NJAS Opinion: April, 2006

by Joanna Wolaver, NJAS Conservation Project Coordinator

Every person from urban to rural areas deserves a well-maintained accessible neighborhood park and natural area. These open spaces provide recreational opportunities for New Jersey’s citizens and visitors and are critical to creating a high quality of life, livable communities and sustainable economies.  However, due to decades of insufficient funding, our parks and natural areas have declined to a state of disrepair.  As a result, we have lost many of the benefits these areas once provided to our citizens.

In an effort to stem the decline, NJAS initiated a collaborative effort to increase funding.  That effort, now known as the Outdoor Recreation Alliance’s Common Ground for Parks Campaign (www.outdoorrecreationalliance.org, brings together statewide environmental organizations, sportsmen’s groups, affordable housing advocates and environmental justice activists to work towards a stable source of funding for our parks and natural heritage conservation.  Renewal of the Garden State Preservation Trust absent this dedicated funding source for operations is as egregious as not funding the state pension system.

Benefits of Parks & Natural Areas

Parks provide outdoor recreation opportunities for urban children and considerably improve the quality of life in densely populated areas. In 1870, the great American park builder Fredrick Law Olmstead emphasized the need to make parks accessible to all citizens within a reasonable distance of their homes and highlighted the important role parks play in providing fresh air and sanity from the chaos of the city.

Over 100 years later, urban parks are still fundamental to quality of life in urban areas. In recent testimony, Kevin Moore, Project Director for the Newark-based Weequahic Park Association, Inc., discussed the many benefits parks, including the “benefit from educational opportunity for urban youth, vocational and career development, and most importantly the role of these natural resources in mitigating larger pollution issues such as air and water pollution.”

Moore also highlighted the role of urban parks as a driving force of economic development. Creating and maintaining these natural areas is a critical component of any urban revitalization strategy.  By creating a high quality of life, parks attract tax-paying businesses and residents and redirect growth back into urban areas.

Investing in our parks and natural areas also protects New Jersey’s approximately $3.9 billion wildlife-related recreation industry. Each year, fishing, hunting and wildlife watching creates over 37,000 jobs and brings in approximately $146 million in sales tax revenue to New Jersey according to a recent study.

Reasons for Concern

Despite these many benefits, New Jersey’s parks and natural areas are critically underfunded. NJ DEP’s Divisions of Fish and Wildlife and Parks and Forestry, which manage the state’s nature resources, are funded through general revenue, permit fees, federal aid and other similar sources. These sources are declining, leaving the fate of our open spaces to current political priorities and competing with other departments. As a result, for decades these funding sources have failed to meet the growing needs of both Divisions. For instance, despite increasing open space acquisitions by 350,000 acres, or 1/3 of the total amount in the last decade, the Division of Parks and Forestry staffing fell by 1/3 from 550 to 418 over the same period. 

This history of insufficient funding has led to a backlog of $250 million in overdue repairs. As a result, portions of parks have been closed for long periods of time due to the state’s inability to maintain them. For instance, Worthington State Forest campgrounds has closed indefinitely due to Delaware River flooding.

In addition, our recently acquired parkland and urban parks have been shortchanged due to the backlog of repairs at our existing parks. Newly purchased open space remains unmanaged, and if funding trends continue, we will likely see a loss of existing park educational programs, including fishing and derby programs for urban children.

The Solution: A Stable Source of Funding

The Outdoor Recreation Alliance calls for the establishment of a stable, constitutionally-dedicated funding source for capital projects and operation, maintenance and stewardship of parks and natural areas. This funding would complement efforts to purchase open space through the Garden State Preservation Trust by providing funds to manage and enhance acquired parkland.

This stable funding would provide approximately $200 million in funds for capital repairs and improvements, such as fixing collapsing park facilities and building new urban nature centers, boat ramps and viewing platforms. In addition, it would fund operation, maintenance and stewardship, which includes trail creation, wildlife habitat restoration, and conservation officer programs.

A unique component of this proposal is the inclusion of funds for matching grants for municipal, county and other urban parks. These funds are vital to helping local governments and nonprofit groups, such as the Weequahic Park Association, Inc., create healthy communities with well-maintained parks.

States across the county have established stable funding sources for parks and wildlife conservation and provide examples of possible mechanisms that could use to administer a similar program in New Jersey. According to a study by a University of Michigan School of Natural Resource and Environment research team, funding mechanisms range from a general sales tax to a non-consumptive user fee to real estate transfer fees. Missouri, for example, created a 1/8th of 1% Conservation Sales Tax, which provided over $93 million for wildlife conservation projects in 2004.