has experienced a steady loss of farmland of about 6,000 acres on average annually since 1997, the need to preserve open space becomes imperative.¹²

Ironically, as the population grows and the open space available for protection dwindles, the need for that open space increases. The amount of open space necessary to perform vital functions, such as replenishing aquifers, protecting wildlife habitats, and satisfying recreational demand, will increase. The ongoing dedication of state and local funding efforts will help to meet this growing need.

The DEP recently completed its Outside, Together! initiative which resulted in the publication of New Jersey’s Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan. That report can be found at https://njdepwptest.net/outside-together/ 

DEP’s Green Acres program has compiled detailed information on open space preservation in New Jersey, available at https://njdepwptest.net/greenacres/

¹State of New Jersey, 2007.  “Valuing New Jersey’s Natural Capital: An Assessment of the Economic Value of the State’s Natural Resources” https://dspace.njstatelib.org/bitstream/handle/10929/69984/Natural_Capital_Full%20Report.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y  Accessed 2/20/2024.

²City Parks Alliance, 2024. “Why City Parks Matter”.  Washington, D.C. https://cityparksalliance.org/about-us/why-city-parks-matter/ Accessed 2/20/2024.

³State of New Jersey, Division of Travel and Tourism (posted) Tourism Economics, 2017. “The Economic Impact of Tourism in New Jersey, 2017”.  https://www.visitnj.org/sites/default/files/2017-nj-economic-impact.pdf  Accessed 2/12/2024.

⁴Funding total taken from legislative appropriation bills passed since FY2020 for Corporate Business Tax-funded programs approved by the Garden State Preservation Trust (Green Acres, Blue Acres, Farmland Preservation, Historic Preservation, and DEP parks capital.)

⁵New Jersey Department of Community Affairs Municipal and County Open Space Tax Information: https://www.nj.gov/dca/dlgs/Property_Tax_info.shtml Accessed 2/12/2024.

⁶United State Census Bureau, Pandemic’s Impact on Indoor and Outdoor Recreation Revenue, 2024. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2024/01/indoor-outdoor-recreation-revenue.html#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20164.2%20million%20Americans,2021%2C%20according%20to%20SAS%20data.  Accessed 2/12/2024.

⁷Data on open space has been compiled by NJDEP and includes State-owned open space/parkland and Green Acres funded and/or encumbered county, municipal and nonprofit lands.  Data can be found in the report Outside, Together! New Jersey’s Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan 2023-2027 https://njdepwptest.net/wp-content/uploads/outside-together/draft-nj-scorp-091223-updated.pdf

⁸U.S. Census Bureau, “Population, Census, April 1, 2020” – New Jersey” Quick Facts, accessed November 29, 2022, https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/NJ/POP010210

⁹New Jersey Department of Labor, “Data Tables:  Projections of Total Population by Projection Model: New Jersey, 2014 to 2034” accessed October 5, 2023, https://www.nj.gov/labor/labormarketinformation/demographics/population-labor-projections/

¹⁰New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, “Building Permits: Yearly Summary Data” Development Trends Viewer, accessed October 5, 2023, https://www.nj.gov/dca/codes/reporter/building_permits.shtml

¹¹Hasse, J. and R. G. Lathrop. 2010. Changing Landscapes in the Garden State: Urban Growth and Open Space Loss in NJ 1986 through 2007. https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T3PK0DSF

¹²United States Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service, “Census of Agriculture, 2017 Census Volume 1, Chapter 1: State Level Data – New Jersey”– Table 1. Historical Highlights: 2017 and Earlier Census Years, accessed October 5, 2023, https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2017/Full_Report/Volume_1,_Chapter_1_State_Level/New_Jersey/