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Farmland Preservation in Salem County Sets Monthly Record
 
For Immediate Release: May 15, 2000 Contact:

Hope Gruzlovic
(609)292-8896
hope.gruzlovic@ag.state.nj.us

     

More than 1,200 acres of farmland will be preserved in Salem County in May, a record monthly figure for the county that will bring its total amount of protected farmland to approximately 9,000 acres, Agriculture Secretary Art Brown, Jr., announced today. Brown made the announcement at the farm of Arthur J. Griscom, Jr., and his wife Ruth, in Mannington Township. The New Jersey Farmland Preservation Program today closed on the purchase of development rights on the property -- one of six farms that have been or will be permanently preserved this month. "It was only a little more than a decade ago when 1,000 acres was the Farmland Preservation Program's sum total for the entire state for the entire year," said Brown, who chairs the State Agriculture Development Committee (SADC). "We've come a long way since then B and certainly we've made the greatest progress under Governor Whitman's million-acre open space initiative." "Our million-acre initiative calls for the preservation of 500,000 acres of farmland over the next decade," said Governor Whitman. "I applaud every landowner who chooses to preserve his or her farm so that our children and grandchildren can enjoy the Garden State as we do today." All of the farms have been or will be preserved under the SADC's traditional county grants program. Under this program, the SADC provides counties with grants to fund 60-80 percent of the purchase of development rights on farms. Other farms preserved or expected to be preserved this month are the Myers Farm in Upper Pittsgrove Township (96 acres); the Sickler Farm in Upper Pittsgrove and Pilesgrove Townships (319 acres); the Flanegan Farm in Upper Pittsgrove Township (216 acres); the Catalano Farm in Pilesgrove Township (234 acres); and the Cassaday Farm in Upper Pittsgrove Township (317 acres). Additionally, the SADC last week approved preservation funding for an additional 30 Salem County farms totaling 3,057 acres. That funding is conditional on county, Garden State Preservation Trust and legislative approvals. The State Agriculture Development Committee administers New Jersey's Farmland Preservation Program. To date, 423 farms totaling 63,072 acres have been permanently preserved under the program, with an additional 13,848 acres approved for preservation.