Late last week, the Christie administration said it will back off its
plan to commercialize Liberty State Park!
This is fantastic news, but our state parks are still at risk. Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bob Martin announced the state would move forward with its plan to privatize the other 38 state parks to make up for massive budget shortfalls.
We saved Liberty State Park because our allies, including Friends of
Liberty State Park, NY/NJ Baykeeper, and Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, and
thousands of New Jersey LCV supporters raised their
voices. If we keep up the pressure, we can protect our other state parks
from getting developed.
Send a message to the DEP now. Tell Commissioner Martin you support the decision not to privatize Liberty State Park, but that he should not use our parks to solve the budget crisis.
The Christie administration calls this scheme the “Sustainable Parks” initiative. But that's an incredibly deceptive name. The goal of the program is to get parks to generate revenue because the administration has been reckless with our state budget.1
If the DEP puts this plan into place, entire sections of parks would be leased to private developers. We'd see more concession stands and trash in sensitive environments. And entrance fees could go up, making state parks even less accessible to low-income families.
Our state parks are a place where children can swim and families can get away from traffic and pavement. We could lose the tranquility our state parks offer if there's more development and fewer areas kept wild.
The DEP is keeping its hands off Liberty State Park because "everybody piled on."2 If we raise our voices again, we can keep our other 38 parks from getting leased to private developers.
Tell the DEP you oppose any attempt to commercialize our state parks.
Thanks for all that you do to protect our water, air, and open spaces.
1 - "Christie administration unveils ideas for hotel, theater, amusements at Liberty State Park," NorthJersey.com, November 24, 2015.
2 - "Liberty State Park advocates cheer DEP decision to abandon development," Politico New Jersey, May 12, 2016.
This is fantastic news, but our state parks are still at risk. Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bob Martin announced the state would move forward with its plan to privatize the other 38 state parks to make up for massive budget shortfalls.
Send a message to the DEP now. Tell Commissioner Martin you support the decision not to privatize Liberty State Park, but that he should not use our parks to solve the budget crisis.
The Christie administration calls this scheme the “Sustainable Parks” initiative. But that's an incredibly deceptive name. The goal of the program is to get parks to generate revenue because the administration has been reckless with our state budget.1
If the DEP puts this plan into place, entire sections of parks would be leased to private developers. We'd see more concession stands and trash in sensitive environments. And entrance fees could go up, making state parks even less accessible to low-income families.
Our state parks are a place where children can swim and families can get away from traffic and pavement. We could lose the tranquility our state parks offer if there's more development and fewer areas kept wild.
The DEP is keeping its hands off Liberty State Park because "everybody piled on."2 If we raise our voices again, we can keep our other 38 parks from getting leased to private developers.
Tell the DEP you oppose any attempt to commercialize our state parks.
Thanks for all that you do to protect our water, air, and open spaces.
1 - "Christie administration unveils ideas for hotel, theater, amusements at Liberty State Park," NorthJersey.com, November 24, 2015.
2 - "Liberty State Park advocates cheer DEP decision to abandon development," Politico New Jersey, May 12, 2016.
