WHITE TWP. [December 6, 2006] – Warren County’s land preservation efforts continue to bear fruit, with an annual assessment showing great strides in protecting farmland, open space, and historic Morris Canal properties.

Delivering an annual report to the Warren County Board of Chosen Freeholders, county Land Preservation Department Director Robert Resker said there are now 139 preserved farms in the county totaling about 15,000 acres.

That’s more than double the amount of farms already preserved when the freeholder board created the Land Preservation Department in 2002. Moreover, the milestone of 10,000 preserved acres took 14 years before it was reached three years ago, but under the direction of the freeholders and the Land Preservation Department, the amount of protected farmland has grown by 50 percent since then.

“I think we’re doing an excellent job,” Freeholder Director Everett A. Chamberlain said. He added that as Warren County preserves farms, “We preserve our rural character, and we preserve our economy.”

“I’m very pleased with the fact that we have nearly 15,000 acres of farmland preserved,” Freeholder John DiMaio remarked, adding, “I feel that’s the most important land that we can preserve, because it keeps a viable industry in Warren County alive.”

The freeholders also noted that farmland preservation is beneficial because it keeps property on the tax roles and does not incur any public costs for maintaining the land. The county only buys the farm’s development rights, and the farmer continues to own the property and maintain it.

Warren County is poised to continue the progress. Resker noted there are 17 farms totaling 880 acres under contract for preservation through the county program and 21 farms with more than 1,100 acres moving toward preservation under the Municipal Planning Incentive Grant, or PIG, program. Meanwhile, there are 22 applications through the county program and 12 through the Municipal PIG program that were recently submitted to the state for funding.

“To know that roughly 2,500 acres are in the process of being preserved just shows our commitment to farmland preservation,” DiMaio said.

“I think we’re on target for 20,000 acres in the program by 2010,” Chamberlain noted.

The county’s other preservation efforts also are succeeding. In the past year, the county purchased 3,000 linear feet of the former Morris Canal, and is close to obtaining another 1,000 linear feet, Resker said.

A stretch of the historic canal has been preserved from Hackettstown’s border with Independence at Route 46 running more than a mile west to the Hackettstown-Mansfield line. The county also has protected much of the canal between Port Colden in Washington Township and Port Murray in Mansfield, two communities that got their names from the 19th Century inland waterway that crossed northern New Jersey.

“We’ve seen a great push on Morris Canal preservation, centered on a number of strategic properties,” Freeholder Richard D. Gardner said.

Gardner noted that Warren County was proud to host part of this year’s World Canal Conference when groups toured Inclined Plane #9 West and the Plane Tender’s house in Greenwich, an important canal site owned by the county.

The county has established a museum room with canal artifacts at the Plane Tender’s house, Resker noted.

Through the Warren County Municipal and Charitable Conservancy Trust Fund Committee, which evaluates and recommends projects to the freeholders, four projects received about $1.3 million in grants last year while five more projects totaling approximately $1.06 million were recommended by the committee and approved by the freeholder board at the December 6 meeting.

That program is important because it allows municipalities to use county funding to preserve what is valuable to them, Resker said.

Warren County funds its farmland, open space and historic preservation projects through a countywide tax of 6 cents per $100 of property, which raised about $7.03 million this year.

The freeholders vowed to continue the preservation efforts. “Wherever we can pursue good opportunities for Warren County residents on open space, that in the long term will do good for the quality of life here,” DiMaio noted.

Resker also reported that maintenance of the county-owned property is going well. A comprehensive management plan for White Lake Natural Resource Area in Hardwick Township instituted last year has The Nature Conservancy managing that land, and the program was expanded this year with freeholder support.

The Nature Conservancy is “maintaining the delicate ecological balance” of that property, Resker said. Elimination of invasive exotic species is in progress, and the Ridge & Valley Conservancy is planning a trail system for the property.

Meanwhile, cost-effective management of other county-owned property is accomplished either by private contractors hired by the county or through agreements with other organizations.