UNION COUNTY, NJ — Union County has been included in the latest round of Green Acres funding approved by New Jersey’s Garden State Preservation Trust and the Department of Environmental Protection.
Out of a statewide total of $102.3 million in grants approved by GSPT for open space acquisition and recreation, Union County received a matching grant of $1.65 million.
The Freeholder Board will use the funding to help offset previous land acquisitions by the Union County Open Space, Recreation and Historic Preservation Trust Fund.
The county’s Trust Fund was established by popular referendum in 2000 with overwhelming support from voters. Since then, the Trust Fund has preserved more than 300 acres for open space and public recreation, while helping to fund municipal recreation and historic preservation projects.
The $102.3 million total approved by GSPT includes $93.3 million for local governments and nonprofit groups, and $9 million for state land acquisition projects.
In addition to the $1.65 million awarded to Union County, GSPT recommended approval of several grants that will be applied to municipalities within the county, including:
Plainfield: $1.1 million for improvements in multiple parks; Roselle: $1.1 million for improvement of Armenia Field Park; Linden, Springfield and Union Township: 350,000 matching grant awarded to the New Jersey Conservation Foundation for acquisitions related to the Arthur Kill Greenway in Union County and Middlesex County; and Linden and Rahway: a $350,000 matching grant awarded to the Trust for Public Land for harbor estuaries acquisitions.