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Bernards, New Jersey, has voted to buy a conservation easement that includes public access for $5 million. Here's what the local paper in central Jersey reported:
Under the agreement, the English family will continue to own the wooded property, which begins at the intersection of Allen and Somerville Roads, and preserves the right to remove a limited amount of timber each year.
Committeeman John Carpenter said the purchase, to be funded through money already set aside from the local open space tax, would prevent development. "We are conserving the beauty of the property, and the public gets full access to it," he said on Monday, Aug. 24.
Although Westchester Land Trust has never bought an easement, it can be a good way for a municipality to protect land and get public access to it without having to take it own it and take it off the tax rolls.