The Pinelands Protection Program is a regional land-use program which protects natural resources through various planning and zoning measures. The Pinelands Commission has pioneered many smart-growth planning concepts, such as watershed management, transfer of development rights, timed growth and conservation planning, long before they received widespread acceptance. The Pinelands Commission's Office of Land Use and Technology Programs is responsible for a wide range of planning activities critical to the successful implementation of the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP). Among the many planning functions of the Pinelands Commission, some key responsibilities include:

• reviewing and certifying all municipal zoning and land-use ordinances and master plans for consistency with the CMP;
• reviewing water supply planning activities and water quality management plans;
• conducting geographic spatial analysis through computer mapping;
• protecting cultural and historic resources through archeological surveys and reviews;
• implementing the comprehensive plans for PCS and cellular towers;
• supporting permanent land protection efforts, including State land acquisition, farmland preservation, the Limited Practical Use Land Acquisition Program, and the Pinelands Development Credit Program; and
• administering the Pinelands Long-Term Economic Monitoring Program to continuously gauge the health of the Pinelands economy.