Grants will help preserve eight properties in the region

More than 500 acres of wetlands, woodlands, former farms and important watersheds in southeastern Connecticut moved closer to permanent protection with the announcement Thursday of more than $10 million in grants for open space purchases statewide.

The grants, intended to keep key watersheds and open spaces from development, will go toward a total of 42 parcels in 35 communities statewide. In southeastern Connecticut, grants ranging from $35,000 to $650,000 will go toward eight properties - two each in Groton and Salem and one each in Lyme, Preston, North Stonington and Old Lyme.

Administered by the state Department of Environmental Protection, the grants cover 50 percent to 65 percent of the purchase price.

Gov. Jodi M. Rell, in announcing the grants, said the purchases will help Connecticut meet its goal of having 21 percent of the state's land preserved as open space by 2023. There are now about 489,000 acres, or roughly 15 percent, designated as state or locally owned open space. The grants are funded through state bonding and the 2005 Community Investment Act.

Along with the open space grants, Rell also announced Thursday that seven Urban Green & Community Garden grants totaling $339,463 were awarded to refurbish parks and community gardens in seven cities, including New London.

The city, in partnership with FRESH - Food Resources Education Security Health - has been awarded $66,625 to build new community garden sites at Caulkins Park and at Nathan Hale and Winthrop elementary schools. The funds will pay for fencing and installation of water lines, the purchase of loam, mulch, hand tools, compost and a composter and materials to build raised beds, toolsheds and signs, according to a news release from Rell's office.

FRESH currently offers garden plots to residents at three sites in the city.

One of the organizations that will receive one of the open space grants, the Groton Open Space Association, is "pretty confident" it will be able to complete its purchase by the end of the year, said Jim Furlong, one of the directors of GOSA. It received $534,300 toward the 63-acre parcel off Hazelnut Hill Road known as the Sheep Farm.

"This is a huge step forward," said Susan Sutherland, interim treasurer of GOSA.

The group needs to raise about $350,000 more, Furlong said, and is soliciting donations from individuals and applying for other grants. An option to purchase the property will expire Dec. 31.

The parcel had been farmed continuously from the early 18th century until 2000, when it was last used for agriculture as a sheep farm. In addition to historic foundations and other structures, it has significant natural features - scenic overlooks, vernal pools, swamps, two waterfalls and Fort Hill Brook.

"It's extraordinarily scenic," Furlong said.

Another of the grants will go toward the purchase of 89 acres of Atlantic white cedar swamp, a rare ecosystem listed by the DEP as an "imperiled natural community." The Bell Cedar Swamp, off Stillman Road in North Stonington, abuts a 70-acre Nature Conservancy parcel.

"It's a very unique place," said Duncan Schweitzer, vice president of Avalonia Land Conservancy. "The swamp itself is quite primitive, in terms of its vegetation" with rare orchids and large wild rhododendron.

Historical records show that early settlers extracted bog iron from there, Schweitzer said. "One of the streams is called Red Brook, for the color of the bog iron," he added.

Keeping the land as open space will protect a main groundwater supply for the town, streams that flow into the Pawcatuck River and important spawning areas for amphibians, according to information from Rell's office and Furlong.

j.benson@theday.com

ubox:

State open space and urban gardening grants in southeastern Connecticut:

• Sheep Farm, 63 acres, Groton Open Space Association, $534,300.

• Spicer-Pulaski Park, 30 acres, Town of Groton, $650,000.

• Sterling Hill Road, 40 acres, Lyme Land Conservation Trust, $140,000.

• Bell Cedar Swamp, North Stonington, 89 acres, Avalonia Land Conservancy, $35,500.

• Ames/Sheep's Ledge, 11 acres, Old Lyme Conservation Trust, $38,650.

• Preston Pequot Trail, 143 Acres, Town of Preston, $230,000.

• Wheaton Preserve, 20 acres, Salem Land Trust, $55,000.

• Gungy Road, Salem, 118 acres, The Nature Conservancy, $150,000.

• City of New London and FRESH, for creation of new community garden sites, $66,625.

jbenson@theday.com