ValleVue Farms Tapped For A County Preservation Grant

MORRIS TOWNSHIP, NJ — ValleVue Farms in Morris Township have been recommended for a 2019 Open Space grant by the county's Open Space Trust Fund Committee.

The $684,000 grant would allow for phase two of this project to go ahead. Once the farm is purchased, additional trails and scenic viewpoints will be built, including trails that connect to a local community garden and the Lewis Morris County Park. Officials say the preservation will help "protect the integrity of the historic and environmentally sensitive Washington Valley region."

The farmlands are one of six projects across the county recommended for adoption. A formal decision on all the recommended projects will be made at the Nov. 25 meeting of the Board of Freeholders in Morristown. They traditionally accept all recommendations.

Funds for the project come from a voter-approved preservation fund, which is also used for farmland and historic preservation, county parkland acquisition, trail construction, and the purchase of residential properties prone to flooding.

Other proposed projects include purchasing additional parkland in Denville, preserving land near the Russia Brook head waters in Jefferson, and buying the Black River Fields in Chester.