Gardening for Good

“For the first time in history, gardens have taken
on a role that transcends the gardener.”

Brownfields

If you were a robin returning to the Connecticut River in the spring of 1970, you would have seen compromised industrial sites along the riverbanks.

New England’s First State Forest

From the rocky knob of Great Hill at the southern tip of Meshomasic State Forest, I gazed at a big bend the Connecticut River takes in the middle distance, with ridges fading to gray-blue behind it.

Lyme Land Trust

There are about 100 land trusts in the Connecticut River Watershed, plus four state land trust associations, plus a national association.

New Reserve

Residents of Connecticut should be proud that, on January 14, 2022, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) approved Connecticut’s application for a National Estuarine Research Reserve (CT NERR).

Water and Forests

Anyone who studies rivers knows that the land cover in a watershed is the number one predictor of the health of a river.

Invasive Plants- Phragmites

By now, knowledge that invasive plants are bad news is pretty widespread. Numerous articles and agencies cite “billions of dollars” in damages annually to agriculture and fisheries; they are the “leading cause” of population decline and extinction in animals.

Below the Surface- Returning Home

It seemed like just another spring day when we stopped at the Salmon River, a tidewater tributary of the Connecticut River that splits the towns of Haddam and East Haddam, Connecticut.

Below the Surface – Restoring Fish Runs

It seemed like just another spring day when we stopped at the Salmon River, a tidewater tributary of the Connecticut River that splits the towns of Haddam and East Haddam, Connecticut.

The Hunter-Conservationist

By John Buck Walking slowly through the forest of sugar maple, white ash, and yellow birch, our path skirted the edge of a farm field abandoned long ago. My good friend Tim and I were in the wee hours of daylight of our first outing during Vermont’s Ruffed Grouse season. Even stronger than our high regard for this forest-dwelling, chicken …

Invasive Plants – Oriental Bittersweet

By now, knowledge that invasive plants are bad news is pretty widespread. Numerous articles and agencies cite “billions of dollars” in damages annually to agriculture and fisheries; they are the “leading cause” of population decline and extinction in animals.

The Battle for Fenwick’s Shoreline

Surrounded by water on three sides -most dramatically by the Connecticut River to the north and east and by Long Island Sound to the south—the Borough of Fenwick is on the front lines of climate change.

Japanese Barberry

By now, knowledge that invasive plants are bad news is pretty widespread. Numerous articles and agencies cite “billions of dollars” in damages annually to agriculture and fisheries; they are the “leading cause” of population decline and extinction in animals.

My Forest Romance With Nyssa

Nyssa was a Greek nymph, and sylvatica means “of the forest.” So I will use feminine pronouns in this arboreal essay.

Dam Removals

It seemed like just another spring day when we stopped at the Salmon River, a tidewater tributary of the Connecticut River that splits the towns of Haddam and East Haddam, Connecticut.

Mother Trees

“Happy families are all alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,” began Tolstoy in his novel Anna Karenina. Take a walk in the woods and you will see trees of different sizes and species reaching up towards the sunlight. One would think that there is a fierce competition between the trees to get to the top of the canopy.

Plant a Tree Help a Fish

Fish restoration in the river depends, to a significant extent, upon its forests and the management thereof.