On April 22, 2002, the Green Acres Program added 4,090 acres of privately-owned, previously unprotected land to New Jersey's system of open space. The former Thomas property is situated in 6 municipalities (Buena Vista, Egg Harbor, Estell Manor, Hamilton, Mullica, and Maurice River, and two counties (Atlantic and Cumberland). The land was acquired for $5 million. Preservation of this land protects valuable watershed lands, water supply and water quality along several Pinelands waterways including the Maurice River and Great Egg Harbor River, federally designated Wild and Scenic Rivers, and West Creek, which empties directly into Delaware Bay. The newly acquired land is located within the Pinelands National Reserve. It will be managed by the NJDEP Divisions of Parks and Forestry and Fish and Wildlife as additions to other State managed properties. Through the current acquisition, the State will add 1,265 acres to Belleplain State Forest, 1,511 acres to the Hammonton Creek Wildlife Management Area, and 731 acres to the Great Egg Harbor Wildlife Management Area. The land will be held for conservation and recreation purposes including fishing, hiking and hunting. Additionally, three hundred acres will be conveyed Atlantic County to become a new county park in Egg Harbor Township, a rapidly developing section of the county. The newly preserved land is a mosaic of upland and wetland forest, bogs, lakes, and meadows, typical pinelands habitat that would support pinelands threatened and endangered species including the pine barrens treefrog, the northern pine snake, the red-headed woodpecker, and the Cooper's hawk. Financing for the project included $2.5 million of federal Land and Water Conservation Funds through the National Park Service, $1.02 million in Green Acres State Land Acquisition Funds, a $1.3 million Green Acres planning incentive grant to Atlantic County, and $174,000 from the Atlantic County Open Space Preservation Trust Fund.