The State’s Open Space Plan

Just over a month ago, when so many in Newtown were spending long hours in florescent-lit meeting rooms considering columns of numbers in search of a secret formula for a successful budget, Governor Dannel P. Malloy signed Public Act 12-152, “An Act Concerning the State’s Open Space Plan.” In the context of the many moving parts of governmental authority, which were brought into such high relief locally in this year’s budget deliberations, open space seems like one area of responsibility where the consequences of neglect do not seem quite so dire. After all, nature takes care of itself, right?

Connecticut’s Open Space Plan is the state’s recognition that, no, nature cannot always take care of itself, especially in the unpredictable flux of land development in the Northeast. The new legislation will help the state meet its goal of extending open space protections to 673,210 acres — 21 percent of the state’s area — by 2023. Its intent is to bring the same critical focus and strategic planning to open space protection that is typically given to land development. It calls for integrating open space acquisitions with existing environmental priorities of preserving critical wildlife habitats and ecological systems so we can consider and address the safe and efficient flow and operation of natural systems and wildlife as we might develop infrastructure and transportation systems. The law also calls for the establishment of a voluntary statewide catalog to keep track of all conserved open space parcels whether they be held and administered by municipal, state, federal, or private entities.

The commissioner of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), Daniel Esty, hailed the legislation and noted, “This law puts a sharper focus on land conservation efforts and DEEP looks forward to working with a variety of partners during implementation.” But here in Connecticut, we know better than to assume successful endings from the rhetoric of auspicious beginnings.

Connecticut’s League of Conservation Voters asserts in its 2012 Environmental Scorecard released earlier this month, that “the biggest obstacle facing the environment remains inadequate funding for our environmental agency, DEEP.” This worry sums up the main failing of most open space conservation efforts: no follow-through with funding and resources. As we have seen here in Newtown, when the scramble is on for loose dollars, open space initiatives get scaled back. While we applaud the state’s avowed commitment to an enlightened approach to its natural resources, we will be watching with some apprehension, knowing, alas, that human nature takes care of itself.