NJ Closes 2 State Parks – Concerns Privatization Coming

The NJ Department of Environmental Protection has announced that they are closing two state parks this week so that staff can help nearby parks that have experienced more visitors. Fort Mott State Park in Salem County and Voorhees State Park in Hunterdon County are closed indefinitely as of today. The NJDEP is still restricting access to some Wildlife Management Areas, including Greenwood, Malibu Beach, and Winslow East.

“Two state parks are now closed because of the budget raids and cuts to environmental programs. Not only are Fort Mott State Park and Voorhees State Park closed, but they also closed 3 wildlife management areas last month. This is because DEP just cut $9.6 million from the parks budget even though DEP park staff is already at an all-time low. We are concerned that the budget cuts will lead to privatization and leasing out public land to corporations to run and build on,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “During the pandemic, people have been enjoying our parks more and they have been hitting capacity. This shows the need for more park resources. People want to exercise or enjoy open space with their families, but with parks closed people won’t be able to do that. These closures will only lead to more and could eventually lead to privatization.”

The budget bill signed by Governor Murphy raided $82 million from DEP, including $9.6 million from the parks budget. They also slipped in privatization language in the budget that lets the DEP issue solicitations to engage the private for-profit and non-profit sector in reducing backlogs for state parks through leaseholds.

“More than 17 million people visit our parks annually.  While the number of visitors to our parks and forests goes up every year, we are seeing massive cuts to the funds that keep those parks open. Christie shifted tens of millions of dollars away from capital repairs and urban parks with the support of some environmental groups. Now our state parks are falling apart and we have $500 million in backlogs. These lands belong to all of us. That is why New Jersey needs to fully fund our parks, but that funding has consistently been taken away,” said Tittel. “Budget cuts for DEP staff and our parks is an excuse to privatize and give away New Jersey’s treasured assets to private companies. This is déjà vu all over again with the Corzine and Christie Administration.”

New Jersey residents and several environmental groups have called on Governor Murphy to prevent solicitations of their state parks, forests, and open spaces. Even though Murphy signed the budget without line-item vetoing the privatization language, there are several actions he can make. He can write a statement or Executive Order suspending the implementation of the budget language. Murphy can also ask the legislature to change the budget language or have it removed before October when the final budget is voted on.

“We’re concerned about the closing of state parks and wildlife management areas because it is a slippery slope to privatization. There’s privatization language in the budget that is effective September 1. That means that the state will be rushing to lease or give our contracts to private entities for critical functions of our parks. These lands are purchased and held in the public trust for people to enjoy. They are owned by the public, for the public and entrusted with our government. This is our heritage, our legacy, and we cannot sacrifice that because of financial problems,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “For more than 125 years, the Sierra Club has fought to preserve public lands for the public. That is what we stand for, and what we will continue to fight for against threats that will continue no matter who the governor is. Our parks are for everyone. Too many people have fought too hard for too long to save our open spaces to lose them now to profiteers.”