Several Morris County mayors touted the state's Highlands preservation plan yesterday and urged their Republican legislators to abandon partisan politics and join with Democrats for a "once in a lifetime effort" to preserve the region's resources.

The mayors and some planning and environmental officials spoke at a pro-Highlands event held on the heights of Fort Nonsense overlooking Morristown, with a view of the distant wooded hills.

The mostly Republican group said they understood concerns about portions of proposed Highlands legislation but stressed it can be changed, and they lauded Gov. James E. McGreevey's team for reaching out to the region's mostly Republican mayors and planners to craft regulations on development in the Highlands.

"Not many people get to create a lasting legacy...to do the right thing to protect the health and welfare of an area," said Chester Township Republican Mayor Ben Spinelli. "We are never going to find ourselves with the momentum we have today. Let's put aside partisan politics, special interests and parochial views."

Spinelli was joined by Mendham Township Mayor Robert Pierson and Harding Mayor John Murray, both Republicans, plus Parsippany's Democratic Mayor Mimi Letts.

Christopher Falcon, chairman of the nonprofit planning group Morris Tomorrow, also sent a strong message to legislators to expedite the Highlands plan.

"The horizon is not that far off when it comes to the exhaustion of our water supply...if we thoughtlessly allow the inexorable march of development...from the Hudson to the Delaware. That will be sad, indeed," said Falcon.

The comments came a day after a trio of Republican legislators from Morris and Sussex counties charged the governor's plan for the Highlands is being rushed through the Legislature so McGreevey can trumpet his plan on Earth Day later this month.

State Sen. Anthony Bucco and Assemblyman Rick Merkt (both R- Morris) and Assemblyman Guy Gregg (R-Sussex) said there are too many questions on a host of issues, including funding, development rights and watershed moratorium aid.

They want the legislation delayed a few months and plan to hold their own information session Tuesday night in Hackettstown.

Pierson and Murray, however, urged prompt action, as did Falcon, who noted concern about "attempts to subvert the process." Letts said the rules can be amended as the process moves along.

"This legislation is not yet perfect, but Trenton is listening to us," said Letts.

Last month, McGreevey announced plans to preserve critical parcels in the 800,000-acre Highlands region that covers some 90 towns in North Jersey.

Legislation introduced two weeks ago would virtually ban development on important watershed lands and establish a regional council with veto power over major development in the core area of the Highlands that will include Boonton and Chester townships, Denville, Dover, Jefferson, Kinnelon, Montville, Mount Arlington, Mount Olive, Netcong, Pequannock, Randolph, Rockaway and Washington Township.

Officials at yesterday's event noted there have been many attempts to deal with Highlands preservation, including two previous governors' task forces and two U.S. Forest Service studies, the first in 1992. "

Since then, we have lost 60,000 acres in the Highlands to development. And there is still a rush to development," said David Epstein, executive director of the Morris Land Conservancy. "We need to act now."

A third public hearing on the Highlands legislation is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Haggerty Center of the Frelinghuysen Arboretum in Morris Township. A fourth hearing is set for Thursday evening in Lebanon Township, Hunterdon County.

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Lawrence Ragonese works in the Morris County bureau. He can be reached at lragonese@starledger.com or (973) 539-7910. Copyright 2004 The Star-Ledger.