"Woolwich Twp. has set a great example of planning and implementing smart growth principles," says Joseph Doria, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, in a statement. "I encourage more municipalities to work with our Smart Growth Office to receive endorsement."

Initial Plan Endorsement is a tool developed by the State Planning Commission to help towns, counties, regional and state agencies to meet the goals of the State Planning Act. The process is voluntary and establishes a method through which government agencies can develop capital investment and implement plans that will achieve the goals and strategies of the State Plan.

"Woolwich Twp., in the face of some of the most intense development pressure in the state, has done an outstanding job in developing a plan to proactively manage that growth and protect more than 4,000 acres of important farmland," says Agriculture secretary Charles Kuperus. "This is more than what the township could hope to accomplish through even the most ambitious use of our traditional farmland preservation programs."