The General Assembly finds that as a part of the continuing growth of the population and the development of the economy of the State it is necessary and desirable that portions of the State’s rich natural and cultural diversity be set aside as Heritage Preserves and Sites and protected for the benefit of present and future generations, for once disturbed they cannot be wholly restored. Such areas and features are irreplaceable as laboratories for scientific research; as reservoirs of natural materials for which the value and usefulness thereof is not yet fully known; as habitats for rare and vanishing species; and as living museums where people may observe natural biotic and environmental systems and as areas for study and enjoyment as examples of the lands, structures and related artifacts which represent significant parts of our historical and cultural heritage.

While a number of independent and differing efforts, both private as well as governmental, have been initiated to protect some of these assets, a coordinated and concerted program is needed in order to avoid duplication among these and other valuable activities and to insure the maximum conservation of these resources through the establishment of a more effective and adequate official legal mechanism for identifying, recognizing and protecting such areas for their outstanding characteristics. While the preservation of all of these assets in their natural state is both impractical and often not necessarily in the total best interest of the State and the public, they exist in limited and decreasing quantities. The time is now for a decision to be made as to which of these areas and sites deserve increased protection and for selecting the most appropriate means for doing so.

It is therefore the public policy of this State to secure for the people, both present and future generations, the benefits of an enduring resource of natural and cultural areas and features by establishing a system of Heritage Preserves and Sites; protecting this system; gathering and disseminating information regarding it; establishing and maintaining a listing of Heritage Preserves and Sites; and otherwise encouraging and assisting in the preservation of natural and cultural areas and features of this State.