CHARLESTOWN – Forty-three acres of forested land in the Worden’s Pond drainage basin will remain open space, the R.I. Department of Environmental Management announced this afternoon

The DEM paid $424,000 for a conservation easement on the property, of which $363,000 came from the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Legacy Program and $61,000 from state open-space bond funds. The remainder of the easement’s value was donated to the agency by landowner Larry Webster.

The parcel, which remains in private hands, contains a diverse selection of rare plants, animals and habitats, including bog and oak-heath habitat. It adjoins land already protected by the Forest Legacy Program, the South Kingstown Land Trust and the Nature Conservancy.

Webster will manage the property according to written plan approved by the DEM’s Division of Forest Environment, and tailored to protect its woodlands, water resources and fish and wildlife habitat, and maximize scientific and educational opportunities, the agency said. Under that plan, access to the property will be allowed for scientific studies and occasional walks by conservation groups.

Statewide, the DEM said, more than $4 million in federal Forest Legacy funds have been used to preserve nearly 2,000 acres of significant woodlands, preventing its conversion to non-forest uses.

Additional information about the R.I. Department of Environmental Management and its Division of Forest Environment is available at www.dem.ri.gov.

The U.S. Forest Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, works with the states to protect environmentally sensitive woodlands through its Forest Legacy Program, focusing on the acquisition of conservation easements on privately owned lands. Matching funds of at least 25 percent must come from state, local or private sources. Additional information can be found at na.fs.fed.us.