The commission charged with protecting New Jersey's Pinelands - a 1.1 million-acre national reserve in the heart of the state - has become so weak and inconsistent that it is threatening the future of the land, according to a report released yesterday by a watchdog group.

The report, by the Pinelands Preservation Alliance, said the commission was disrespecting its own rules and viewing its regulations "as guidelines only, to be ignored, negotiated, or enforced on a case-by-case basis for the convenience of local governments, developers, and even the commission itself."

Paul Leakan, spokesman for the Pinelands Commission - a 15-member group appointed by the governor, the secretary of the interior, and the seven counties within the preserve - criticized the report's "incendiary language," and said it was both unbalanced and misleading.

"Criticism can be very helpful because it can shed light on important matters that need to be addressed," Leakan said in an e-mail. "Unfortunately, this report does not capture the full range, impact, or importance of the commission's efforts during the past year, but rather glosses over the fine points and, in some cases, misrepresents key facts."

The Pinelands National Reserve was created 30 years ago as perhaps the nation's biggest experiment in land management. According to the alliance, however, its water quality is declining, some forests will be replaced with houses, and new forestry techniques will eliminate the understory of the globally rare ecosystem, creating "pitch-pine plantations."

The annual report is the alliance's third. For two decades, the group has been monitoring the complex issues involved in managing both preservation and development in the largest chunk of open space between Boston and Richmond, Va. It claims a membership of 3,400 families, individuals, organizations and companies.

Although the report highlighted several of the commission's achievements, including dedicating nearly $2.1 million to preserve 602 acres in Camden and Ocean Counties, Leakan said it left out many others.

Chief among them was a new rule requiring municipalities to begin managing septic systems, which Leakan said was a "major initiative" that would head off potential public health risks and environmental harm.

Richard Bizub, director of watershed planning for the alliance, credited the commission's 30-year record overall.

"It's hard to believe that in the most densely populated state in the nation, that you can still see something as unique and special as the Pinelands," he said. "This isn't Montana. This is New Jersey."

He said that for most of the last 30 years, the commission implemented "rules in a strict way." But, he said, "that has started to change."

Faced with worsening budget constraints and increasing pressure from local governments, developers and farmers, the commission has been promoting ways to streamline reviews, a policy that the report also criticized.

"Rather than focus its resources on enforcing the [comprehensive management plan], the commission continues to expend enormous staff time helping applicants get around the CMP through special procedures," alliance executive director Carleton Montgomery said in a written introduction to the report.

The report was a sampling of projects or decisions by the commission and other agencies, and it gave each a thumbs-up, thumbs-down or, if the results were inconclusive, crossed fingers.

Among the thumbs-down, the report criticized the commission for allowing water quality in the Pinelands to suffer, for defects in a new rule that would allow the clustering of development to save open space, and for allowing the widening of the Garden State Parkway.

In some cases, the report contended, the commission violated its own regulations. One example was a decision to pave a three-mile sand road in Woodland Township, Burlington County, in the heart of a preservation area.

Instead of requiring the applicant to prove the road would not harm threatened or endangered species, the commission shifted the burden of proof to the public to prove that it would, according to the report.

"This is a reversal of 30 years of regulatory standing, and a reversal of 30 years of Pinelands Commission practice," Bizub said.

Leakan responded that the commission had grappled with "a very complex matter" and that there was no evidence the road would create an irreversible adverse impact.

Contact staff writer Sandy Bauers at 215-854-5147 or sbauers@phillynews.com.