The Connecticut Water Company has completed the previously announced sale of 178 acres of open space land, including a 39 acre former reservoir, to the Town of Plymouth, Connecticut. The property, which is referred to as the Plymouth Reservoir Property, had once been used as a water supply source–but is no longer needed for that purpose.

Robert Burns, an organic farmer in eastern Connecticut, is candid in describing his business interest in state legislation requiring that genetically modified food be labeled. “If you’re an organic producer now, you should get ready for an increase in sales,” said the grower of lettuce, mung beans, red winter wheat berries and other vegetables. Click on this environmental headline for more on this story from Stephen Singer of The Associated Press in Hartford, Conn.

A day after Tuesday’s collapse of the controversial Haddam land swap, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection published on its website the appraisal documents that led to the deal’s unraveling. Click here to get to the DEEP website that contains links to the two appraisal reports, which state officials obtained late last year
[continue reading...]

A generous gift of land in Old Lyme’s Lord Cove will assist conservation and provide public access in one of the largest and most important tidal marsh areas along the Lower Connecticut River, two Connecticut conservation groups announced. The donation from the John Lohmann Revocable Trust to the Old Lyme Land Trust and The Nature Conservancy protects 38 acres that includes shoreline, tidal marsh and uplands.

Still stung by the proposed swap of a parcel of state-owned land along the Connecticut River, a group of residents are trying to force a vote on the issue. Opponents of the sale presented two sets of petitions to Town Clerk Ann Huffstetler in an effort to force a special town meeting where they could vote on the proposed land swap. The Middletown Press reports.

While CFE does not oppose the merger, the organization is concerned because there is no guarantee that the agreement to protect the lands, called a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), will remain in effect.

A reader writes: “It is appalling that in today’s age development practices like this are still allowed. While I might be too late to stop this project hopefully we can raise attention to this problem and have it completely outlawed in Connecticut.” Take a look at the story and his petition. His petition is done through iPetition, which asks for a small donation, so don’t be alarmed.

The Planning and Zoning Board (P&Z) has been taking time at meetings to discuss the progress of updates to the city’s Plan of Conservation and Development, which sets a vision for how land and water resources should be used in Milford. According to the state General Statutes, Chapter, 126, Section 823, “Such plan of conservation
[continue reading...]

Connecticut Fund for the Environment has submitted a request for intervention to the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) seeking to ensure that the 9,500 acres of valuable open space owned by Northeast Utilities in approximately 90 municipalities will be protected in the face of the proposed merger with NSTAR

Agriculture Commissioner Steven K. Reviczky has announced that the State Bond Commission approved $5,000,000 in funding on Monday for the Connecticut Department of Agriculture’s new Farmland Restoration Program. Authorized by Public Act 11-1, this voluntary program provides matching grants of up to $20,000 for restoration activities that increase the state’s farmland resource base for agriculture, with an emphasis on prime and important farmland soils and on human and livestock food production. It is expected that the program will be able to work with over 250 farms. Click on this environmental headline for more on this story.

Two north central Connecticut legislators are pushing for the creation of a select committee that would focus solely on agricultural issues — an area that they say deserves heightened awareness right now. The Hartford Courant reports.

When asked how he felt about the major decision he and his wife had made to give up this spectacular property’s development rights in a rapidly developing town, Peter Cooper said: “This gift is a dream which has been many years in the making….”

A dean of New Milford’s farmers and his wife, Beth, 88, to whom he has been married 65 years, still live in the home they built in 1953 alongside the original farm homestead that dates back to the 1840s.Nanci G. Hutson of the Danbury News-Times reports.

This time, the issue is that the developers’ forest land has been appraised at an amount lower than that of the state’s piece, with the scenic river view, a mile or so away. So, what now? Closed-door talks are said to be underway between the developers and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
[continue reading...]

The 32-acre Skaats Farm at 420 Clubhouse Road has been preserved by the Connecticut Farmland Trust in conjunction with the Natural Resource Conservation Service’s Farm and Ranchland Protection Program. Click on this environmental headline for more of this story from CT Farmland Trust.

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), the U.S. Forest Service, the Simsbury Land Trust (SLT) and Town of Simsbury have announced completion of a Forest Legacy Conservation Easement on 73-acres of Tulmeadow Farm, Simsbury. The easement, acquired for $2.8 million, is the final phase of an effort to protect 260 acres of
[continue reading...]

Register today for our Getting Started in Organic Farming Conference to be held Saturday, January 28, 2012 at the CT Forests and Parks Association in Middletown, CT. The Getting Started in Organic Farming Conference draws both beginning farmers who choose to farm organically and established farmers who are converting their operations to organic.

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 proper balance. Located
[continue reading...]

The Connecticut and Long Island chapters of The Nature Conservancy today welcome Chantal Collier as director of the Conservancy’s Long Island Sound Program, which is dedicated to ongoing revitalization of a crucial urban estuary. Collier most recently oversaw the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Coral Reef Conservation Program for seven years, where she successfully increased the program’s visibility and funding.

Residents packed the Town Hall community room Tuesday for a town meeting at which they voted overwhelmingly to buy the Plymouth Reservoir from the Connecticut Water Co.