The Open Space and Watershed Land Acquisition Grant Program (C.G.S. Section 7-131d to 7-131k, inclusive) provides financial assistance to municipalities and nonprofit land conservation organizations to acquire land for open space and to water companies to acquire land to be classified as Class I or Class II water supply property.

Grants may be for the purchase of land that is: 1) valuable for recreation, forestry, fishing, conservation of wildlife or natural resources; 2) a prime natural feature of the state's landscape; 3) habitat for native plant or animal species listed as threatened, endangered or of special concern; 4) a relatively undisturbed outstanding example of a native ecological community which is uncommon; 5) important for enhancing and conserving water quality; 6) valuable for preserving local agricultural heritage; or 7) eligible to be classified as Class I or Class II watershed land.

The Recreation and Natural Heritage Trust program was created by the Legislature in 1986 in order to help preserve Connecticut’s natural heritage. It is the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) primary program for acquiring land to expand the state’s system of parks, forests, wildlife, and other natural open spaces. Through it, the DEP manages the acquisition of land of statewide significance that represents the ecological and cultural diversity of Connecticut, with a focus on unique features such as rivers, mountains, rare natural communities, scenic qualities, historic significance, connections to other protected land, and access to water.

The Green Plan, Guiding Land Acquisition and Protection in Connecticut 2007-2012 was released in September 2007. This document is an update of the original Green Plan (2001). The updated plan: 1) identifies the State’s future open space goals; 2) summarizes land acquisition and protection efforts to date; 3) discusses threats and challenges to open space protection; 4) identifies priorities for acquisition and protection; 5) describes the programs and funding available; and 6) outlines the process. This document is a strategic plan for land acquisition and protection for the State of Connecticut through 2012. As such, it provides general guidance for program managers, is a tool for those who want to work with the State in preserving land, and offers a basic overview for the public of the State’s land acquisition and protection program.

In 2002 the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that all municipal beaches must be opened to non-residents.

An article by Alison Leigh Cowan "Hitting the Beaches in Greenwich, Where Group Hugs Are Few" appeared in the New York Times on December 23, 2005. Below are excerpts from that article.

A glance at [Greenwich Connecticut's] ordinances makes it clear that anyone wishing to visit Greenwich's well-coiffed beaches must tread carefully. Visitors must refrain from climbing trees or digging in the sand, for instance, or playing horseshoes outside designated areas.

Groups are also prohibited unless they obtain a permit. But the definition of what constitutes a group - two people, three, five? - is not spelled out. And the Parks Department's discretion is so vast on the question that even a twosome could break the rules and may want to call the town before coming, according to the Greenwich town attorney.

That murkiness is at the heart of several bias complaints pending against the town before the state's Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities. They stem from the difficulties that three town residents say they faced in June when they tried to participate in a boot-camp style workout run by a personal trainer at Greenwich Point. They say members of their group had trouble getting past the gatekeeper and were yelled at when they parked in the wrong spot. During the first week of their workouts, they said, they were told they would need a permit to continue the following week. They learned later that they would not receive a permit.

CDEP's Long Island Sound website has a nice Public Trust Fact Sheet that explains the public's rights along Connecticut's shore.

Site Inventory

Connecticut has 1,065 miles of shoreline affected by saline water, as calculated in 2005. That total mileage is segmented as follows:

113 miles of shoreline directly fronting Long Island Sound and Fishers Island Sound
219 miles of shoreline fronting bays, harbors and coves
543 miles of shoreline fronting major and minor tidal rivers upstream to the limit of saline influence
163 miles of island shoreline fronting Long Island Sound and tidal rivers
27 miles of artificial fill shoreline fronting Long Island Sound and tidal rivers

36% of the shoreline in Connecticut is publicly owned according to Pogue P. and Lee V., 1999, "Providing Public Access to the Shore: The Role of Coastal Zone Management Programs," Coastal Management 27:219-237. A separate study indicates that only 20% of the shoreline is publicly owned. ⁵

OLISP calculations in 2005 show that 23.5% of Connecticut’s 1,065 miles of shoreline affected by saline water is publicly owned.

The Connecticut Coastal Access Guide is now published online. Paper copies are no longer available. The online Guide identifies 317 sites where the public can access a variety of coastal public recreation areas such as beaches, campgrounds, fishing piers, parks, and boat launches. This corresponds to about one public access site for every 3.4 miles of shoreline, based on 1,065 miles of coast.

Lists of beaches in Connecticut, with information (description, location, amenities) can be found here and here.

Despite a historic settlement pattern of higher density development along Long Island Sound and its major tributaries, and other demographic, institutional, and geologic constraints to public recreation of its coast, the state has done a remarkable job in making its coast accessible to the general public. As noted above, there are 317 documented public access points to Connecticut's 1065 miles of coast, or an average of 0.28 sites per mile of coast. Of the 317 sites documented, 59.9% are municipally owned, 15.4% are state owned, and 15.4% are privately owned, 2.4% are federally owned and 6.9% are owned by private nonprofit landowners.

Additional information on state parks and land acquisition in Connecticut can be found on the CDEP Outdoor Recreation Web page.

The Connecticut State Parks Web site provides a text description of individual parks, activities, services, location, fees, etc.

The Town of Old Saybrook received the Connecticut Chapter of the American Planning Association’s 2004 Implementation Award in recognition of its coastal access improvement program. The program includes an inventory of potential coastal public access areas along Town rights-of-way that end at coastal waters, design recommendations for use by the public, and construction of public access facilities funded in part by the LIS License Plate Program.

Beach Attendance Records

Information on beach attendance in Connecticut was not readily available.
All the state's urban areas are within an hour's drive of the coast.

Economic Evaluation of Beaches

Detailed information on the economic evaluation of beaches in Connecticut was not readily available.

However, it has been estimated that overall state tourism generates $7.95 billion in gross state product, resulting in 110,000 jobs.

NOAA's Coastal Services Center (CSC) has written a discussion of the recreational value of beaches, in the context of beach fill projects. In 2009 CSC released Introduction to Economics for Coastal Managers, a basic introduction to economic ideas and methods that can be applied to coastal resource management. The economic concepts provided in this introduction are illustrated through several case studies. Both of these documents are part of a series of coastal and ocean economics publications developed by CSC on the use of social science tools for coastal management.

The following two Web sites provide information on the economic value of coasts and the ocean throughout the country.

National Ocean Economics Program

Non-Market Valuation Web site

State of the U.S. Ocean and Coastal Economies - 2009

Restore America's Estuaries

The Economic and Market Value of Coasts and Estuaries: What’s At Stake?

Perception of Supply and Demand

According to OLISP’s 2005 assessment, sandy beaches, the most highly sought coastal access resource, comprise only 14% of the total shoreline in Connecticut. Little undeveloped large open space remains. Thus the Connecticut shoreline lacks an abundance of the most popular forms of recreation: swimming, boating, and fishing. Lack of funding for the acquisition of new access sites is an additional constraint. The sale price of coastal waterfront property relative to that of inland parcels often places coastal properties at a competitive disadvantage when trying to decide where to spend limited available funds.

Although Connecticut has made significant strides in improving public access to Long Island Sound's coastal lands and waters, given the limited resource potential for development of large-scale access opportunities, beach access remains a high priority. The public demand for swimming, boating, and fishing will likely continue to exceed the capacity of developed coastal access recreation areas. Saltwater bathing areas are limited partly by the state's coastal geology and partly by historic coastal land ownership and statewide settlement patterns. There is an unmet demand. Some state park bathing beaches occasionally must turn away patrons by mid-day on summer weekends when parking lots meet their capacity.

Similarly, most municipally owned shoreline parks providing saltwater swimming opportunities apparently are operating at full capacity during summer weekends. Similarly, state boat launch facilities on coastal and tidal waters are in great demand, but do not consistently meet the boating public's recreational needs on summer weekends. There is a heightened interest in public access as an important coastal issue. This presents an excellent, timely opportunity to promote and expand public access throughout Connecticut.

To further the cause of expanding coastal public access, the University of Connecticut's Center for Land Use and Research (CLEAR), sponsored by the Connecticut DEP Office of Long Island Sound Programs, is conducting the Coastal Area Land Cover Analysis Project (CALCAP) project. Part of the project is development and use of Coastal Land Assessment Methodology (CLAM).

CLAM is a spatial analysis project at the tax parcel scale to identify coastal Connecticut's most significant remaining unprotected waterfront or near-waterfront areas with high ecological and coastal recreation value. One hundred sixty undeveloped parcels larger than 25 acres with significant coastal resource value have been identified within Connecticut’s coastal boundary. Key selection criteria included parcel size, presence of coastal resources such as coastal waters or tidal wetlands, and proximity to protected open space. These parcels are being further assessed to determine ownership and conservation priority. Longer-term goals are to work with land trusts and municipal commissions to identify possible conservation opportunities for some of these properties. Project partners will develop acquisition strategies in cooperation with willing sellers, while other conservation mechanisms may be pursued by municipal land use and conservation agencies.

NOAA's OCRM Web site has this text:

Public Education Program

According to the 2001 Assessment, Connecticut had identified the need to improve public awareness of existing coastal public access opportunities as well as provide new access areas. They have undertaken a coastal public access awareness program that includes the production of a Connecticut Coastal Access Guide and directional signs to guide motorists and pedestrians to access sites. They have also posted swimmer safety precautions on their website.

CDEP's Long Island Sound website has a nice Public Trust Fact Sheet that explains the public's rights along Connecticut's shore.

Contact Info

Tom Ouellette
Department of Environmental Protection
Office of Long Island Sound Programs
860-424-3612