NJ Gets Federal Monies for Trail Work: State Funds Still Lacking

The NJ Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced how they will divide up federal funds for 63 recreational trail projects across the state. The more than $1.1 million in grants came from the Federal Highway Administration's Recreational Trails Program and are administered by the DEP's Green Acres Program. This money will help improve and develop trails for recreational purposes and creating urban and suburban corridors.

“We’re thankful that we can use these federal funds for these much-needed trail upgrades and expansions. Trails are important for recreational uses. They help people enjoy open space and stay healthy. This money is even more important since we’ve cut back funding in the Transportation Trust Fund and the DEP for parks. We need to do a lot more to expand our trails on a state level,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.

Since the state hasn’t been able to fund the Transportation Trust Fund, we don’t have enough money to get many projects done on our own. Without proper trail access, many pedestrians or cyclists must travel on unsafe roadways instead.

“It’s critical that we provide safe areas for pedestrians and cyclists, especially given New Jersey’s high level of accidents and fatalities. Pedestrians are the second largest category of motor vehicle deaths and injuries in New Jersey. We need to invest more money and time into providing people with safe and accessible trails to recreate and travel on,” said Jeff Tittel.

The money is being awarded to different groups to work throughout the state of New Jersey on trails including the Monmouth County Park System, the New Jersey Youth Corps of Paterson and Appalachian Mountain Club. The DEP’s staff and funding has been cut by a third since the Christie Administration. They have less people and funds to do this work themselves. We are seeing New Jersey having to rely on volunteers and the federal government to maintain our parks and trails.

“The Christie Administration has failed to invest in New Jersey’s parks and trails. The amount of land, buildings, and facilities the Parks Department oversees is going up while staffing continues to decline. The state has eliminated programs in our parks such as environmental education, interpretive staff, and tours some of which have been replaced by volunteers. New Jersey’s hiking trails are being maintained by volunteers and funded by the federal government,” said Jeff Tittel.

New Jersey’s parks serve as places for people to spend vacation time with their families, enjoy nature, and exercise, providing a higher quality of life. Millions of people visit our parks every year, adding billions to the state’s economy. The budget should provide money for the DEP to maintain our parks and trails but instead, environmental funds continue to get diverted to plug budget holes.

“The people of our state want more and better trails to recreate and to travel on. New Jersey needs to do a better job at promoting trail maintenance and protecting parks and green spaces as a way to ensure all people have a right to enjoy the great outdoors. Providing people will safer and convenient trails makes them happier and healthier and reduces the amount of danger for Pedestrians and cyclists on the road. The state of New Jersey needs to develop a funding source for parks, whether it’s from Parks Capital or the TTF. The state needs to also invest in park funding because we can’t rely solely on federal money. These are great projects but we could be doing a lot more if we had state funding as well,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.