Except Corzine is doing his best to not accept the offer without actually coming out and saying it. Link

Environmentalists Monday urged Gov. Jon S. Corzine to accept the free offer of a history-laced, half-square-mile island in the Delaware River and turn it into a nature center, unique as a wilderness easily accessed by urban residents of Camden County.

The island, among the largest in the Delaware, has been at the center of controversy because developers and their backers have eyed the former Citgo Petroleum Corp. terminal on Petty's Island to build condominiums with a golf course and retail shops, among other money-spinning commercial efforts.

Two years ago, a pair of bald eagles chose to nest on Petty Island, so ofc all development plans were halted. In the end, when the eaglet died, state wildlife officials accused developers of hiring an ornithologist to harass the bird. Nice.

Now, the plan to develop this island into a golf course is backed by a rich Democrat named George E. Norcross III, so, i suppose you could put this down as motive for Corzine's hemming and hawing. That and the fact that Jersey's having a bit of a budget crisis and a golf course and condos means revenue for the state. Cha-ching. (I guess Barbara Buono's idea of cutting the Christmas tree budget isn't going to save us enough money to bail the state out after all. Who knew?)

The word from Corzine's spokesperson is

"The discussions are ongoing, and no final decision has been made. The governor is committed to the island's cleanup before any decisions are made about its final use," said Corzine spokesman Jim Gardner.

Which makes perfect sense except

[David Pringle of the New Jersey Environmental Federation] said Citgo has offered to pay for the cleanup and wants to hand New Jersey $2 million to help manage the property.

So, governor, what exactly are the discussions about?

Meanwhile, the Republican candidate for governor Douglas R. Forrester has actually been very critical of Corzine and the Dems in general for basically bowing to a rich donor.

"When I'm governor, I have pledged, and will follow through on that pledge, to make sure that we don't have that kind of warped public policymaking," Mr. Forrester said. "This is the sort of thing that costs taxpayers money."

I don't know about you, but a Republican talking this way about "warped public policymaking" and costing taxpayers money strikes me as funny. And not in a good way.

See, I told you NJ politics had interesting stuff going on.

i did it all for you! i hope you appreciate it.

You can't blame Corzine for not taking the island. He's in charge of the Garden State, not the island state. And, we all know that New Jersey needs more golf courses.

One day, I hope I'm as wise as Corzine. Then, I'll be able to buy two elections.