State Index

New information added in July 22, 2008

“State Highlands Bill Threatens Northern New Jersey Property Owners” The 100-page Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act (S.1, A. 2635) would establish a regional planning commission, the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council, to prepare a master regional land use plan, to be followed by “stringent” development regulations by the Department of Environmental Protection. “Testimony of Bonner R. Cohen, Ph. D. before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests, The Highlands Conservation Act, 366 Senate Dirksen Office Building, March 24, 2004” If the Highlands Conservation Act (H.R. 1964) is enacted, it will be harmful for the people in the highlands and their environment. January 2006: Heritage Areas, Eminent Domain Looms; Gov. Corzine Arrives Additional Helpful Organizations Institute for Justice (a non-profit legal foundation that defends freedom, is representing property owners in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and other areas where cities are using eminent domain to take property from small businesses and homeowners to transfer it to their private businesses, such as hotels and upscale stores.) address Additional Resources The Patriot of New Jersey Editors: Ed Smith & Bruce Siminoff Covers many property rights issues. address “Biosphere Reserves in Action: Case Studies of the American Experience: Published by the United States Man and the Biosphere Program (U.S. MAB, June 1995.” Includes studies of 12 major UNESCO Biosphere Reserves in the U.S. The Biosphere Reserves in New Jersey: 9. New Jersey Pinelands Biosphere Reserve map link to main page See our Biosphere Reserves Index Page for links to all 12 studies Websites New Jersey State Legislature link

State News “Testimony By Carol W. LaGrasse, President, Property Rights Foundation of America, Before the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands of the Natural Resources Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives Regarding H. R. 1286, Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail Designation Act, October 30, 2007” The proposed 600-mile Washington-Rochambeau Historic Trail through nine states from Rhode Island to Virginia poses a threat to private property rights because of the National Park Service’s pattern of secrecy, lack of true public participation, piecemeal development, use of municipalities and non-profit agencies as false fronts, and use of eminent domain (directly, indirectly through local municipalities, and later to widen trails). Amendments to H.R. 1286 are proposed to eliminate these deficiencies. More on this topic: Trails—National “Farmers Fight Back in the New Jersey Highlands” - By Devlen Mackey, Owner, Mackey Orchards, Belvidere, New Jersey; Eleventh Annual National Conference on Private Property Rights (PRFA, Albany, N.Y., October 13, 2007) Farmers, local government, and developers are opposing the state regional zoning law, the New Jersey Highlands Regional Planning and Water Protection Act, which imposes 88-acre zoning and exploits endangered species rules in Hunterdon, Warren, and other northwestern New Jersey counties to stop the use of land. The law is said to be intended to protect the watershed for drinking water, but sewers to keep flow from Lake Hopatcong are prohibited by the Department of Environmental Protection. More on this topic: Endangered Species—National More on this topic: Farming Issues—National “Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area on Hold” - By Carol W. LaGrasse (PRFA, March 23, 2004) A dangerous bill to impose federal regional land use control in 14 counties in New Jersey, possibly expanding into New York and Pennsylvania, has National Park Service impetus but is lurking for over 1-1/2 years in Committee. More on this topic: Heritage Rivers & Areas — National Maps of Existing and Proposed Federal Areas and Trails in New Jersey (February 2004) More on this topic: Heritage Rivers & Areas — National “National Wildlife Refuge Draft Bill Threatens Trenton, NJ, Area” - By Carol W. LaGrasse (PRFA, February 2, 2004) Rep. Christopher H. Smith has a draft bill to create a National Wildlife Refuge for the Hamilton-Trenton Marsh and Crosswicks Creek. Sportsmen, boaters, and property owners are angry, because a lock-out except for biologists, birders, canoers, and hikers would displace the established uses of the area. More on this topic: Heritage Rivers & Areas — National “New Land Designation Threatens Northern New Jersey Communities” - By Carol W. LaGrasse (PRFA, December 8, 2003) The New Jersey delegation maneuvered the “Highlands Stewardship Act,” with $110 million for land acquisition, into the “Healthy Forest Restoration Act,” the bill that Western states ardently sought to reduce the risk of catastrophic forest fires, but the addition was stripped in conference. More on this topic: Government Land Ownership & Control — National “Bill would create Highlands Stewardship Area - $25 million fund would tie up land in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut” - By Carol W. LaGrasse (PRFA, August 27, 2003) Wealthy New York interests, non-profits, recreationists, and preservationists have been working for over ten years on a grandiose greenway from the Delaware River across northern New Jersey, southern New York just north of the metropolitan region, and western Connecticut. A new bill in Congress will direct money from the Land and Water Conservation Fund to buy up land. More on this topic: Government Land Ownership & Control — National “College Professors Advocate NY Metropolitan Area Biosphere Reserve - International attention would focus on wetlands” - Carol W. LaGrasse (PRFA, June 2001) The college scientists’ recommendation for a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve to include 31 counties from Connecticut through lower New York to New Jersey would be the “perfect” environmental scheme, wasting billions of dollars on wetlands and distracting millions of people from New York City’s eco-colonialism. More on this topic: Biosphere Reserves & World Heritage Sites Full proposal for New York Metropolitan Region Biosphere Reserve: “Biodiversity and the City: A Case Study of the New York Metropolitan Region”- by Cynthia Rosenzweig and William D. Solecki, presented on May 23, 2001 at the International Conference on Biodiversity and Society, sponsored by Columbia University Earth Institute and UNESCO. More on this topic: Biosphere Reserves & World Heritage Sites “Unequal Protection—The Injustice of Using Eminent Domain on Behalf of Private Business” - Dana Berliner, Attorney, Institute for Justice, Washington, DC, from Proceedings of the Fourth Annual N.Y. Conf. on Private Property Rights (PRFA, 1999) More on this topic: Eminent Domain — National “Existing and Tentative U. N. World Heritage Sites in the United States”-reprinted from Positions on Property, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Nov. 1998) (Jump to New Jersey information) More on this topic: Biosphere Reserves & World Heritage Sites

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