The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection on Tuesday announced it has updated the 2016-20 Comprehensive Open Space Acquisition Strategy (Green Plan), which guides the state’s effort to meet its goal of conserving 21 percent, or 673,210 acres, of Connecticut’s land base as open space by year 2023.

The Green Plan is a statewide planning document developed by DEEP in partnership with municipalities and numerous conservation organizations to guide land acquisitions toward achieving the state's open space goal. Ten percent of the open space goal is to be held by the state, while the remaining 11 percent is to be held by conservation partners: municipalities, nonprofit land conservation organizations and water companies.

As of Dec. 31, 2015, about 501,330 acres were held as open space in Connecticut, or 74.5 percent of the total state open space goal.

“The goal of our Green Plan is to increase the amount of protected land and also to make certain we protect lands of the highest conservation value in the state,” DEEP Commissioner Robert Klee said in a news release. “Connecticut’s great diversity in landscapes is fundamental to our high-quality of life, and the Green Plan provides a framework everyone can work from to protect Connecticut’s special places for the natural resources we so value, today and for future generations.”

The newly revised Green Plan contains an action strategy with acquisition priorities and targeted acreages to protect specific lands identified as capable of providing certain benefits, such as buffers to climate change, critical wildlife habitats and recreational trails, DEEP said.

The plan recommends the acquisition of certain lands for environmental and public recreation conservation centers around four major themes: “Natural Waters and Drinking Water Resources,” “Areas Significant to the Coast,” “Natural Heritage Resources” and “Natural Resource-based Outdoor Recreation.”

The Green Plan and information on Connecticut open space can be found at www.ct.gov/deep/greenplan. Questions or comments may be directed to Jamie Sydoriak, DEEP property agent, at Jamie.Sydoriak@ct.gov.