With 1,174 residents per square mile, it is the most densely populated state in the country. The Meadowlands are not known for wildlife diversity, but rather football diversity (the only stadium that's home to two NFL teams). The longest hike many visitors may take is along Atlantic City’s neon-lit boardwalk. In short, New Jersey is probably better known for providing habitat to The Sopranos than to species. Yet even this most urban of states provides the latest reminder of how important conservation is to Americans, evident with the approval of the state-wide Green Acres conservation bond on Nov. 3.
With 1,174 residents per square mile, it is the most densely populated state in the country. The Meadowlands are not known for wildlife diversity, but rather football diversity (the only stadium that's home to two NFL teams). The longest hike many visitors may take is along Atlantic City’s neon-lit boardwalk. In short, New Jersey is probably better known for providing habitat to The Sopranos than to species.
Yet even this most urban of states provides the latest reminder of how important conservation is to Americans, evident with the approval of the state-wide Green Acres conservation bond on Nov. 3.
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In an election in which the incumbent governor who supported the Green Acres bond lost, and the "economy" and "taxes" were the runaway top issues cited by voters in exit polls, this $400 million conservation bond received 53 percent of New Jersey voters' support. In doing so, the Green Acres conservation bond actually won more counties than either of the two major gubernatorial candidates.
How do you explain this?
Well, the first answer may be that people in New Jersey would rather get their clean water from filtering forests and wetlands than expensive water treatment facilities. Voters may have remembered nearby New York City’s deliberations about future water use in the mid-1990s. At that time, the Big Apple realized it could spend less than $2 billion on preserving existing watershed lands upstate, or spend an estimated $6-8 billion to build new water treatment facilities. That's an easy decision.
The second reason may be there is actually more to the Garden State than just turnpikes. The state's Pinelands National Reserve is home to the largest body of open space on the Mid-Atlantic seaboard between Richmond and Boston. The state also has more than 200 miles of ocean and bay shoreline, and its 800,000-acre Highlands Region provides clean drinking water to more than one-half the state's population. The urge to protect the value of those assets is completely understandable, as the payoff is "better than gold."
The third may be that people in New Jersey are really not that different than the rest of the country — because conservation goes beyond politics in the United States.
Article continues: http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/politics/stories/tony-soprano-atlantic-city-and-conservation
