ASSEMBLY, No. 2032

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED MAY 20, 1996

By Assemblymen CONNORS and MORAN

An Act concerning the acquisition by the State of the Heritage Minerals tract in Ocean county for recreation and conservation purposes and to establish a new State park, supplementing Title 13 of the Revised Statutes, and making an appropriation.

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. a. The Department of Environmental Protection shall, pursuant to the provisions of P.L.1983, c.324 (C.13:1L-1 et seq.), acquire in fee simple or by conservation easement, at the department's discretion, and preserve and maintain in the name of the State, for recreation and conservation purposes, the real property located in Manchester township, Ocean county, that is known as the Heritage Minerals tract.

    b. The department shall utilize funds appropriated or made available to it from the "Green Acres, Farmland and Historic Preservation, and Blue Acres Bond Act of 1995," P.L.1995, c.204, or any other funds appropriated or otherwise made available to it from other sources for acquisition of lands for recreation and conservation purposes, to effectuate the purposes of this act.

    c. Upon acquisition, the department shall designate the property as a State park, and preserve, manage, and maintain it accordingly.

    2. a. There is appropriated to the Department of Environmental Protection from the "1995 New Jersey Green Acres Fund," established pursuant to section 22 of the "Green Acres, Farmland and Historic Preservation, and Blue Acres Bond Act of 1995," P.L.1995, c.204, such sums as shall be necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act.

    b. The expenditure of the sums appropriated by this act is subject to the provisions and conditions of P.L.1995, c.204.

    3. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    This bill would direct the Department of Environmental Protection to acquire the Heritage Minerals tract in Manchester township, Ocean county, and to designate that parcel as a new State park. The approximately 7,000-acre Heritage Minerals property is imminently threatened with large-scale development. Preservation of the tract should be a top priority because of its location in the Pinelands National Reserve and its critical importance for water supply protection purposes and as habitat for threatened and endangered species of wildlife.

Directs State acquisition of Heritage Minerals tract in Ocean county for new State park.