A recent New York Times article highlighted Maryland as the first state to achieve the impressive feat of preserving 30% of its land by 2030. While technically correct, we have Maryland beat by a decent margin – 34% of our land is already preserved. But we never set a goal. They can have this one, because New Jersey is best positioned for the next big vision goal, preserving 50% of land by 2050.

We can do it because we have a 50+ year history of public funding for conservation that began in 1961 and culminated in a constitutional amendment that permanently dedicated a portion of the Corporate Business Tax (CBT) to causes like water quality, food production, and historic preservation. Voters have repeatedly affirmed their commitment to natural resource conservation, proven by the dozens of state bond referendums pre-dating the CBT amendment and all counties adopting local Open Space Trust Funds. Only New Jersey has this long-running standard of dedication to conservation. 

In 2024, the New Jersey Conservation Foundation published a report calling for the State to set a goal of protecting 50% of our land by 2050 (50×50). 50×50 is about 600,000 acres, 25,000 acres a year, including 2025. The report was met positively in the conservation community, with NJCF’s press release featuring quotes from NJDEP Commissioner LaTourette, The Nature Conservancy Director for New Jersey Eric Olsen, and me. Despite this, no nonprofit or governmental organization has formally endorsed 50×50 as a goal. If we are serious about 50×50, we need to set a goal and track our progress. Over the past three fiscal years, we’re acquiring less than 5,000 acres/year on average. New Jersey got farther than anyone has, but the things we did to achieve 34% land protection are not the same things we will do to achieve 50% land protection.

Without a goal, adopted by the Legislature, affirmed by the Governor, backed by County Executives and Committees across the State, and supported by land trusts big and small, we’re lost in the forest, unable to find a trail. I pledge to do my part by encouraging GSPT to recommend 50×50 as a goal. Adopting 50×50 is the trailblazing start we need to secure the benefits that come with achieving 50×50, most importantly the drinking water future of New Jersey. No place is going to do more to achieve clean water than the Highlands, providing water to 70% of New Jersey residents. Conservation in the Highlands now means improved public health and affordable water service now and, in the future, from Sussex to Gloucester County. Everything else going on in New Jersey, like urban redevelopment and food production, is underpinned by affordable and high-quality water. 

To achieve 50×50, we need to promote private forest lands management and improve financial compensation for landowners. The character of the Highlands respects private lands management, with familial histories of agriculture, nature, and community present on many properties. Public-private partnerships that create tax benefits for outcomes-based land management, such as water quality improvement, create more protection opportunities compared to relying on public lands management. New York State provides examples of an incentive-based approach that accomplishes more for the public while the government does less.  Conservation strategies getting us to 50×50 will prioritize the multiple benefits of land that’s privately managed while being accountable to public conservation benefits.

State and local governments, supported by voters, led the way in achieving 34% land protection. Public private partnerships are going to get us the rest of the way. Believers in the benefits of 50×50 should encourage local conservation organizations to endorse NJCF’s 50×50 recommendation in the Nature for All report, acknowledge the rate of acquisition needs to be 25,000 acres/year to achieve that, and commit the organization to consider how it can best support achieving the goal through strategic planning. Don’t practice armchair conservation – identify important land and go get it now!