NJ Gov. Murphy Just Corporatized State Parks And Forests – Liberty State Park Targeted By Lame Duck Stealth Amendments
State Parks Foundation Law Promotes Corporate “Dedicated Donations” And Corporate Naming Rights
Over $720 Million Parks Maintenance Backlog Remains Unfunded
Gov. Murphy’s Sycophantic Cluess Conservation Groups Cheerlead
NJ LCV, Ed Potosnak cheerlead Gov. Murphy
On Thursday, NJ Gov. Murphy signed legislation (P.L.2023, c.256.) to create a private “State Parks and Open Space Foundation” to solicit private and corporate donations to fund “development” of State Parks and Forests and other county and locally owned open space, historic, and preserved lands.
We warned about the major flaws in this legislation last year (see this and this).
We also were perhaps the only place where the public could learn of the shocking fact that there is a $720 million deficit in State Parks maintenance, a huge issue ignored by the NJ press corps, see:
The Gov. has ignored this issue and this legislation will do very little to fund those deficits, but it will promote both privatization and commercialization and allow undue corporate influence on the management of State Parks and Forests.
According to Gov. Murphy’s Jan. 12 press release: (emphasis mine)
TRENTON – Governor Phil Murphy today signed S1311/A594, which establishes the NJ State Parks and Open Space Foundation within the Department of Environmental Protection. The foundation will be incorporated as a nonprofit corporation and will be responsible for raising funds for the maintenance and development of New Jersey’s state parks and forests, as well as county and municipal parks and open spaces.
“Thanks to this monumental legislation, our state’s natural treasures will only become more invaluable as we continue to invest in their preservation, resilience, and accessibility,” said Governor Murphy. “From Liberty State Park to Island Beach State Park, our state parks and forests will continue to attract visitors to the Garden State while providing physical and mental health benefits for countless New Jersey families.”
First of all, let’s start with an important fact correction. The Governor’s staff and press office are incompetent. The Foundation is not, repeat not, “within the Department of Environmental Protection”. The bill was significantly amended in Assembly Committee on December 4, among other things, the lame duck amendments removed the Foundation from the DEP and made it a private corporation (read the bill statement that summarizes the amendments:
5) provide that the foundation would be a separate and independent entity from the State and any State department;
This error suggests that the Gov.’s Office is not aware of the important lame duck amendments and doesn’t know what bill the Gov. just signed into law.
But the most important lame duck amendment was not even mentioned in the bill statement – another revealing omission that exposes the corrupt nature of this legislation. This omission was no accident, because it exposes exactly the corruption that is driving this legislation. Liberty State Park was targeted for privatization and development by billionaire Paul Fireman
Specifically, the December 4 Assembly lame duck amendments explicitly included Liberty State Park and mandated that the Foundation “convene committees dedicated to the solicitation and administration of funds for Liberty State Park”. Here’s the text from the bill the Gov. signed into law as P.L 2023, c.256: (see Section 3.k, page 6-7)
k. The foundation may convene committees to administer the work of the foundation as it may deem appropriate, including for the consideration of specific fundraising strategies. The foundation shall convene committees dedicated to the solicitation and administration of funds for Liberty State Park, Island Beach State Park, and other specific State parks, or to open space, initiatives, or projects deemed appropriate by the board, and may solicit and accept specifically dedicated donations, which shall be subject to separate and distinct accounting.
Let’s drill down. The Foundation “shall convene” projects for “Liberty State Park”.
The projects to be funded are those “deemed appropriate by the board”.
And “donations” may be “specifically dedicated”.
Billionaire Paul Fireman has his checkbook open.
On top of that, the legislation specifically allows for corporate naming rights (page 9, emphasis mine):
“The process shall ensure that any attribution or recognition for a donation is minimal and equal regardless of the. size of a donation.”
Corporate NJ will soon be using State Parks and Forests as corporate advertising. And not just State Parks – the law is extremely broad:
“State parks and open space” means State parks, forests, historic sites, natural areas, wildlife management areas, and any other lands, waters, and facilities owned or administered by the department for recreation and conservation purposes.
There are no restrictions on the DEP’s use of the private money. The law states that DEP makes these decisions at their “sole discretion” (page 9). Good luck challenging DEP on that.
There are no ethics or conflict of interest restrictions on the donors or on the board’s “dedicated” or recommended uses of the money.
I warned that this was coming last summer (2022):
I’m sure there are billionaire’s and large corporations willing to enter into a “Partnership” with a friendly NGO and DEP to fund things like golf courses in Liberty State Park (just look at NJ Audubon’s “Corporate Stewardship” program for examples. Sustainable NJ and NJ Future, NGO’s, also have corporate Stewardship programs). […]
I’m sure there are many billionaires and corporations who are willing to pony up millions of dollars for “legacy” naming rights (Walmart Long Beach Island State Park!), or make million dollar “bequests” for all sorts of commercialization and privatization proposals, from marina’s to canoe rentals. “Comcast State Park”. “PSE&G Plaza” – think of the endless commercial possibilities! Woohoo! ~~~ see:
Those warnings were attacked by Senate Environment Committee Chairman Bob Smith as “paranoid schizophrenics”:
[The bill] is a great idea and yes there can be little fixes, but I’ll say this to all my good friends out there: You’re all paranoid schizophrenics. You really are. You look at a bill that’s about getting more money, not from the taxpayers but from private sources for our parks and forest. It’s almost a no brainer.” ~~~ Senate Environment Committee Chairman Bob Smith (time 1:03:00) (6/13/22)
The Assembly Committee’s lame duck amendments to target Liberty State Park validate my warnings.
Perhaps Chairman Smith would reconsider in light of the Assembly’s lame duck stealth amendments.
Finally, my dire warnings were not only ignored by the corrupt and incompetent NJ conservation and environmental groups. They supported the bill and praised the Governor in the Governor’s press release! It seems that they got totally played and then declared victory by securing minor amendments:
1) removing “State Forests” from the title of the bill (but State forests remain within the scope of the bill and Foundation donations and “dedicated projects”);
2) deleting allowable industrial renewable energy projects;
3) inclusion of 2 “environmental justice” representatives on the Board; and
4) removing the Foundation from within the DEP (see above error by the Gov.’s Office).
I fired of this email to these corrupt idiots:
Doug O’Malley and Ed Potosnak – That law you just praised Gov. Murphy for signing will lead to privatization of State Parks (and more private influence on the management of State Parks), and do very little to nothing to address massive real problems like this, which you should be working on instead of providing political cover for a do nothing administration (ah, but you compounded the $400 million backlog by the stripping of the CBT. dedication to State Parks maintenance for the Keep It Green scam): see: