With two more acquisition deals in the pipeline,
Ann Arbor's Greenbelt is widening its reach around the city. The greenbelt is a program to purchase open space parks and development rights on farmland in eight bordering townships. Since its inception in 2003, it now encompasses over 3,700 acres.
Last month, the Greenbelt received two grants from the
USDA Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program. The first, in the amount of $229,320, goes towards the purchase of development rights on 136 acres in Superior Township, the last remaining unprotected parcel of the Robert Schultz property. The other grant, in the amount of $167,580, will go towards the 90-acre Robbin Alexander property in Webster Township. Those transactions are expected to close by year-end, according to Ginny Trocchio, program manager for the Ann Arbor Greenbelt.
"And both of those are in areas we've already done quite a bit of protection, and so they add to a larger block of protected land," Trocchio says.
The Robbin Alexander property is adjacent to the Bloomer Farm, the Greenbelt's first easement acquisition in Webster Township. The Schultz Farm is adjacent to the LaFurge Woods Nature Preserve and the
Southeast Michigan Land Conservancy's Superior Greenway.
A bus tour of the Ann Arbor Greenbelt's farm space and open properties will be held on Saturday, Sept. 22 from 10-1. For more information or to register, click
here.
Source; Ginny Trocchio, Ann Arbor Greenbelt program manager
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar
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