Yesterday evening, a packed Town Hall auditorium in Essex voted unanimously to approve the use of $200,000 from the Town's Open Space Fund toward the purchase of The Preserve. Just seventy acres of The Preserve's 1,000 acres lie within Essex town borders, but also two of the four major access points. The vote received a prolonged standing ovation from the crowd, excited to see the decades-long fight to preserve this land nearing an end!

Credit for photos: Bob Lorenz

Last night's victory came on the heels of last week's resounding landslide vote in Old Saybrook (2002 "Yes" votes and 242 "no" votes) to support $3 million in bonding for the purchase of 930 acres of The Preserve. Many Old Saybrook residents have been waging a 15+ year battle to conserve the forest. CFE has led the legal interventions to thwart development since 2004.