EASTON, Pa. — Northampton County Council voted 6-1 Thursday to buy and preserve 44 acres in Stockertown that will become the Bushkill Creek Greenway.
The property near Main Street and Old Mill Lane cost $1.43 million.
A U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife grant, awarded through the Highlands Conservation Act Program, will cover half the purchase price; Northampton County will pay the other half.
The grant program aims to preserve parts of the Highlands region of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
Bushkill Creek Greenway is "a great community resource providing access to nature throughout an expansive network of parks and trail connections along the stream corridor," according to its website.
The trail offers "ample opportunities for walking, biking, birding, wildlife watching and fishing," the website says.
The county’s land purchase will help close a gap in the Two Rivers Trailway, which will connect Stockertown to the D&L Trail.
It also will protect an important part of the Bushkill Creek watershed, County Executive Lamont McClure said last month.
County officials also intend to lease out the land for agriculture and use it for environmental education, according to their agreement of sale with the property’s current owner, the Judith L. Bauer Trust.
