Morris County committee urges voters be allowed to approve stewardship grants for preserved land

Deputy Director Commissioner Stephen Shaw presented the Preservation Trust Fund Review Committee’s unanimous recommendation that Morris County voters be asked to allow trust fund dollars to pay for stewardship and enhancement of preserved land.

The committee, established under Resolution 2024-42, found stewardship of existing preserved lands to be an appropriate use of Preservation Trust Fund dollars and recommended a broadly worded ballot question so program details and eligibility rules can be drafted if voters approve it. "The committee finds that stewardship of existing preserved lands is an appropriate use of preservation trust fund dollars and unanimously recommends that the ballot question be put to the voters of Morris County," Shaw said.

The recommendation grows from six committee meetings in which members reviewed the program’s charge, prior open-space surveys, state enabling legislation and presentations from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions. The committee’s report says stewardship grants would fund activities such as natural resource management…