The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors have approved $1.8 million dollars to expand Helen Putnam Regional Park. The money will go the Kelly Creek Protection Project, which is buying 47-acres of the Scott Ranch property on the edge of Petaluma to be preserved as open space for future generations and merged into Helen Putnam Regional Park. The money, which will cover nearly half of the $4.1 million purchase price, comes from a fund for community infrastructure projects in the 2nd Supervisorial District. When the acquisition is complete, the Kelly Creek Protection Project and its fiscal sponsor, Earth Island Institute, will provide another $5.4 million in public access improvements, ecological restoration work and other enhancements before transferring the property to Sonoma County Regional Parks.
