Connecticut has shared in $1.5 million to add a 16-acre shoreline parcel in Stonington to its inventory of protected lands, authorities say.
The Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) and the Avalonia Land Conservancy said Monday they together acquired the parcel of coastal grassland on Wequetequock Cove.
The property was acquired from the Crowley family. The land abuts 48-acres of salt marsh, wetlands, and coastal forest that was acquired from the Crowley family and added to Barn Island WMA in 2009.
 The acquisition expands what is now a 2.4-mile corridor of contiguous protected open space extending from the Pawcatuck River on the Rhode Island border to Wequetequock Cove.
Avalonia currently protects more than 2,800 acres within eight towns in southeastern Connecticut.
The purchase price was largely funded by a grant through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service Grassland Reserve Program, authorities said.
Contributions from an additional eight partnering organizations including : CT DEEP, Avalonia Land Conservancy, Sarah Ann Martin Trust, Town of Stonington Conservation Commission, Stonington Land Trust, New Haven Bird Club, CT Ornithological Society, and CT National Audubon Society.
Connecticut is nearly three-quarters of the way toward its goal of preserving 21 of its acreage as open space, DEEP said. To date, it has protected 491,271 acres.
