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Policy Agenda 2012: How We Are Making a Statewide Difference
Advocating for issues of statewide importance on your behalf is one of the three main ways (along with education and conservation work) we try to fulfill our mission of conserving Connecticut’s birds and their habitats.
Our Connecticut State of the Birds 2012 report, which we released in early February, gave the details of our priorities in education. Since then we’ve been fine-tuning the rest of our advocacy agenda.
For 2012, our three priorities are: reforming Connecticut’s land preservation program; reducing bird mortality through a Lights Out program; and increasing outdoor educational opportunities for Connecticut’s children. Here are the details:
1 Reforming the state’s land preservation program.
We will push for passage of a bill that requires the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to identify lands that are the highest priorities for open space acquisition, including wildlife habitat and ecological resources, and the general locations of these highest priorities.
The legislation will also require the DEEP to work with other state agencies to identify state-owned lands that are important for conservation but which are not protected open space, and to plan a strategy for preserving them in perpetuity.
The legislation also broadens the number of stakeholders that the DEEP must consult with when it works on these projects. Added to the list are municipalities and regional planning agencies, in addition to the Council on Environmental Quality and private nonprofit land conservation organizations such as Connecticut Audubon Society.
These revisions to Connecticut’s open space acquisition process are among many that we have enumerated over the years in our Connecticut State of the Birds reports. This year’s legislation was drafted by the Council on Environmental Quality and is supported by other conservation organizations as well.
The proposed legislation is important, we believe, because it will help focus the state’s land acquisition program as we move toward the goal of preserving 21 percent of the land in Connecticut by 2023. As things stand now, state officials know how much land has been preserved but they do not have a good idea of what kinds of lands have been preserved — whether it be conservation land, farmland, recreation land, etc.
The proposed legislation also is important because it will require the DEEP to make careful judgments about what kinds of lands should be preserved and to identify in general where those lands are located, so they can be viewed in the larger landscape context that is essential to serious conservation.
In addition, we know that state agencies other than the DEEP own large tracts of land, some of which have habitats that are rare or play an important role in a larger mosaic of habitats. This legislation will require the DEEP to work with its sister agencies to find and evaluate those lands. Because they are already state-owned, it would be a relatively-easy next step to protect them with conservation easements so they remain preserved forever.
2. Reducing Bird Mortality Through a Lights Out Program.
Connecticut Audubon Society will work with municipalities and landlords in the state on a voluntary “Lights Out” program to reduce the vast number of migratory birds that get killed when they fly into lighted buildings at night.
Across North America, the estimated number of migrating birds killed annually in collisions with buildings ranges from 100 million to 1 billion. In cities throughout the U.S. and Canada, building owners, conservation groups and local governments are working together to reduce this mortality by taking the simple step of turning out lights at night.
We will work to get a similar program underway in one or more Connecticut communities, and will plan to expand the program over the years.
3. Increasing Outdoor Educational Opportunities for Connecticut’s Children.
Based on the findings of our Connecticut State of the Birds 2012 report, “Where is the Next Generation of Conservationists Coming From,” we are calling for a renewed emphasis on environmental education for our children, in school and out of school, and are increasing our own education efforts.
The goal is to help create a deeper, long-term commitment to conservation, as well as contribute to the health and academic success of our state’s children. To do ourpart, CAS has hired a new statewide director of education, Michelle Eckman, who will focus on developing oureducation programs into a lifelong educational experience, with a goal of working with all of Connecticut’s school districts.
To engage the public in this topic, we are organizing round-table discussions this spring at four of our centers (in Glastonbury on March 14, Fairfield on April 12, Milford Point on May 3, and Pomfret on May 10), featuring a panel of local experts including educators, parents, students and other stakeholders.
Those are Connecticut Audubon Society three highest priorities. But there are other proposals and initiatives we will be following.
Connecticut Audubon Society will work, for example, for passage of a law that increases the penalties for poaching wildlife on private property, including land protected for conservation purposes. We’ve had a problem with this on some of our sanctuaries and we hope this will help solve the problem. CAS would also support passage of a law that allows bow hunting on Sundays on private property with the landowner’s permission as a way to help control the deer population that has damaged the state’s woodland ecosystem.
Connecticut Audubon Society will work with partner organizations to fight a rollback of a 2010 pesticide law that bans the use of “cosmetic” lawn pesticides by day care centers, nursery schools and K-8 schools. The ban is important for the health of our children but also has implications for our bird populations.
Connecticut Audubon will oppose attempts by the General Assembly to take money in the Community Investment Act that is intended for land conservation, farmland protection, historic preservation and affordable housing, and use it for other purposes.
Connecticut Audubon will continue to work for passage of the Community Preservation Fund, which would give communities the chance to ask local voters if they want to create a dedicated source of funds for open space acquisition.
Register Now for Our Great Summer Camps!
Wading in streams, exploring the woodland floor, ponding, swamp tromping … these are what childhood memories are made of. The Connecticut Audubon Society’s Summer Camps provide the perfect setting for children to build memories and discover the wonders of nature through exploration and investigation. It is here in the sanctuary’s boundless classroom where young minds learn to become environmental stewards and where a lifelong love for nature is fostered.
You can use this secure site to register online for camps at Birdcraft or the Center at Fairfield.
Use this secure site to register online at the Milford Point Coastal Center.
Or download a brochure and register by mail.
For over 30 years CAS Summer Camps have offered outdoor exploration, curiosity, discovery and hands-on learning to thousands of young people. This year’s programs include eight weeks of enriching half-day sessions tailored to each age group designed to pique campers’ knowledge, curiosity and awareness of our natural world. Outdoor adventures will provide campers the opportunity to use scientific tools like binoculars, insect nets, hand lenses and dip nets while studying freshwater ecology, wildlife biology, entomology, conservation, and more. Camp sessions include programs like Dirt, Worms, and other Ickys, Fantastic Flyers, Swamp Tromp and Wilderness Skills.
This year, CAS has expanded its camp offerings to include science lab camps for ages 10 to 14 designed to prepare campers academically for their upcoming school year. Science lab camp offerings include Bits and Bones: Forensic Science, Machine Mania: Physics and Design and Wings of Wonder: Bird Science.
The Summer Camps are led by expert teacher-naturalists while counselors and junior volunteers provide additional support. Staffed trained in First Aid, CPR, and Epi-Pens are present throughout the duration of the program. Our high staff-to-camper ratio ensures all campers have a safe, fun, and educational camp experience.
Registration for Summer Camp began Monday, February 13. For more information call 203-259-6305 ext. 117.
Register Now for Summer Camp
Feb. 13, 2012 — Registration has begun for our amazing summer camps at Birdcraft Sanctuary in Fairfield, the Center at Fairfield, and the Milford Point Coastal Center. Click the READ MORE link for more information, our online registration page and our brochure.
Connecticut State of the Birds 2012: Who Is the Future of Conservation
Milan Bull, senior director of science and conservation for CAS, discusses the Connecticut State of the Birds 2012 report. Photo Mardi Welch Dickinson/KymryGroup™ All Rights Reserved. www.kymrygroup.com
February 10, 2012 – Concerned with the dwindling amount of time kids are spending outdoors and its implications for the future of conservation, the Connecticut Audubon Society said today that it is increasing its emphasis on outdoor environmental education for young people and called on its partners in government, education and the environment to collaborate on the endeavor.
Connecticut Audubon Society has been providing high quality environmental education since its founding in 1898. But based on the findings of its Connecticut State of the Birds 2012 report, titled “Where Is the Next Generation of Conservationists Coming From?” CAS will concentrate in 2012 and beyond on creating more outdoor educational opportunities with more partners for more children.
The goal is to help create a deeper, long-term commitment to conservation, as well as contribute to the health and academic success of our state’s children.
The 7th annual Connecticut State of the Birds report was conceived and edited by Milan Bull, Connecticut Audubon Society’s senior director of conservation and science, and Stephen B. Oresman, chairman of Connecticut Audubon Society’s Board of Directors. The report found that:
- Outdoor experiences, both unstructured and supervised, are essential to children’s cognitive development and to forming a lifelong bond with the natural world.
- Children in Connecticut spend considerably less time exploring the outdoors than their parents or grandparents did.
- This disparity means that children will have less of a connection with nature than earlier generations, which will lead to a weaker commitment to conservation.
- Professional educators such as Connecticut Audubon Society, as well as other organizations, can provide safe environments for discovery during outdoor education activities.
- Because of classroom and schoolyard limitations, organizations such as Connecticut Audubon Society are essential resources to educators as they teach state-required scientific concepts such as ecosystem functions and adaptations.
“Connecticut Audubon Society has been conserving the state’s important habitats for more than a century. We’re in it for the long haul,” said CAS President Robert Martinez. “That’s why we’re looking to the future of habitat conservation with some concern.
“Our children are spending less time out of doors. Their off hours are highly structured and they have little opportunity for spontaneous interactions with the natural world. If we don’t start to counteract that, the great conservation achievements of recent decades will be threatened.”
To do its part, Connecticut Audubon Society has hired a new statewide director of education, Michelle Eckman, who will focus on developing CAS education programs into a lifelong educational experience, with a goal of working with all of Connecticut’s school districts. Ms. Eckman was named Educator of the Year in 2010 by the National Audubon Society. She joined the Connecticut Audubon Society staff on January 23.
To help draw public attention to the issue, CAS will hold a series of round-table discussions this spring at four of its regional centers (in Glastonbury on March 14, in Fairfield on April 12, at Milford Point on May 3, and in Pomfret on May 10). Each discussion will feature a panel of local experts including educators, parents, students and other stakeholders.
To recognize and encourage their exemplary environmental education work, Connecticut Audubon is developing a new environmental awards program for Connecticut Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.
Connecticut Audubon will put additional staff resources into its support for the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s No Child Left Inside program. Among the joint projects, CAS will work with the No Child Left Inside staff to organize a celebration for the 20th anniversary of International Migratory Bird Day, in May.
We are very pleased that Susan Frechette, Assistant Commissioner of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Conservation, joined us today for the report’s release, as did Fairfield First Selectman Michael Tetreau.
We are making a special effort to reach out to the education community and are happy that we were also will joined by Pamela Iacono, chair of the Fairfield Board of Education; Len Tavormina, headmaster of the Eagle Hill School, in Southport; Gary Rosato, Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment for the Fairfield public schools; and Julia Serrano and Neyra Benoit, Bunnell High School (Stratford) students.
Also joining us today were Amanda Flanagan, chair of the John Patrick Flanagan Foundation, and Tony Vogl, Director of Development and Marketing, the Connecticut Yankee Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
To read a PDF of the report, click here. To receive a copy of the report in the mail, become a member of Connecticut Audubon Society.
Here’s news coverage of the event:
Connecticut Post
Help Conserve Threatened Beach-Nesting Birds in Connecticut
Photo for Connecticut Audubon by Kevin M. Doyle
February 2012 – Connecticut’s shoreline provides critical habitat for the federally threatened Piping Plover. We are working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to conserve this threatened beach-nesting species, and we need your help.
Do you have an interest in wildlife? Do you enjoy walking along the beaches of Long Island Sound? Can you spare at least two hours a month to help threatened birds in our state?
Please consider volunteering as a Piping Plover monitor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service!
For the last several years the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the Connecticut Audubon Society, Audubon Connecticut, The Nature Conservancy and The Friends of Milford Point/Stratford Great Meadows NWR have partnered together to monitor beaches between West Haven and Stratford for nesting Piping Plovers.
These migratory birds return to the Connecticut coast each March from their wintering grounds on the Gulf Coast and stay here up to five months to nest and raise their young. Located on the beach, their nests are extremely susceptible to human disturbance, destruction by predators, and tidal wash outs. Volunteer monitors make a big difference, enhancing the survival and productivity of plovers and terns in our state.
As a monitors, you will observe and record data about various beach nesting birds and their chicks at one of four locations: Milford Point near the Connecticut Audubon Coastal Center; Silver Sands State Park in Milford; Long Beach in Stratford; and Sandy Point in West Haven. The primary duties involve assisting the USFWS with observation and data collection about nesting Piping Plovers, and helping to educate the public about these species. Volunteers work 2-hour shifts from April until the end of the breeding season (usually in August) and must donate a minimum of 2 hours per month.
If you are interested, please attend the training and orientation session held Saturday, March 10, 2012 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Connecticut Audubon Coastal Center at Milford Point.
The session will include piping plover natural history, the state of plovers in Connecticut, volunteer organization and logistics, reporting responsibilities, and beach training with simulated plovers and eggs.
For more information on the training session, directions to the Connecticut Audubon Coastal Center, or to make reservations, please call USFWS Ranger Shaun Roche at (860) 399-2513 or email Shaun_Roche@fws.gov
Thank you!
Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbird Conservation, Audubon Connecticut and the Connecticut Audubon Society partnering to improve conditions for coastal waterbirds in Connecticut.
Teaching Science Outside the Classroom
Connecticut Audubon Teacher-Naturalist Linnea Scerbo-McHenry shows kids from the Flanagan Foundation Trail Blazers program a turtle.
Probably the only thing school children like more than a class where learning is fun is a day spent out of school.
Connecticut Audubon Society is giving hundreds of school children both.
In the fall, more than 550 children from Bridgeport public schools participated in the John Patrick Flanagan Trail Blazers program. They visited Connecticut Audubon’s Center at Fairfield and walked the trails of the 155-acre Larsen Wildlife Sanctuary. They toured the center’s birds of prey compound, where they learned how raptors live and hunt, as well as how human activity can affect the birds (all which are injured and can’t be released).
The program has been so successful that the John Patrick Flanagan Foundation has awarded Connecticut Audubon a third grant, to repeat it in 2012.
“Our partnership with Connecticut Audubon Society will help more than 1,000 kids from Bridgeport experience nature in a way they may not have done before,” said Amanda Flanagan, chairman of the foundation. “We hope this will help educate the next generation of Connecticut conservationists.”
At Connecticut Audubon’s Center at Glastonbury, the SBM Charitable Foundation is funding a program called “We’re Pulling for You” that will give about 750 third-graders from East Hartford and sixth-graders from Manchester hands-on science education.
SBMCF, which is based in Manchester, has generously supported our education work at Glastonbury since 2004.
In a world where children spend less and less time out of doors, Connecticut Audubon Society strives to provide customized curriculum-based science education that is fun, fascinating and tactile at each of its five centers.
The mission of The John Patrick Flanagan Foundation is to help vulnerable children and families by supporting charities that provide the direction, education and healthy environment that vulnerable children and families need to have the opportunity to reach their full potential.
The SBM Charitable Foundation is committed to bettering the lives of those who live and work in Hartford, Tolland, and Windham Counties.
We are grateful to the John Patrick Flanagan Foundation and the SBM Charitable Foundation for supporting our work.
Conservation Services: Helping Aspetuck Land Trust Protect Its Trout Brook Valley Preserve
Vernal pools, like the one shown here, will be a particular focus during Connecticut Audubon's year-long study of Trout Brook Valley. Photo by Scott Kruitbosch for Connecticut Audubon Society
December 2011 — Finding the proper balance between protecting sensitive habitats on conservation land and giving the public an opportunity to enjoy those lands is one of the thorniest issues conservation organizations deal with.
At the Aspetuck Land Trust’s 1,009-acre Trout Brook Valley Preserve, Connecticut Audubon Society’s conservation scientists are working to help find that balance.
Located on the border of Weston and Easton, Trout Brook Valley encompasses a mosaic of important natural habitats — vernal pools, shrub swamps, talus slopes, grasslands and more, which are home to threatened, endangered or otherwise at-risk species.
But Trout Brook Valley also has a 22-mile trail network used for hiking, horseback riding, hunting, fishing, and dog-walking. The trails were laid out gradually over time, often without knowledge of the preserve’s special ecosystems.
In October, our conservation scientists, led by Dr. Anton (Twan) Leenders, began a year-long study and planning process that will identify important plants and wildlife on the preserve, find and map the size and locations of their habitats, and then help the Aspetuck Land Trust develop an adaptive management and conservation strategy to better protect the preserve in its natural state while also allowing appropriate passive recreation.
The work is being done under Connecticut Audubon Society’s conservation sciences program, which provides mission-driven conservation services for public and private land owners. Clients include the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, National Audubon Society, DuPont Corporation, environmental consulting and engineering firms, and several town conservation and inland wetland committees.
Specialized habitat pockets like those at Trout Brook Valley are indeed sensitive and tend to be the first to disappear or become degraded when environmental pressure increases. The plants and animals that live in them are often uncommon and in need of protection, because of their environmental requirements and the scarcity of the habitats they occupy. When the habitat is lost, the plants and animals disappear too.
A well-designed management and conservation plan based on carefully collected data will allow Aspetuck Land Trust to carry out its stewardship goal of maintaining the Trout Brook Valley Preserve in a natural state, thereby protecting the area’s plants and animals. It will also define appropriate opportunities for hiking, dog walking, hunting, fishing, and horseback riding. Walking dogs off-leash has been suspended for a year while the CAS study is carried out.
The work will conclude in the fall 2012 to ensure coverage of all seasons. The year-long survey period will also allow our staff to evaluate a variety of factors that could affect the preserve’s health, including the spread of invasive plants, plant diseases and pests, the location of the existing trails and the management practices used to maintain sections of the property.
The result over the long term will be a preserve that encompasses both high quality habitat and appropriate passive recreation.
Throughout the year there will be opportunities for the public to join the CAS team and learn about its observations. We are planning a vernal pool walk and a spring migration walk for the public, and perhaps one or two additional events. Dates will be announced as soon as we set them.
Man-Made Dunes at Stratford Point Will Make an Ecologically Rich Area Richer
Stratford Point's coastal habitat attracted this Snowy Owl in late 2011. Photo by Scott Kruitbosch for Connecticut Audubon Society
December 2011 — A team of Connecticut Audubon staff, volunteers and private contractors are finishing construction this month of 900 feet of newly-created dunes that curve along the beach on Stratford Point’s north cove — the first time a habitat restoration project of that kind has been attempted in Connecticut.
The dunes will provide important new habitat for birds and other wildlife and also help prevent the point from eroding away, a serious concern at a sanctuary that has seen the shoreline recede by 100 feet over the last decade. Stratford Point itself covers 40 acres — 28 upland and 12 intertidal.
In mid-December, our staff led a team of contractors and volunteers in putting the final touches on the project, planting the dunes with 38,000 beach grass and switch grass plants.
The dune construction is particularly important because Stratford Point sits at the mouth of the Housatonic River, in one of the most ecologically rich areas of Connecticut.
Besides the Housatonic estuary itself, which teems with fish, shellfish and seabirds, the area also encompasses the 699-acre Great Meadows salt marsh in Stratford, the 840-acre Charles B. Wheeler Salt Marsh in Milford and Milford Point, all part of the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge; and Connecticut Audubon’s Coastal Center at Milford Point, which provides access to an extensive network of beach habitat and mudflats.
The dune project is being funded by the DuPont Corp., which owns the property and which, in 2001, protected Stratford Point forever with a conservation easement. All Habitat Services LLC is the contractor for the project.
Under the easement and a management agreement with DuPont, Connecticut Audubon is responsible for ensuring that the site remain undeveloped in perpetuity, that its habitat and conservation values are protected and enhanced, and that the site remains accessible to the general pubic for “ecologically responsible educational activities and recreational activities.”
Three members of our conservation science team are based full-time at Stratford Point, overseeing and carrying out the data-driven management of its coastal resources.
Stratford Point is the site of the former Remington Gun Club; DuPont also funded and oversaw an extensive cleanup of lead that contaminated the site from its days as a skeet shooting range.
While habitat restoration projects in general are fairly common in Connecticut, the Stratford Point work marks the first time dunes have ever been created to provide both stabilization and habitat along the extensive coast of Long Island Sound. A much smaller man-made dune was built on the late Katherine Hepburn’s Old Saybrook estate some years ago to protect a salt marsh.
The foundation of the new dunes are long, geo-textile tubes, like sausage casings. Referred to on the engineering drawings as tube socks, they were stuffed by machine with sand and soil and then covered with more sand and soil by backhoes. The 38,000 beach grass and switch grass plants will help stabilize the dunes, preventing erosion.
Because Stratford Point is open to the public, the dunes will be fenced off temporarily, to allow the plants to take root. Connecticut Audubon will monitor and manage the plantings for at least three years, to ensure that invasive species such as phragmites and ragweed are kept at bay.
Over the longer term, the new dunes and associated beach area may provide nesting habitat for Piping Plovers, which are listed as threatened on both the U.S. and Connecticut Endangered Species Acts; Least Terns (threatened in Connecticut); and several butterflies, rare plants and other conservation concern species.
Although there are no fixed hours, Stratford Point is open to the public for birdwatching and other passive activities when staff is on the site, which generally is 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
For a long and more technical description of the work, read Twan Leenders’ post on our conservation blog. The Connecticut Post wrote about it, too here.
Connecticut Audubon sends its thanks to DuPont, and also to The Nature Conservancy and Sacred Heart University for their support of the project.
Connecticut Audubon Names New Communications Director
Connecticut Audubon Society has named conservationist and author Tom Andersen as its director of communications and community outreach.
Tom will oversee all of Connecticut Audubon’s communications with members, the general public, and the press, and will also coordinate the organization’s public policy and advocacy work.
“We’re poised to grow and to play a bigger role in conservation issues in Connecticut,” said CAS President Robert Martinez. “Tom’s knowledge and experience in the not-for-profit world and in conservation will help us focus our message and our work, reach more people, and be even more effective in protecting Connecticut’s critical natural habitats.”
Tom will oversee Connecticut Audubon’s website and direct communications with members and the general public; social media; and press relations. He will lead a team of Connecticut Audubon staff and board members in identifying, and then formulating positions on, the public policy issues that make up the core of Connecticut Audubon’s advocacy work.
He is the author of This Fine Piece of Water: An Environmental History of Long Island Sound, published by Yale University Press. Tom spent 10 years at Westchester Land Trust, in Bedford Hills, N.Y., as director of communications and special projects and as acting executive director. He helped Westchester Land Trust protect an average of more than 600 acres a year from 2000 through 2010, a decade during which the total amount of land the organization protected rose from 900 acres to more than 7,000 acres.
Previously he worked as a newspaper reporter in Westchester County, mainly writing about environmental issues. A former 15-year Connecticut resident, he now lives in Pound Ridge, N.Y.
Connecticut Audubon Society to Develop Conservation & Management Plan for Aspetuck Land Trust’s Trout Brook Valley Preserve
October 2011 — Aspetuck Land Trust (ALT) announced plans this month to work with the Connecticut Audubon Society (CAS) to develop an adaptive management and conservation strategy for the Trout Brook Valley Preserve. The objective is to gather information to help ALT maintain Trout Brook Valley in a natural state while simultaneously supporting its public use goal, encouraging passive recreational use and enjoyment of the property. CAS is delighted to partner with ALT in this important project.
Over the course of a year, biologists and staff from the CAS Science and Conservation Office will carry out surveys to detect the presence of threatened, endangered or otherwise at-risk species in the Trout Brook Valley Preserve and to identify sensitive habitat areas contained within the preserve’s forested uplands.
Within the 1,009 acre preserve, spanning Weston and Easton, are vernal pools, shrub swamps, talus slopes, grasslands and other specialized habitats harboring plant and animal species. These species are uniquely dependent on these biological ‘islands’ within an otherwise largely forested area intersected by a 22-mile trail network. The trails were laid out gradually over the past 12 years, often without knowledge of these special microenvironments.
Risks of Disappearing Species
These specialized habitat pockets tend to be the first to disappear or become degraded when environmental pressure increases. The species that rely on them generally disappear simultaneously. Due to their very specific environmental requirements and because of the overall scarcity of the habitats they occupy, these specialized plants and animals tend to be rare and in need of protection.
We already know that the Trout Brook Valley preserve is home to some species included in Connecticut’s Endangered and Threatened Species Act. We believe that there are more to be found.
Across the state, Connecticut forests are gradually becoming more homogeneous with reduced species diversity and an increasing numbers of invasive species. At the same time rarer, more sensitive habitats and species slowly disappear. Highly adaptable plants and animals that can survive in a wide variety of habitats (the kinds of species that one tends to see in yards, parks and other areas associated with development – starlings, pigeons, squirrels, raccoons, coyotes, etc.) are very able to expand their range. Without careful land management, all our natural forests are at risk of becoming impoverished carbon copies of such disturbed habitats.
Importantly, this process takes place while the overall habitat may still look like a forest to the untrained observer. Effectively, more sensitive species are driven to extinction under our very noses! The quality and functionality of an area can be irreversibly damaged if no careful management and conservation strategy is put in place to maintain and protect healthy species and habitat diversity.
Meeting ALT’s Stewardship Goals
A carefully designed management and conservation plan based on relevant survey data will allow ALT to carry out its stewardship goal of maintaining the Trout Brook Valley Preserve in a natural state in a way that balances the need for protection of the area’s resources, plants and animals. Simultaneously, the study findings will help ALT fulfill its commitment to provide open space for passive recreational use and enjoyment of the property. Currently, regulated recreational uses of Trout Brook Valley include hiking, dog walking, hunting, fishing, and horseback riding. Hiking with off leash dogs has been suspended for a year while the CAS study is carried out.
The surveys carried out in the preserve will span an entire year, starting fall 2011 and concluding by fall 2012 to ensure complete coverage of all seasons (not all plants and animals are visible year-round). This prolonged survey period will also allow Connecticut Audubon Society staff to evaluate a wide variety of factors that could potentially affect the preserve’s future health. These range from the spread of invasive plants, plant diseases and pests, to the location of the existing trails and the management practices used to maintain sections of the property.
Throughout the year there will be opportunities for interested members of the public to directly help us and participate in the surveys. Please stay tuned for more information!