Dock Proposed for Whalebone Cove Would Threaten Wildlife Habitat

The coves and marshes of the lower Connecticut River estuary are among the most valuable areas for wildlife in North America. The Connecticut Audubon Society’s Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center (RTPEC) opposes a plan to install a new dock in one of those coves, Whalebone Cove, in the Town of Lyme. Below is our letter, signed by Eleanor Robinson, the director of our Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center, in Old Lyme.

Planning and Zoning Commission
Town of Lyme
480 Hamburg Road
Lyme, CT 06371

The Connecticut Audubon Society, the state’s original and still independent Audubon organization, operates six conservation centers and 19 wildlife sanctuaries covering over 2,600 acres within the state. Among these is the newly-created Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center, in Old Lyme, named after the pioneering ornithologist and artist, who made his home in Old Lyme.

Connecticut Audubon works throughout the state to protect Connecticut’s birds and their habitats. We therefore join with the Friends of Whalebone Cove and others in opposing the application to build a new dock in Whalebone Cove.

The reasons are self-evident:

• much of Whalebone Cove is part of the Silvio Conte National Wildlife Refuge; in fact, 26 acres on the Cove were added to the Refuge as recently as three years ago.
• Whalebone Cove contains an extensive freshwater wild-rice tidal marsh, a rare and undisturbed habitat in Connecticut and absolutely crucial for migrating and breeding birds.
• Whalebone Cove is a key part of the Lower Connecticut River Estuary, recognized by The Nature Conservancy as one of the “last great places” on earth, and identified as a wetland of international importance by the Ramsar International Convention on Wetlands.

Any significant additional development, such as the proposed dock, risks undermining the protections already afforded to the Cove while opening the door to further incursions.

We appreciate your attention and concern for this important aquatic habitat for birds and other wildlife, and understand that ultimately, what is needed is a coordinated inter-agency master plan for the long-term conservation of Whalebone Cove.

Sincerely,

Eleanor Robinson

Director
Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center