Keeping the Cove Clean
Ledyard and Preston combine minds to protect Poquetanuck Cove from development, pollution
By Stephen Kurczy
Looming developments that would directly impact Poquetanuck Cove, like the construction of an additional two-lane bridge to span the Thames River, a four-lane bypass of Route 2A and Utopia Studios’ proposal to build a $1.6 billion entertainment complex on the grounds of the nearby Norwich State Hospital, have promted locals to protect the salt water estuary.
The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agency and the Thames River Basin Partnership last month have teamed up with both Preston's and Ledyard's conservation commisions.
“I think it’s time this group reassesses the threats to this cove,” David Kozak, a senior coastal planner with the DEP, told the commissions.
A formal assessment can be paid for with grant money, Kozak said, and if a formal study is done, additional money is available to protect the cove from those threats.
“I’m a very staunch proponent of municipality involvement,” Donald Henne, of the U.S. Fish
& Wildlife Service, said. “That’s a lot of the horsepower that it’s going to take to get this thing going.”
Free money is available, they said; just ask for it.
Integral to protecting the cove is protecting the three streams that feed the cove – Halsey Brook, Joe Clark Brook, Poquetanuck Brook – and the biologists suggested that town planners create new zoning that would prevent developments with a negative environmental effect on these streams.
A program called Partners for Fish & Wildlife assists private landowners in restoring their land and ridding it of invasive species, like Phragmites.
“It would enhance the beauty of their property,” Sara Williams, a wildlife biologist at the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge, said. “Landowners could contribute to the wildlife that make the cove an important place biologically.”
The next step is to form a Poquetanuck Cove Committee to develop a plan of action and target grant money, according to Jean Pillo at The Thames River Basin Partnership, who organized last month’s walk around Poquetanuck Cove.
“Maybe we could extend the (492-acre) Rose Hill Wildlife Management Area to encompass these other places,” suggested Dave Bainbridge, chair of the Ledyard Conservation Commission.
Micky Weiss, a founding member of Project Oceanology and a former director, also attended the event, and pointed to the cove’s significance as a breeding ground for sea life such as the blue crab.
Weiss said he remembers when many marshes along Long Island Sound were littered and polluted. The tipping point came when a citizen effort came to clean it up, and big developers realized that by preserving open space they could gain public approval.
“A lot of it happened because of a group like this starting to meet,” Weiss said. “Things can change. You got to start small and have motivated people.”
By Stephen Kurczy
Looming developments that would directly impact Poquetanuck Cove, like the construction of an additional two-lane bridge to span the Thames River, a four-lane bypass of Route 2A and Utopia Studios’ proposal to build a $1.6 billion entertainment complex on the grounds of the nearby Norwich State Hospital, have promted locals to protect the salt water estuary.
The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agency and the Thames River Basin Partnership last month have teamed up with both Preston's and Ledyard's conservation commisions.
“I think it’s time this group reassesses the threats to this cove,” David Kozak, a senior coastal planner with the DEP, told the commissions.
A formal assessment can be paid for with grant money, Kozak said, and if a formal study is done, additional money is available to protect the cove from those threats.
“I’m a very staunch proponent of municipality involvement,” Donald Henne, of the U.S. Fish
& Wildlife Service, said. “That’s a lot of the horsepower that it’s going to take to get this thing going.”
Free money is available, they said; just ask for it.
Integral to protecting the cove is protecting the three streams that feed the cove – Halsey Brook, Joe Clark Brook, Poquetanuck Brook – and the biologists suggested that town planners create new zoning that would prevent developments with a negative environmental effect on these streams.
A program called Partners for Fish & Wildlife assists private landowners in restoring their land and ridding it of invasive species, like Phragmites.
“It would enhance the beauty of their property,” Sara Williams, a wildlife biologist at the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge, said. “Landowners could contribute to the wildlife that make the cove an important place biologically.”
The next step is to form a Poquetanuck Cove Committee to develop a plan of action and target grant money, according to Jean Pillo at The Thames River Basin Partnership, who organized last month’s walk around Poquetanuck Cove.
“Maybe we could extend the (492-acre) Rose Hill Wildlife Management Area to encompass these other places,” suggested Dave Bainbridge, chair of the Ledyard Conservation Commission.
Micky Weiss, a founding member of Project Oceanology and a former director, also attended the event, and pointed to the cove’s significance as a breeding ground for sea life such as the blue crab.
Weiss said he remembers when many marshes along Long Island Sound were littered and polluted. The tipping point came when a citizen effort came to clean it up, and big developers realized that by preserving open space they could gain public approval.
“A lot of it happened because of a group like this starting to meet,” Weiss said. “Things can change. You got to start small and have motivated people.”
posted by Stephen C. Kurczy at 10:13 AM
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