A picture-perfect day, a postcard backdrop and a bunch of cute kids in Medford Tuesday boosted the campaign for a yes vote on New Jersey's Public Question 2.
The sunny gathering at Johnson's Corner Farm -- a Burlington County landmark saved from development a dozen years ago -- was organized by a coalition of environmental and other groups called Keep it Green. The Nov. 4 ballot measure would dedicate existing tax and other revenues to replenish the Garden State's depleted farmland preservation, historic preservation, and open space and urban parkland programs.
Voters have approved such measures 13 times since 1961, and suppport traditionally has been bipartisan, said Kelly A. Mooij, vice president of governmental relations for New Jersey Audubon and the coordinator of Keep It Green. Nearly 210,000 acres of farmland statewide has been preserved from development, but New Jersey Green estimates that another 350,000 must be protected in order to "maintain a viable agriculture industry -- the state's third largest."
--KEVIN RIORDAN