Number Of The Day
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5,079
With $6.5 million in Green Acres funding and $3.2 million from the Nature Conservancy and the Pinelands Commission, the state has purchased 5,079 acres of woodlands and wetlands in Atlantic County's Great Egg Harbor River watershed for preservation.
The land, 4,970 acres from Lenape Farms and 109 acres from HBH Associates, links more than 56,000 acres of existing state wildlife management areas, as well as thousands of acres of country parkland where the Pine Barrens meet a coastal estuary ecosystem.
DEP Commissioner Bob Martin said it was the largest state preservation in years. The property flanks U.S. Route 50 in Estell Manor. It protects the headwaters of tributaries to Great Egg Harbor River and will be part of the state wildlife management area, which will allow hunting, fishing, hiking, and birdwatching by the public.
