BOLINSKY APPLAUDS NEWTOWN OPEN SPACE GRANT

HARTFORD- State Rep. Mitch Bolinsky (R-106) along with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced a state grant of $110,000 which will preserve 36.98 acres of open space in Newtown.

The Chestnut Hill Open Space Preserve property is located in the southeast corner of Newtown near the Monroe and Oxford town lines, and will add to existing town-owned open space to create an over 70-acre preserve. The property is within the Halfway River Watershed and contains wetland, vernal pools and deciduous forest floodplains in an undeveloped natural setting. An unnamed tributary to the Halfway River runs through and is likely enjoyed by an Eastern Box Turtle that was recently discovered on the property. The ridgeline topography runs north-south and has a steep slope to the east toward the Halfway River.

The Open Space program is run by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. The state has a goal of protecting 673,210 acres by 2023. So far, it has preserved 496,182 acres, or 73.7 percent of the goal.

“Preserving this land will benefit our region for generations,” Rep. Bolinsky said. “We thank the governor and state officials for recognizing the need to protect key parcels of land from development like the ones in Newtown.”