Our Most Ambitious Endeavor

Last year, The Land Conservancy of New Jersey achieved a major milestone of preserving our 30,000th acre of open space. You understand how critical that accomplishment is in our densely populated state.

Instead of resting on our laurels, we quickly upped the ante by joining conservation partners throughout New Jersey in a pledge to collectively preserve an additional 500,000 acres by 2050.

Will you join us in this endeavor by making a gift to our End of Fiscal Year Campaign?

We’re doing this because time is running out. Only 1.4 million acres of privately owned, undeveloped land remains to be preserved in New Jersey. To help achieve this ambitious goal, The Land Conservancy of New Jersey has embarked on a new effort to save another 30,000 acres by the year 2050.

Unfortunately, due to a number of regulatory hurdles, the amount of land being preserved in New Jersey has dropped from an average of 20,000 acres to less than 6,000 acres per year. This is not enough to meet the challenges of protecting watersheds, greenways, wildlife habitat, and farms in the face of the relentless development pressure.

To overcome these obstacles and reach our goal of preserving the next 30,000 acres, The Land Conservancy has developed a campaign based on a series of achievable goals, like increasing Green Acres and farmland preservation funding, and expanding tax incentives to encourage landowners to preserve their properties. We are also working with the State Agricultural Development Committee (SADC) to establish workable rules to implement new forest easement legislation, as well as hiring staff to help care for those forests that we preserve. Learn more about the Next 30,000 Acres Campaign here.



Your contribution to this End of Fiscal Year Campaign and the Next 30,000 Acres Campaign will allow us to complete a number of important projects, including several that are already under way, like the Hundred Acre Wood on Kittatinny Mountain, The Appalachian Trail Marsh in Wantage, the Drew Forest in Madison, and increasingly important farmland preservation.

Hundred Acre Wood

This large forest in Blairstown contains an important section of the Stony Brook, a tributary of the Delaware River located along the eastern face of Kittatinny Mountain in Warren County. This will become the next key piece in our Yards Creek Preserve, increasing its size to 446 acres—now the Conservancy’s largest. We need to raise $50,000 to complete this project.

Appalachian Trail Marsh

347 acres near the Appalachian Trail in Wantage are part of a vast 1,000-acre marsh system and surrounding uplands—still privately owned and unprotected. We need $200,000 to save this wonderful birding spot, which is also home to federally endangered and threatened species such as Indiana and little brown bats, vesper sparrows, northern harriers, bobolink, eastern meadowlark, and bobcats, which are a threatened species. 

Drew Forest

The Land Conservancy has helped the Borough of Madison negotiate an agreement to acquire the 53-acre Drew Forest, which has withstood the tests of time and nature, enduring countless storms and challenges. It also contains outstanding wildlife habitat and is a high recharge for the Buried Valley Aquifer, an important regional drinking water source. Now we need $50,000 to cross the finish line. 

Farmland Preservation

Farmers are eager to safeguard the land they work so hard to farm. Most would rather see the land remain preserved instead of being developed into the next warehouse or condominium complex. Agriculture is an economic engine that helps New Jersey thrive, and preserving farmland will be key in reaching our 30,000-acre goal. TLCNJ has been helping farmers protect their land for over 40 years, and right now we need $25,000 to secure 16 farms that are currently in process for preservation. 

Your support is instrumental to The Land Conservancy’s success, and to a healthy future for New Jersey. A generous couple has pledged a $10,000 seed gift to kick off this campaign. Please join them by making your gift today. Thank you for keeping our great state healthy and beautiful!