GREAT SWAMP WATERSHED ASSOCIATION Spring 2000 |
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Green Acres Funding Allows GSWA Land Purchase GSWA has received approval from the state’s Green Acres program to purchase an 18-acre tract of undeveloped land on Tiger Lily Lane in Harding Township. The land is a key parcel in an area that has been described as having "exceptional [environmental] value, containing wetlands, mature forest, scenic vistas over meadows and marsh and a decidedly rural feel." It is crossed by Silver Brook, a tributary to Great Brook, one of the five major streams that converge in the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. The state’s approval of the GSWA purchase was announced recently by the Garden State Trust, a panel appointed by Governor Whitman to approve Green Acres funding requests. Availability of funds is dependent upon passage of state legislation, expected later in the current legislative session. The 18-acre sale to GSWA, however, was expected to take place in late May, because the seller desired to conclude the transaction then rather than to wait for Green Acres funding, which could come as late as September. A bridge loan by the Red Oak Bank in Morristown will provide interim funding until the $200,000 in Green Acres funds is received. Meanwhile, Harding Township, as a part of the transaction, has provided a "comfort letter" to the bank and GSWA, offering informal assurance to support the transaction in case funding is delayed beyond the fall. GSWA is acquiring the property, currently owned by the estate of John Case, as a "bargain sale" – for less than its appraised value. By including another parcel of land in its possession in the state’s Green Acres program, GSWA became eligible for full Green Acres funding to acquire the Case property. The second property, also on Tiger Lily Lane, is a 24-acre parcel donated to GSWA in 1997 by Luther V. LaBarre and Warren F. Schuch.
Photo: Penny Hinkle Appraising the Case property in late 1999 were (l-r) John Murray, Harding Twp. Committeeman; Vincent Ruggiero of Apgar Associates, a local consulting firm; and Harding Twp. Health Administrator Garry Annibal. "We’re delighted with the news from Trenton," said Julia M. Somers, GSWA’s executive director. "Not only is this land parcel of critical environmental importance in and of itself. It is also bounded by, or close to, a significant amount of additional acreage that is being preserved for posterity – by us, by the Harding Land Trust, and by Harding Township. "The close proximity of these preserved lands offers broader habitat protection, more comprehensive water-management practices and, potentially, more opportunities for public education," Somers continued. Description of the area in which the parcel is located as having "exceptional value" occurs in "Saving Space: The Great Swamp Watershed Greenway and Open Space Plan," a 1997 GSWA publication that identifies environmentally critical areas in the ten towns spanned by the Great Swamp watershed. The area is further described as supporting "an abundance of wildlife and [having] high aesthetic appeal, with sweeping meadows and long stretches of forest cover. The area sits in the Silver Lake/Pine Brook Historic Rural Landscape District." |
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