Another sign of politics, who needs to hire a consultant? Hundreds of people know the pines, and some of them can make rational choices about it for free as a service for the pines. Seriously, who need a rational forum when the money goes to a friend from who knows where to make the choice for you, and in their salary they throw people $2000 in cash to thank each person for the job with no meaning. Talk about more stupidity that people say is important, noone understands what corruption is or how deep it goes.
Lets all be serious, the pines is a political issue, lets preserve it now(New Jersey constitutional admendment!) WE MUST! Oh sorry, this isnt 2026, the pines is a resource we need to lower taxes to help your standard of living, its the pines or taxes, pick your choice 2026 election. Lets be serious, its all nonsesne, all pines, preservation of farmlands, its just for now, i dont see New Jersey Constitutional admendments banning the use of preserved land to be preserved, or to preserve any government owned lands in the pinelands, or other to be really preserved, its just a money, and election scam.
Preserving land now is good, it helps hold stupid expansion, and tax rates. Preservation is also good, because government controlled lands can be sold in 20-30 years at insane costs for develelopment to hold of taxes, but of course all land is developed into 50 mile deep suburban sprawl, atleast you get or your kids the benefit of it, before fleeing to other states for taxes tens of times lower, and your 300k house on 1/4, in another state you get 300k for 150 acres and a house. I know farmers now, its a historical thing, would be nice if they all gave up, sold out, moved away, would be neat to see developers from other states, like Oregon, buying land. So cool to see NJ farmers in other states, and see tens on tens of thousands of acres in housing, talk about punishing people, not just taxes, but traffic, even way of life from houses and houses around them. I would say good, New Jersey needs to be one giant place of houses, and all the costs, and social ills with it, because voters here dont care about it, they care only when they buy some new house near a farm field, then call the police when the farmer is working their field during their July 4th picnic and the noise is NOT TOLERABLE. This is why the pinelands is really a non issue, its a total issue of suburban sprawl, i totally understand our property rights in the United States, but it doesn mean you can build 50 houses on 10 acres, there is a rational view of it, 10 acres you own, 1 house. Why cant i build a nuclear plant and a coal plant on 3 acres, but i can build 50 apartments no problem. Cmon everyone, lets get into reality, and enjoy what we got now, so we have stories to tell later when its all gone.