CT Awards Wilton $157K Grant To Preserve Open Space

RIDGEFIELD, CT — The town has been gifted with a $157,500 grant as part of a state initiative to protect and preserve open space lands.

The award is part of $6.2 million in total funding cross Connecticut, including $5.5 million to support 29 grants toward the purchase of nearly 3,000 acres of land, plus an additional 5 grants totaling more than $700,000 for distressed communities to promote the use of open space in urban settings.

The 11.5 acres of the Fratelli Zeta Acquisition are part of the Aspetuck Land Trust’s project to create a 705-acre contiguous forest known as the Weston/Wilton Forest Block. The ALT will create a recreational trail system through the properties with the central trailhead at the Fromson Strassler property which they are acquiring with assistance from a 2020 Open Space and Watershed Land Acquisition grant.

The forest block will be connected to the Norwalk River Valley Trail at the Cannondale Station in Wilton. Hiking trails in the forest block will also be linked to Huntington State Park in Redding via Georgetown Road. There are intermittent watercourse and seepage wetlands on the property that contribute to the headwaters of the West Branch of the Saugatuck River. The intermittent stream channel and bordering vegetated wetlands provide habitat for amphibians.

The grants are authorized under the state's Open Space and Watershed Land Acquisition Program and the Urban Green and Community Garden Program, which are administered by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and assist local governments, land trusts, and water companies in purchasing land to protect as open space.

"These natural assets are valuable as we attract and retain residents who are increasingly looking for varied recreational opportunities where they work, play, and live," DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes said. "No single entity can accomplish the critical goal of protecting our lands with significant conservation values now and for future generations. We need continued cooperation of land trusts, our towns and cities, and conservation-minded citizens to build upon existing and form new partnerships and new approaches to protecting open space."

These most recent acquisitions bring the total land in Connecticut designated as state or local open space to more than 512,000 acres – approximately more than three quarters of the way toward the state’s goal of having 673,210 acres designated as open space.

DEEP’s 2021 grant rounds for both of these grant programs are now underway, with applications due by September 30, 2021. These programs use funding from the Community Investment Act and state bond funds and require matches by the grant recipient and stipulations that the land be protected by a conservation and public recreation easement, ensuring that the property is forever protected for public use and enjoyment. Projects are evaluated by statutorily defined parameters and ranked, according to natural resource and recreational value, and natural area resiliency and adaptation to mitigate climate change. Updated applications for the 2021 grant round are available on DEEP’s Open Space website.