“This property, combined with surrounding Aquarion and Monroe open space lands, protects about 120 acres of wildlife habitat.” - Barbara Thomas

Aspetuck Land Trust (ALT) acquired 7.8 acres of land in Monroe from the Boy Scouts of America’s Connecticut Yankee Council. This is the first parcel of land the ALT has purchased since its merger with Monroe Land Trust and Tree Conservancy last year. ALT emphasizes the importance of this acquisition on its environmental value of preserving open space and natural habitats...

The Bridgewater Land Trust (BWLT) recently completed its new mapping of the Ketchum Children's Trail at La Vaillant Preserve. With this brand new map, comes improvements to the trail itself. With new trail sections, signage, birdhouses, a kiosk, and a new bridge to cross the stream, BWLT hopes to bring Burnham Elementary School students for a visit around the preserve...

Avon Land Trust inherited a wonderful 1820 vintage barn in early 2022. Like most older buildings, this barn was in need of some TLC to restore it back to its glory days when it was first built and painted. This old barn, just passing the 200-year-old milestone, had its first six boards newly scraped and painted. Now, only 39 more boards to go! It's amazing to see history preserved far into the future for all to see and appreciate...

With the close of the summer season, the New Canaan Land Trust (NCLT) 2022 Summer Steward Internship Program comes to its conclusion. This two-week session featured local high school participants engaging in a wide variety of activities and projects in teams with experienced NCLT stewards and instructors. Interns participated in trail maintenance, educational instruction in watershed protection, a lesson in upcycling and pollution, and more! The internship is a great way to get younger folks involved in conservation efforts in their community...

My name is Emely Ricci, your new Sandy Breslin Conservation Fellow, here at CLCC. I hope to follow in the footsteps of my predecessor, Sylvie Boucher, to highlight the best of our land trusts and the work they do to conserve CT's natural beauty for all to enjoy.

With the start of my year with CLCC, I hope to get to know each and every one of our land trusts in CT in this e-newsletter. This round of stories seems to wrap the summer season up quite nicely. The closing of summer internships, the opening of new trails, the acquisition of new land, and the refurbishing of a vintage barn are just in time to close one season and welcome another!

As I come into the position, I am excited to bring you inspiring stories about Connecticut land trusts and the amazing work they do each and every day so that we can all remember to #LoveYourCTLandTrust.