Georgetown, Del., Feb. 27, 2007: More than 300 acres of prime forestland in central Sussex County will stand for generations to come, thanks to the County Council and its $1.5 million commitment to buy the parcel as part of a larger protection effort led by the state.

County Council, at its Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2007, meeting, voted unanimously to approve $1.5 million in County funding for forestland located east of U.S. 113, adjacent to the Redden State Forest near Ellendale.

The land, formerly in private ownership, is currently held by the non-profit Conservation Fund. The Delaware Forest Service is purchasing the property for inclusion into the Redden State Forest. The Redden State Forest now encompasses more than 10,200 protected acres.

Sussex County’s funding is part of a larger partnership among the County Council, the Delaware Forest Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Legacy Program, the Sussex County Land Trust and the Conservation Fund to protect a total of 755 acres in that area. Sussex County’s funding will go toward the initial purchase of 327 acres of woodlands that stand along County Roads 239, 240A and 241.

The additional 428 acres will be purchased later this year, with funding coming from the State of Delaware. In all, the properties will cost approximately $12 million. Once acquired, the tracts containing loblolly pines will help connect sections of the publicly accessible state forest.

County Administrator David B. Baker said the County Council’s participation in the acquisition is yet another example of the County’s commitment to preserving natural areas and open space.

“Through either acquisitions or easements, Sussex County has been involved in protecting more than 2,500 acres of open space, forests, farmland and other natural areas since the County’s Open Space Program began in 2003,” Mr. Baker said. Sussex County has allocated approximately $6.5 million to land preservation in that time.

“These properties will be protected from future development, and they represent an investment in our future so that generations to come may enjoy the same natural beauty that makes Sussex County such a desirable place to live today,” Mr. Baker said.

State Forester E. Austin Short III said Sussex County’s participation in the partnership is essential to expanding the Redden State Forest, and preserving prime, working forestland.

Just as it does with other portions of the Redden State Forest, the agency every 20 years or so will harvest and replace some of the loblolly pine trees from within the purchased properties. Revenue generated from the sale of that timber will help with management costs.

“This is one of the largest, contiguous blocks of working forestland remaining in the state of Delaware,” Mr. Short said. “We’re happy to be able to protect it and keep it in its existing state, so that it provides the wood product, habitat, improved water quality, beauty and all the other benefits our forests give us in Sussex County and throughout Delaware.”

Mr. Short said the new forestland added to Redden State Forest will bring to 11,000 acres the protected area’s total acreage. Redden State Forest is the single largest state forest in Delaware, followed by Blackbird State Forest in New Castle County and Taber State Forest in Kent County.