EDITORIAL: Toughen the pine barrens credit system

For the agency that protects our pine barrens and their pristine water, today's meeting has an easy agenda item: picking a new leader. Next month's has the hard one: making pine barrens credits work better.

John Pavacic has major environmental management experience, and he really knows how the Pine Barrens Protection Act of 1993 works. He's the right choice for executive director.

As to the credits, they're central to the act's goal of preservation. Three-quarters of the land in the pine barrens core was to be preserved by direct government purchase. The rest was to be saved through pine barrens credits: in effect, IOUs.

The owner keeps the land, but gives up the right to develop it. In return, the owner gets credits. This saves land - 1,800 acres so far - at no cost to taxpayers. Later, the owner can sell the credits to developers, who use them outside the core, to build more homes than zoning would otherwise allow.

But towns have essentially been giving away rezonings, not making developers buy credits in exchange for increased density. Without demand, the credits aren't selling well. That makes future owners less likely to give up development rights for credits - and almost invites lawsuits attacking the act's fairness.

The Central Pine Barrens Joint Planning and Policy Commission should amend its land-use plan so towns will require developers to buy credits as part of a zoning change. It's a small step for a big result in preserved land and clean water. hN