The Trust for Public Land’s

The Trust for Public Land River Program conserving land for people

About TPL The Trust for Public Land (TPL) conserves land for people to enjoy as parks, Working Regionally The Facts gardens and other natural places, ensuring livable communities for genera- Current Activities: tions to come. We have protected over 2 million acres nationwide since our Andrew M. Whalen founding in 1972. In the watershed, we have completed • Report:Watershed The –Connecticut Quintesse River over 50 projects, ranging from the 171,000 acre working Location • Listen to the River citizen hearings forest and biological reserve to four acres of urban farmland protected for a ntial New England The Connecticut River community group in Holyoke, MA. • Friends of Conte Refuge advocacy Watershed – from the River’s • Communications initiative with The Nature source at the Canadian border to Here’s what makes us a strong leader watershed-wide: Conservancy, American Farmland Trust, and Long Island Sound the Con ecticut River Watershed Council • TPL’s mission embraces the full range of land conservation objectives— View of valley farms from Mt. Sugarloaf, Sunderland, MA • Coffee-table book featuring high quality farmland, working forest, habitat, trails, water quality, historic sites and photography and original place-based essays Size urban parks—that can serve the watershed and its communities. by top authors 7.2 million acres, nearly one third of • TPL has offices and proven effectiveness in all four Connecticut River the total area of , New New England’s Great River states, a New England region that is united in support of the River, and Hampshire, , and Connecticut. The Connecticut River drains nearly one sixth of New England and provides key national experience and relationships. 70 percent of Long Island Sound’s fresh water. Its farmland, forests, and Drained by the 410-mile Connecticut • TPL can help bring public and private funding to projects and initiatives waters, as well as its unique communities and rich history, make it one of only Working Locally River mainstem and thousands of miles that smaller organizations might not. 14 American Heritage Rivers. The journey from source to sound passes Current Activities: of tributaries. • In addition to on-the-ground land protection, TPL’s expertise in priori- through nearly every variant of the New England landscape, combining to tizing and financing conservation can help communities set and achieve • West Fairlee (VT) - Creating a Community form a mosaic that is truly the heart of New England. Forest their local goals. Protection to Date • Walpole (NH) - Protecting Ballam Farm • Our experience with the federal government and with landscape-scale 1.65 million acres (23 percent) • efforts in other regions will help TPL work with partners to achieve land Hadley (MA) - Acquiring habitat for the Overview Conte Refuge in collaboration with the Fort protection goals that require thinking beyond state lines. River Partnership Undeveloped but Unprotected Goal: To protect New England’s great river, the landscapes that support it, The job is too large for any one organization to do alone. Together, we can help • Deerfield (MA) - Greenprinting, 4.75 million acres (66 percent) and the diverse character of River communities. the Connecticut River watershed—New England’s heartland and Great River— Conservation Vision and Finance services Resource: With its rich mosaic of farmland, forests, habitat, recreational remain a healthy, vibrant source of pride and identity for all of New England. • Easthampton (MA) - saving Echodale Farm opportunities, and compact communities, the Connecticut River watershed • Hartford (CT) - Greenprinting Phase I is the essence of New England life. (TPL’s Parks for People program) For more information: • Simsbury (CT) - Protecting the Ethel Threat: The Connecticut River watershed is 89 percent undeveloped, but Walker School land Clem Clay, Director rural and suburban sprawl are reshaping the forest-and-farm landscape that defines New England’s unique sense of place.

Ned Therrien Connecticut River Program 1 Short Street, Suite 9 Need: Increased effort, funding, and leadership to shape priorities and get Northampton, MA 01060 land conservation results that make life better in individual communities Phone: (413) 584-6686 and the entire watershed. Fax: (413) 584-6687 [email protected] Why TPL? Our Land-for-People mission, our track record in watersheds across the country, our national experience, and our commitment to www.tpl.org/ctriver working in partnership. Connecticut Lakes, Pittsburg, NH Growth’s Challenge The richness and diversity of the Connecticut River’s supporting landscape is unmatched in JanetTorres Even as the 30-year effort to clean the New England, and critical to our identity as a River of sewage and industrial pollution begins to pay off, changing region. land development patterns present Heritage and Economy. The River defined new threats. The watershed lost over colonial America’s first western frontier, and 19 percent of its farmland between powered the advent of precision manufacturing. 1982 and 1997, while developed land area increased by over one third. An Farming. Known as New England’s additional 7.5 percent of farmland was breadbasket, the River valley boasts some of the lost between 1997 and 2002—fully 45 nation’s best farmland. Nuestras Raíces Tierra de Oportunidades in Holyoke, MA percent of all farmland lost in New Forests. Highly productive hardwood and England. Forest loss and coniferous forests dominate the landscape, fragmentation are also significant. including portions of the Northern Forest, The Trust for Public Land ‘s Vision Both American Farmland Trust and Green Mountain and White Mountain the US Forest Service ranked parts of National Forests, and the Berkshires. We are fortunate to have a richly diverse and largely intact the watershed among the nation’s most threatened regions containing Habitat. The Connecticut River valley is among watershed in the midst of our densely populated region. In important farmland and working the most biologically rich areas in each of the the Connecticut River watershed, we have an opportunity forests, respectively. four River states. The Silvio O. Conte National to use precious open space and waters wisely and protect

Fish and Wildlife Refuge aims to protect the them for future generations or watch them become more As rural sprawl becomes more most threatened of the watershed’s terrestrial generic with each passing year. Wherever people connect common, small increases in and aquatic species across dozens of ecosystem to the land, our grandchildren should inherit a landscape population translate into large types. that tells an inspiring story of New England, illustrated with farms, forest, clean water in the River and the Sound, impacts on the landscape. Many of the Recreation & Tourism. The tri-state abundant wildlife, and vibrant communities small and towns that help define New England’s Metacomet-Monadnock Trail, the Connecticut large. identity are River Water Trail, portions of the Appalachian struggling to Trail and East Coast Greenway, several Wild protect their and Scenic tributaries, River-oriented Scenic The Connecticut River Program character. Byways in three states, and hundreds of local To achieve this vision, we must increase the pace and and regional greenways provide a multitude of scope of land conservation in the watershed, and we recreational and tourism opportunities. must work both locally and regionally. Towns and cities need help achieving local conservation priorities to ensure quality of life for future generations. At the same time, we must protect resources that are important to the region and the nation by increasing state and federal Among the myriad conservation needs in the watershed, TPL’s Connecticut investments. River Program focuses on these priorities:

R.K. Bailey TPL builds partnerships across the watershed to • Protect Riverfront parcels and secure appropriate public River access; develop land conservation priorities and increase funding to protect key resources. TPL also directly • Protect prime farmland and community forests;

engages River communities to help them define • Integrate regional initiatives, such as the Conte Refuge, with local efforts; Sonja KeohaneK. conservation goals, figure out how to pay for land • Help communities identify and achieve their top conservation goals; and protection, and take action to protect important parcels. Our work at the regional level helps us to link local • Protect iconic properties that tell an important story, are under threat, and accomplishments to river-wide goals. would not be conserved without TPL’s help.

Future Community Forest, West Fairlee, VT

Breakwater Light, Old Saybrook, CT