Open Space Preservation

The Morris County Office of Planning and Preservation has released the application form for the 2023 funding round of municipal/non-profit open space projects under the Morris County Preservation Trust Fund.  Any of the 39 municipalities in the county and qualified non-profit organizations are eligible to apply for funding. 

The 2023 open space application and list of other required application materials can be found online.

All application materials are due by 4:30 PM on Friday, June 9, 2023. 

Program rules were recently amended to include costs for demolition and restoration of a property (up to a maximum of 10% of the eligible land cost, or $50,000 whichever is less) as allowable costs under the program.

Please contact Barbara Murray in the Morris County Office of Planning and Preservation at (973) 829-8120 or [email protected] for further information on the program or application process.

The Open Space Trust Fund Committee presented their recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners on November 9, 2022.  The Board of County Commissioners will act on their recommendations at their meeting on November 21, 2022.

2022: Five (5) applications were recommended for approval:

• 2022 Recommendations(PDF, 95KB)
• 2022 Open Space Recommendations Map(PDF, 13MB)

• Information about each Approved 2022 Project:
  • Historic Turntable Adjacent to Grace Lord Park(PDF, 1MB)
  • Alli Property(PDF, 2MB)
  • Bee Meadow Greenway – Phase II(PDF, 2MB)
  • Budd Lake Dock Extension(PDF, 2MB)
  • Acquisition of Land for Creation of Orchard Mine Park(PDF, 2MB)