On November 3, 1998, New Jersey voters approved a referendum which creates a stable source of funding for open space, farmland, and historic preservation and recreation development, and on June 30, 1999, then Gov. Christie Whitman signed into law the Garden State Preservation Trust Act. The Act will allow New Jersey to preserve 1 million acres over the next ten years. The bill establishes, for the first time in history, a stable source of funding for preservation efforts. Click here to learn more about the Garden State Preservation Trust Act.

Green Acres' primary focus is acquiring land that creates linkages between existing protected lands to form open space corridors. These corridors provide linear habitat for wildlife to move through, parkland for recreation, and areas of scenic beauty between towns and urban centers.

Green Acres is committed to preserving New Jersey's rich natural, historic, and cultural heritage. So far, more than 390,000 acres of conservation and recreation land have been or are being preserved, and hundreds of public parks have been developed with Green Acres funds.

Recreation needs are as diverse as the people who play. To meet these needs, Green Acres funds different types of parks in a variety of settings. Whether in rural, suburban, or urban areas, parks play an important role in sustaining New Jersey's high quality of life.

Increasingly, Green Acres gathers other public and private partners together to assist in buying and managing open space. The Program works with municipal and county governments, nonprofit organizations, and the state Farmland Preservation Program to meet compatible conservation goals. Green Acres also accepts donations of conservation and recreation land to the State. Since the 1980s, private citizens interested in land preservation have donated more than 5,400 acres of land.