The following case studies show how land-preservation techniques can be successfully pieced together to further conservation goals.

A good example of a streamway is the one being created along the Wickecheoke Creek in Delaware Township, Hunterdon County. The creek is a tributary of the Delaware River and Delaware & Raritan Canal. New Jersey Conservation Foundation, the Delaware River Mill Society and Friends of the Locktown Church are working together to preserve a six-mile stretch of the Wickecheoke. At this writing, the streamway includes over 800 acres of protected farmland, woodland and wetlands. Properties and easements have been acquired through the Green Acres and Farmland Preservation programs as well as private contributions, foundation grants, and landowner donations.

By combining forces, land trusts and local governments can undertake larger projects than they could pursue by themselves. For example, public and private conservation groups joined together to protect over a third of former Congressman Peter H. B. Frelinghuysen's 300-acre estate in Harding Township. The protected land comprises hayfields, wetlands, floodplain forest, and prime wood- turtle habitat. The partners used a combination of tools, including full market value sale, outright donation, and limited development, to realize their land preservation goals. Here's how the process worked:

During 1999, the Harding Land Trust took full title to 57 acres on the eastern side of James Street and acquired a conservation easement on another 35 acres. Funding for the transaction came from multiple sources: a $500,000 matching grant from the Green Acres nonprofit program, a $400,000 award from the Morris County Open Space and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund, and $200,000 raised by private donors. In addition to conveying an interest in these lots, Mr. Frelinghuysen donated 14 acres on the western side of James Street to the land trust. Harding Township, meanwhile, purchased three acres of the estate through its Open Space Trust Fund. In all, the project partners conserved 110 acres in the Great Brook watershed. To generate additional income for his family, Mr. Frelinghuysen subdivided the remainder of his estate and permitted new residences to be built on a few of the least environmentally sensitive lots.

Sometimes land conservation demands complex and creative real estate transactions. In 1996 New Jersey Conservation Foundation (NJCF) entered into a contract with Tatiana Nagro to purchase her 52-acre farm at the headwaters of the Passaic River. NJCF later sold the contract to the Township of Mendham for $15,600, enough to cover the expenses accrued by the organization. In 1997, the township received a Green Acres grant for $167,000 and a 2% loan for $594,454 payable over 20 years. In addition, area residents Albert and Katherine Merck donated $200,000 to assist in the acquisition. NJCF used this money to purchase U.S. Treasury zero-coupon bonds. These were then transferred to the township to help it repay the Green Acres loan. The bonds, which are staged to mature on an annual basis, will ultimately yield $434,160 in income. In the end, the township will have spent a total of $160,300 to acquire the Nagro property, now called the Tempe Wick Reserve.