News From Naromi Land Trust

Naromi Land Trust

July 2011 - Vol 2, Issue 6

More photos from the Great Swamp Paddle on our website.

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Dear Friend of Naromi,

Thank you to everyone who attended our Annual Meeting on July 8. John Foley did an excellent job giving us a thorough overview of turtles (live in the water, mostly) and tortoises (live on land, mostly). Naromi elected Christopher Jellen, Elizabeth Mard, William McGoldrick all for another three-year term, and Chris Theodoros was elected for his first three-year term. We will include a profile of Chris here soon. The Board would like to express gratitude to outgoing Board members John Allen and David Schneiderbeck for their years of service to NLT.

Mark your calendars for a hike on August 14th (details below) and for a star-gazing at Hadlow field with out-going NLT Director Dave Schneiderbeck on August 28 (details will be published as date approaches).

Hike August 14: Herrick Trail to AT @ Route 55

Join NLT Director Chris Jellen to hike the Herrick Trail to the Appalachian Trail on Sunday, August 14 at 9 am. This is a one-way thru-hike that will take 2-3 hours. This hike will begin at the Herrick Trail and connect to the AT, and will head South and connect at the AT parking area on Route 55. It is a moderate uphill walk, but not technical. There are three opportunities for views on this walk. Maybe we will even catch a glimpse of the feral goat that lives on the Herrick Trail! Please do let us know if you will join us so that we can arrange adequate shuttling.

NLT Annual Meeting: Life in a Shell

NLT Director Ian Gribble performing turtle recuse with assistance from Clay Cope. This turtle was getting too close to disappearing into some thick vegetation near Lake Mauweehoo.

Fifty people came out on a rainy evening to learn about Naromi's activities during the past fiscal year and learn about turtles from John Foley, a local naturalist and turtle expert. Minutes and more photos from the Annual Meeting are available on our website.

The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection and Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Protection have proclaimed 2011 as the Year of the Turtle! Turtles are in trouble -- 47% of all living turtle species as threatened. There are twelve species of turtles in CT and seven of those are on the state List of Endangered, Threatened, and Special Concern Species.

Wimisink Boardwalk

Naromi is currently in the permitting process to construct a disabled-accessible wetland boardwalk in the Wimisink Wildlife Sanctuary (large swamp at the junction of Routes 39N & 55 in northern Sherman). This project doesn't quite fit into the current zoning regulations in Sherman, and requires a formal change in the regulations before construction can begin. NLT has submitted a proposed amendment to the regulations that allows for appropriate accessory uses on conservation land owned by 501 (c) (3) conservation organizations. We need your support at the Planning & Zoning meeting on August 4th to ensure this project can move forward!

The boardwalk will be an opportunity for education, including wildlife and plant study/observation, and passive recreation for anyone and everyone. The project is funded by a grant from the Housatonic River Basin Natural Resources Restoration Project administered by CT DEP, US Fish & Wildlife Service and NOAA.

Stay tuned for more information on this as the project moves through the permitting process. Contact the office if you have questions or suggestions.

Explore naromi.org!

Have you taken the time to explore the wealth of information on the Resources page of our website? Learn about what exactly a land trust is, what conservation options are available, meet some of our neighbor land trusts and some like-minded conservation groups. Are you new to eNews? You'll find an archive of past editions of Naromi's eNews there, too.

Please share this Naromi newsletter with your friends by using the forward button below. We welcome comments from you about what you would like to see discussed here and what you think we are doing right, or wrong! We look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,

Naromi Land Trust