Grants to buy land for parks

Close to 450 acres will be added to the parks system.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Less than two months after plans were revealed for expanding the Trumbull County MetroParks system, officials have learned that $1.2 million in grant funding has been approved to more than double the system's size.
Trish Nuskievicz of the county planning commission said Thursday the Ohio Natural Resource Assistance Council had approved all three requests she made for funding through the Clean Ohio Conservation Fund.
The grant applications were for acquisition of three parcels -- in Farmington, Mesopotamia and Braceville townships -- for a total of nearly 450 acres.
After the county buys the land, it will be turned over to the MetroParks system, Nuskievicz said. That will increase the system's acreage from 370 acres in six parks to about 820 acres in nine parks.
Alan Knapp, planning commission director, called the grant funding "pretty amazing" and said it creates the possibility of creating a "canoe trail" with four stops on the Mahoning River.
In addition to having canoe access at Foster Park in Newton Township and Canoe City in Leavittsburg, the MetroParks system is preparing to dedicate the Thomas A. Swift MetroPark near the intersection of state Routes 5 and 82 at Center of the World on Sept. 29, Knapp said.
Among the three projects receiving grant funding was a 72-acre parcel along the Mahoning River near the Braceville exit on the Ohio Turnpike. It is a couple miles west of Thomas A. Swift MetroPark.
Nuskievicz said the three projects will cost $1.5 million altogether, with 25 percent being provided as a donation by the landowners. The amount of the three grants is about $1.2 million.
What's behind this
The primary emphasis of the projects is to preserve lands that have natural waterways, flood plains, streamside forests, wetlands and other scarce natural resources, while also protecting suitable habitat for rare, threatened and endangered species, she said.
Nuskievicz said the grant limits use of the land for activities such as walking and hiking marked trails, plant and wildlife observation, photography, camping, canoeing and interacting with educational opportunities.
The grant requests were for:
A 72-acre parcel in Braceville Township along the Mahoning River, just north of state Route 5 and a half-mile east of the Braceville exit on the Ohio Turnpike. It is owned by Laraine DeCristofaro of Brookfield. It would preserve nearly 4,700 feet of the river.
A 270-acre parcel off Girdle Road in Farmington Township land in the Grand River corridor. It is owned by John Scimone, developer of Farmington Woods. It would be the largest park in the MetroPark system.
A 100-acre parcel on state Route 87 in Mesopotamia Township.