Annual Land Conservation Rally at Brookdale Educates Public

People interested in preserving New Jersey's open space and farmlands gathered at the 15th annual New Jersey Land Conservation Rally, held Saturday at Brookdale Community College's Warner Student Life Building.

They got to hear experts give advice on acquiring and maintaining historical properties, about striking a balance between open space and authentic farm preservation, and how to remove pesticides from the soil, among many other topics.

Preservation means much more than just buying and holding a parcel of land from development, said a rally organizer, Carol Banhart of the NJ Conservation Foundation. Knowing the requirements of a property are crucial to its maintenance, she said. “We’ve preserved 125,000 acres and are steward to 20,000 acres,” said Banhart. 

Understanding the pitfalls of environmental site remediation was explained by the state Department of Environment Protection's Michael Buriani, who also discussed cleaning up farm dumps, underground storage tanks, urban fill material and historic pesticides.

Christine Hall, from the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service, presented scenarios of how farm material can seep into rivers and other waterways, and how different types of planning, landscaping and drainage can help minimize the negative effects of fertilizer and pest control run-off.

New Jersey needs to maintain its agricultural nature, said David Glenn, of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New JerseyThe average age of a New Jersey farmer is roughly around 50 to 55," he said. "What will happen in 20 years? Will they still be farming at ages 70 and 75?” 

Out in the hallway, several vendors and organizations manned tables full of literature, maps and brochures. Lori Jenssen, Executive Director of the New Jersey Forestry Association.

A recurring motif throughout the vendors was the care and maintenance of property, and the advice that one of the best ways to achieve premium property preservation is to reduce waste and energy costs. Xavier Walter, president of The Home Energy Team, an energy efficiency cooperative based in Southampton, NJ, displayed products ranging from small replacement lightbulbs for lamps to LED tube-lighting to replace environmentally undesirable fluorescent bulbs. He also offered large-scale alternatives for field lighting.

In regard to the LED (light-emitting diode) lamps, Walter said, “they are less than half the cost to run and last for 50-to-60,000 hours.” Walter added that, with the replacements, the actual LEDs never die out, only the circuitry they connect to, so the bulbs can be refurbished as good as new, and toxic components found in the common counterparts never hit the landfill.