Conservation Advocacy
Since 1974, Connecticut Audubon Society has contributed to every major environmental initiative in Connecticut through our Hartford-based advocacy program.
We offer enlightened leadership on key issues, advise on environmental policy, and champion environmental objectives. We promote environmental, conservation, and other public policies that will:
- Protect birds and their habitats
- Preserve open space
- Strengthen land management
- Protect inland and coastal wetlands
- Protect endangered species and their habitats
- Improve water quality for Long Island Sound, Connecticut’s rivers, and aquifers
- Reduce toxins in our environment
We work directly with legislators, policymakers, and other stakeholders who can effect change. We often take a leadership role, working in partnership with other environmental groups – including National Audubon Society, The Nature Conservancy, Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, and local and regional conservation groups. We recognize the value of working cooperatively to generate more successful outcomes for all of us.
For information about our advocacy work, please contact Milan Bull, our Conservation Advocate, at mbull@ctaudubon.org.
2013 Legislative Session
Our Legislative Tracking page lets you follow the bills we’re working on in 2013.
2012 Legislative Session
Connecticut Audubon Society supported and opposed several bills in Hartford. Learn the details here.
2011 Legislative Session
Open Space and Forest Conservation Finds Some Success:
HB 6157 – Establishment of a Timber Harvest Revolving Fund
This Bill allows DEP to recoup a portion of the revenues from timber sales on State Forests for reinvestment in forest management.
HB 6557 – Recreational Land Use Act
This Act now provides liability protection to municipalities and political entities, such as water companies, that open their properties to public recreation.
SB 1242 – Authorization to Bond for Open Space Program
This Bill provides $5 million in each of the next two fiscal years for open space funding in the bond package.
HB 6263 – 10 Mill Program
This bill allows an owner of forest land who is currently enrolled in the “10 Mill Program” to enroll in the Forest Preservation Program without penalty. What this means is that Connecticut landowners who own more than 14,000 acres of forest and made a 100 year commitment to protect their land will not see a 20-fold increase in their property taxes.
Milan Bull
Connecticut Audubon Advocacy Network
Our conservation advocacy email network (CAAN) has been designed to provide you with valuable and timely information on conservation issues affecting our state, and to enable you to bring these issues to the attention of state and local elected officials and policymakers. Milan Bull, CAS Senior Director of Science and Conservation, leads this effort. If you want to receive our CAAN email notices, send your email address to us at advocacy@ctaudubon.org, with the message, “Yes, I want to join the Connecticut Audubon Advocacy Network.”