North Stonington — Over the summer, the Conservation Commission opened its newest trail through Stewart Hill Preserve, a parcel southwest of Wyassup Lake that abuts Pachaug State Forest. The newly-blazed trail is a small step toward the commission's plan to develop "greenways" through sections of the town.

Given to the town when Arbor Acres was dissolved, the  28-acre property is accessible through an easement on a neighboring property and contains stands of oak and hickory trees. In the future, the Conservation Commission hopes to connect the property to the Blue trails system, which extends north to Voluntown. It also abuts land owned by the North Stonington Citizen's Land Alliance.

Conservation Commission Chairman William Ricker said it was his priority when he became chairman to open up smaller parcels of open space for public use. It marked the fourth trail that the commission has worked to open up to the public, Ricker noted, which include Billings Lake Preserve, the Assekonk Borderlands trail, and the Hangman Hill Preserve.

"What we would like to do, and it is such a long term (goal), is to develop an eastern, central and western greenway corridor," Ricker said. "It is such a beautiful town ... that already has significant parcels of conservation."

Greenways provide space for pedestrians and wildlife to move through town along forests and fields.

As part of this plan, the Conservation Commission has identified 26 properties that it would like to aquire and has listed them on its Plan of Conservation and Recreation Lands. The properties would connect existing town owned parcels and aid their development of the greenway corridors. Parcels include the headlands of Assekonk Swamp, areas with significant biodiversity determined by the state  and land on the northeast edge of Wyassup Lake with water frontage.

All the conserved land "gives the town a beautiful rural atmosphere that many people move to enjoy," Ricker said.

The commission will be setting the year's agenda at its Jan. 28 meeting. Ricker said creating a trail along a narrow parcel of town owned land near Chester Main Road that runs behind Jonathan Edwards Winery to the post office could possibly be the commission's next major undertaking.

n.lynch@theday.com

@_nathanlynch