State Trust Approves $73M for Farmland Preservation

If it passes muster in the legislature, the proposal, which had earlier been approved by the New Jersey Agricultural Development Committee, would then go to the governor for his signature. Gov. James McGreevey has long been on the record as supporting the preservation of "scenic, productive farmland. It is a very important investment in our quality of life," in his words.

GSPT, formed more than three years ago during the waning days of the administration of former Gov. Christie Whitman, uses approved state funding to buy development rights to properties it targets for preservation. Essentially, the Trust either buys those rights outright or shares the cost with regional programs. To date, it has acted on a total of some 260,000 acres, with a long-term goal of preserving one million acres

In the case of the $73.2 million package now before the legislature, just under $60 million would to toward buying and retiring the development rights to more than 160 farms across the state. Most of the rest would be applied toward taking full ownership of an unspecified amount of acreage, with the development rights to be subsequently resold for limited and controlled development.

The Trust's pricing is based on regional and local market values as determined by professional appraisers. Actual sale prices tend to range very widely, from a little less than $2,000 per acre in the southern part of the state, to well over $20,000 per acre in the much more densely populated and developed northern and central portions of the state. According to GSPT officials, the average price is somewhere in the $10,000 per acre range.