Georgetown, Del., July 21, 2009: Sussex County once again will pool money with dollars from a local land trust and the federal government to keep farmland and open space on the map.

County Council, at its Tuesday, July 21, 2009, meeting, approved using $300,000 in agriculture preservation money not spent in a previous budget year as its contribution to protect five parcels of farmland, totaling nearly 220 acres, scattered throughout the county.

The $300,000 from Sussex County, combined with another $172,000 in private donations raised by the Sussex County Land Trust, will create a local share of $472,000. That money, in turn, will earn approximately $650,000 in federal matching funds.

In total, $1.1 million in funding will come from local, private and federal partners for this latest preservation effort. Sussex County’s latest contribution brings to $7.2 million the total amount of County funds spent in open space preservation during the past seven years.

“Sussex County is proud to continue its role as a partner in this worthwhile effort to preserve open space,” County Administrator David B. Baker said. “The County, in partnership with the Sussex County Land Trust, has preserved more than 3,400 acres of land in the County since teaming up in 2003. This cooperative effort has kept farms from disappearing, and allowed these vast, open landscapes to stay in place, benefitting our environment and our economy for decades to come.”

The five parcels are all working farms in the Bridgeville, Laurel, Primehook, Great Cypress Swamp, and Broadkill areas. The owners of the properties are not selling their lands, just the right to subdivide and develop the parcels.

Wendy O. Baker, president and chief executive officer of the non-profit Sussex County Land Trust, said the five properties are valuable to the preservation effort for a variety of reasons, including their proximity to other preserved parcels and the unimpeded, natural views they offer the public. The easement purchases also aid the Land Trust in its mission to help create a Grand Preservation Loop spanning Sussex County.

The loop is a string of preserved farms, forests and other natural tracts held by a variety of owners stretching from Slaughter Beach down through the Redden Forrest, southwest to Trap Pond, east through the Great Cypress Swamp, back up along the Inland Bays and ending in the Primehook Wildlife area outside Milton.

“Given the economic times, we understand the position everyone is in, so that is why we’re only requesting $472,000 as the local share for this year. That is lower than in years past,” Ms. Baker said. “Our original request in January at County Council was to spend $1.2 million collectively. That level of spending does not seem prudent at this time.”

County Council President Vance C. Phillips said the purchase of easement rights is a small price to pay now, relatively speaking, to ensure Sussex County and agriculture remain together in the years to come. “This illustrates the Sussex County Council’s continued commitment to the preservation of agriculture and open space for Sussex County, now and for future generations,” Mr. Phillips said.

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