DVRPC maintains an inventory of protected public and private open space in the Delaware Valley. The inventory tracks all publicly-owned open space, preserved farmland, and non-profit protected open space. State, county and municipal programs preserve farms by purchasing development rights with public funds. Non-profits (land trusts and conservancies) protect privately owned open space lands by purchasing easements or by acquiring land outright with a combination of public and private funds.
DVRPC updates this inventory approximately once every four years. The most recent update was completed in September 2021 and represents conditions on the ground as of the fall of 2020. The two prior inventories depicted conditions on the ground as of the end of 2011 and 2016. Data for the 2020 inventory was provided by each of the counties in the DVRPC region and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
Open Space Highlights and Trends
- Across the entire DVRPC region, the inventory of protected open space increased by 82,500 acres, or 15 percent, from 2011 - 2020. During this time span, private open space specifically saw an increase of roughly 69,000 acres, while the amount of public open space increased by about 13,500 acres.
- The county with the greatest rate of increase in land protection was Chester County, which saw a 29.7% increase in its protected open space.
- Burlington County has by far the greatest amount of protected open space (233,032 acres), both in total acreage and as a percentage of the county, due primarily to land protection in the Pinelands.
- Chester County notably had the highest amount of private protected open space as of 2020, sitting at about 110,343 acres.