O26 Michelle Byers NJ Environmental Foundation Presentation

Today the state’s over 1.4 million acres of available lands neither preserved or developed, are currently providing ecosystem services. They are filtering and storing drinking water supplies, controlling and mitigating flooding, supplying local foods, sequestering carbon, and providing wildlife habitat and clean air. If these lands are developed, the basic environmental functions and services they provide will cease, leading to an erosion of environmental quality. With a growing population, the need for preserving at least half of the most environmentally critical of these lands is essential.