DEP’s 2015 Green Acres Funding Includes More Than $6 Million for Projects in Morris County

WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 15, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — More than $6 million in grants has been approved for county and municipal governments, and nonprofit and environmental groups for open space preservation projects in Morris County, as part of the 2015 state Green Acres funding awards announced by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The grants include $1.2 million for Morris County government, $3.7 million to nine Morris County municipalities, plus another $1.4 million to nonprofit groups for a series of projects throughout the county.

The Garden State Preservation Trust on June 10 approved the Christie Administration’s recommended list of $102.3 million in Green Acres open space and recreation projects, according to Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin. More than $93 million was earmarked for county and local government and nonprofit projects in all 21 counties. Another $9 million will be used for state projects.

Included are $1.2 million to Morris County and $302,000 to Pequannock for planning incentive grants; $500,000 to Long Hill for Passaic River Basin property acquisitions; $550,000 to Lincoln Park for its floodplain acquisition project; acquisition grants to Chester Township, $205,000; Hanover, $300,000; Harding, $550,000; Madison, $500,000; Mendham Township, $187,800; and Rockaway Township, $550,000.

In addition, grants were awarded to the Harding Land Trust, $125,000; New Jersey Conservation Foundation, $350,000; NY-NJ Trail Conference $175,000; the Land Conservancy of New Jersey, $350,000; and Trust for Public Land, $350,000, for various open space, greenway and water supply protection projects that include parts of Morris County.

The Green Acres program was created in 1961. Working with public and private partners, Green Acres has directly protected more than 680,000 acres of open space and provided hundreds of recreational opportunities

To view the entire 2015 Green Acres funding list, visit:http://www.nj.gov/dep/greenacres/pdf/ga-awards.pdf

For more information on Morris County’s preservation efforts, visit:http://www.morrisplanning.org/divisions/prestrust/openspace/index.asp

For more information on the state Green Acres Program, please visit:http://www.nj.gov/dep/greenacres/