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Report finds state lost more than 20 percent of rural land

New Jersey is leading the nation in a dubious category, rate of farmland loss, according to a new analysis by the Sierra Club.

The findings, which are in line with previous projections, are based on data from the National Resource Inventory prepared for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The figures, released in a report by the National Resource Conservation Service, show that the Garden State Lost more than 20 percent of its rural land from 1982-2007 as continued sprawl development took is toll.

In the same period, the USDA figures show the amount of developed land in the state increased by 6 percent, including areas previously used for public recreation and wildlife preservation, according to the Sierra Club.

"Rural land, in terms of cropland and forestland, is slipping from the grips of nature and into the hands of developers," said Jeff Tittel, executive director of the state chapter of the Sierra Club.

Just over two-fifths of New Jersey was classified as developed as of 2007. That was up from little more than a quarter 25 years earlier, a startling increase given the physical limitations such as streams, wetlands, beaches and steep slopes than block development in many parts of the state.

In the same period, New Jersey lost 40 percent of its cropland, according to the Sierra Club. The reduction occurred despite one of the nation's most active farmland preservation programs, which often pays tens of thousands of dollars per acre to prevent non-agricultural construction and conversion of agriculture properties.

According to Tittel, though, other policy decisions encourage non-agricultural growth even as the preservation program tries to prevent it. Gov. Chris Christie is accelerating the loss of farmland by undermining environmental protections, he said.

New Jersey's reduced farmland tax assessment system gives generous tax breaks to owners who keep their land in agriculture. But the standards are so low that they often encourage suburbanization, giving breaks to small lots with minimal agricultural production.

"The current system is broken," Tittel said, adding that while New Jersey had more than 2 million acres of agricultural lands in 1950, "now we are trying to hang onto 600,000."

The tax system also provides breaks for commercial woodlots. But the Sierra Club said it sees increasing fragmentation of forest lands, to the point where some are too small to be effective wildlife habitat.

The problems are not unique to New Jersey. As a small state, its total loss of farmland than that reported for many others by the USDA. When judged by rate of loss, though, another highly suburbanized state, Maryland, ranks just behind New Jersey.

The Sierra Club released a list of its recommended "fixes" to the problems:

• The farmland assessment program needs to change. Under the current program, if you convert a farm to development, you only pay a three year rollback on property taxes. That rollback should be extended 10 more years and the profits should go to preserve farmland. Under Farmland Assessment Act, a farmer pays 90 percent less taxes on his farmland than he would if it was something else. If you convert it to a development, there is only a three year penalty. We need to increase that penalty.

• We need a stable source of open space funding to preserve open space and protect farmland.
• We need to expand and simplify transfer of development rights so the program can be more effectively used.
• Instead of developing rural land, we must reinvest in our urban centers and keep urbanizing infrastructure, like sewers, out of farmland. Developed buildings and abandoned lots should be refurbished rather than taking valued rural land. A focus on urban redevelopment and growth near public transit will replace the need for completely new development on rural lands.
• We should be zoning farms for agriculture and have agriculture zoning. Currently most farms are also zoned for subdivisions and office parks. Agriculture zoning was upheld by the New Jersey Supreme Court. We don't zone housing for industrial park uses, we should not zone farmland for housing or office parks. Doing so undermines the whole purpose of protecting agriculture.
• New Jersey needs to have growth boundaries similar to Oregon so that farmland is protected. Lands outside growth bound in preservation areas would be zoned for agriculture. Farmers would be able to sell their land for open space, sell development credits, or transfer development credits.

— JOE TYRRELL, NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM