Senator William H. Nickerson (R-Greenwich) announced his support for two items which were approved today by the State Bond Commission which together allocated $9 million for open space land purchases under the Recreation and Natural Heritage Trust Program.  Nickerson is a member of the Bond Commission and Ranking Member of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee.

Nickerson said, “I am delighted that the State is expanding funding for acquisition of open space.  The funds under this Program will be used to acquire land for state parks, forest, wildlife management areas, aquatic access and natural resources.  This is new money which has not previously been committed and it is a vital step to preserve open space in our congested State.  This will provide “breathing space” for all of us and improve our ability to stay in touch with the natural world.  There are few State endeavors of which it can be said that the decisions we make today will have an impact forever - land acquisition is one of them.”

The Recreation and Natural Heritage Trust Program provides for direct state purchase of land and runs in paralleled with the Department of Environmental Protection’s Open Space and Watershed grant program.  This provides open space grants to municipalities and non-profits of up to 50% or the acquiring cost of open space.