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In 1997, the State Legislature enacted a goal of protecting a total of 10 percent of the state's land area as state-owned open space. In 1998, responding to a report issued by his Blue Ribbon Open Space Task Force, Governor Rowland called for protection of a total of 21% of the state's land area. The Governor envisioned that 10 percent of this total should be held as open space by the state, and that 11 percent of the state's land area should be preserved by land conservation organizations, municipalities and water companies. Governor Rowland pledged $166 million over 5 years to preserve land and begin to make progress toward reaching those goals. This year marks the 5th year of the Governor’s program and in the current economic climate, its future hangs in the balance.

The major state programs for preserving open space lands include:

• DEP's Recreation and Natural Heritage Trust Program—the program through which DEP acquires land to be held by the state as open space
• DEP's Open Space and Watershed Land Matching Grants Program—the program through which DEP provides grants to land conservation organizations, municipalities and water companies for land acquisition projects
• The Department of Agriculture’s PDR Program—the program through which the DoAg purchases development rights in order to permanently preserve farmland across the state

A Success Story: Through these programs, the state has preserved or helped to preserve a total of 35,583 acres in more than 120 different cities and towns over the past 5 years. Land has been preserved in towns of all sizes and in every corner of the state including 19 out of the 25 municipalities with the highest populations.

The Continuing Challenge: Despite tremendous progress over the past 5 years, Connecticut still has a long way to go to meet the goal of preserving 21 percent of our state's land mass. By 2002, DEP's ownership of land increased by about 26,935 acres, or 0.84 percent of Connecticut's landmass, bringing the total percentage for DEP ownership to about 7.5 percent. Many thousands of acres are still needed to reach the 10 percent goal. During the same period, towns, land trusts and water companies acquired 10,388 acres or .32% of the state’s landmass, still far from the 11% goal.

Towns and municipalities rely on these programs to help protect their natural landscapes. In the Spring 2002 round of Open Space Matching Grants program, $6.5 million in state funds were available. Towns and land trusts submitted requests of $9.6 million, pledging $8.4 million in local funds.

Staying the Course: In order to continue the state's significant progress in preserving open space, Governor Rowland and the State Legislature need to:

• Renew the commitment to open space programs for another 5 years.
• Continue Bonding for the Recreation and Natural Heritage Trust Program ($23 million) and Open Space and Watershed Matching Grants program ($13 million)
• Increase funding for the State's Farmland Preservation Program as an additional component of the overall open space initiative

Audubon Connecticut, an operating unit of the National Audubon Society with
over 13,000 members in the state, works to protect birds, other wildlife
and their habitats through education, research, conservation and legislative advocacy.