Field Notes -- May 1999, Page 6

Suburban Sprawl, Land Preservation, & Quality of Life

These [Service] protected lands demand no sewer, water, roads, or schools yet provide numerous, services such as clean water, fish and wildlife habitat, and recreational opportunities.

Despite these problems some municipalities continue to pursue ratables in an effort to reduce property taxes; however, this strategy rarely proves fruitful.  For example, according to the State of New Jersey, during the 1980s, the average property tax bill doubled, despite record ratable construction such as commercial buildings and homes.

It is encouraging that New Jersey's citizens have taken action to combat suburban sprawl.  Last year, voters approved the Governor's proposal to establish a stable funding source for the preservation of an additional one million acres of rural land.  Additionally, both the State and counties have become more involved with conservation easements.  Since rural land requires fewer services (e.g., sewer, water, schools), its preservation is a long-term investment in the environmental and financial quality of life.

The Service has no direct means to regulate suburban sprawl, but we help maintain a high quality of life for New Jersey's citizens through the purchase of lands for National Wildlife Refuges.  The Service's effort to purchase and preserve land can reduce sprawl and short circuit the ratables chase.  For example, New Jersey's five Refuges currently protect about 66,000 acres of land and the Service hopes to purchase, from willing sellers, an additional 26,000 acres.  These protected lands demand no sewer, water, roads, or schools yet provide numerous services such as clean water, fish and wildlife habitat, and recreational opportunities.

While the Service purchases ecologically valuable land for the Refuge System, legally, we can only purchase lands providing habitats for federally listed species or within Refuge acquisition boundaries.  Areas such as the Hackensack Meadowlands, critically important to migratory birds and fish, remain unprotected and under imminent threat from proposed development.  Many of these developments could be redirected to decaying urban centers.

Although land preservation is not the only solution, it is the Service's most effective tool to slow sprawl and protect environmentally sensitive areas.  The Service, to help ensure a high quality of life in New Jersey, promotes land preservation efforts and encourages other opportunities, such as conservation easements, for controlling suburban sprawl.