NATIONAL HERITAGE CORRIDORIn Touch with The Last Green Valley MEMBER MAGAZINE & 2018 ANNUAL REPORT Cherish the Night Sky ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: Light Pollution Solutions TLGV Tackles Harmful Algae Blooms Saluting Our Business and Nonprofit Partners Volunteer/Donor Spotlight Your Voice, Your Vision In Touch Vol. 4, Issue 1 • Spring 2019 IN THIS ISSUE Message from the Chairman .............................1 Starry Nights • Pg. 2 TLGV Board of Directors and Staff ....................1 Starry Nights Connections .................................2 Human Health Requires Darkness .....................6 Nonprofit Partner • Pg. 18 Light Pollution Triggers Wildlife Concerns .........8 Stopping Light Pollution Saves Money ............10 Why You Care About Starry Nights ..................13 Got Light Pollution? ........................................14 Start Stargazing ..............................................15 Would You Like to Become a Dark Sky Community? .....................................16 Nonprofit Partner: Girl Scouts of CT ................18 Business Partner: Savings Institute Bank & Trust .........................19 Annual Meeting • Pg. 28 Volunteer & Donor Spotlight: Bill Jobbagy ......20 Your Voice, Your Vision ....................................21 2018 ANNUAL REPORT Protecting Bull Hill ..........................................22 Preserving Our History ....................................23 Monitoring Program Launched for Harmful Algae Blooms ....................................24 2018 By the Numbers .....................................26 Scenes from TLGV’s 2018 Annual Meeting ......28 Volunteer/Donor Business Partner Tastes of the Valley – A Farmer at The Table ....30 Pg. 20 Pg. 19 2018 Financial Report .....................................32 Monitoring Program Thank you to our Members, Donors, Pg. 24 Sponsors and Partners .....................................33 In Touch is published twice a year by The Last Green Valley P.O. Box 29, 203B Main Street Danielson, CT 06239-0029 860-774-3300 Email: [email protected] www.thelastgreenvalley.org Copyright 2019 The Last Green Valley, Inc. Cover photo by Jim Wheeler Stories written by Francesca Kefalas Protecting Bull Hill • Pg. 22 Design by Angell House Design Tastes 2018 • Pg. 30 Printed by AM Lithography Corp. The Last green Valley’s Legacy Society includes anyone who wishes to benefit The Last green Valley in a will or estate plan, no matter the size or simplicity of the be- quest. a legacy gift is a thoughtful way to ensure all the ADLegacy things you love about The Last green Valley live on. Steven Crooke • Pg. 22 If your bequest plans include The Last green Valley, we hope you will let us know so we can add your name to the Legacy Society. you can remain anon- Annual Meeting • Pg. 23 ymous if you wish, or you may allow us to publicize SOCIETY your name to inspire others. For more information about The Last Green Valley’s Legacy Society, contact Kyle Gregoire, Community and Donor Relations Manager,Lowenthals at [email protected] • Pg. 14 or 860-774-3300.Publick House • Pg. 18 The Last Green Valley, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Our Tax ID Number is 06-1418894. Jim Wheeler Message from the Chairman It is the stars, The stars above us, govern our conditions. – William Shakespeare Shakespeare was fond of blaming the stars for unexplained twists of fate or human frailty, as he did when lamenting the difference between good Cordelia and her malicious sisters in this quote from King Lear. It turns out Shakespeare was well ahead of his time. Science now confirms that the stars – or rather our modern inability to see the stars because of light pollution – has an impact on our health, well-being and happiness. Humans are not alone; many other species suffer when exposed to light instead of darkness at night. Here in The Last Green Valley National Heritage Corridor, we are fortunate to see the stars on many clear evenings, but we, too, are at risk of losing our dark skies. This issue of In Touch focuses on the impacts of light pollution as well as solutions for bringing it under control. We hope our members will engage in this discussion and help us work towards dark sky designations in our communities. You can learn more on the following pages. This issue of In Touch also serves as our 2018 Annual Report and more importantly, kicks off our 25th Anniversary Celebration as a National Heritage Corridor. Whether you have been with us for 25 years or are new to this organization, we thank you for your support. Our members, donors, sponsors, partners and volunteers are the life-blood of The Last Green Valley and we would not be successful without you. As we look forward to the next 25 years as a National Heritage Corridor, we invite you to participate as we update our long-term management plan. Your Voice and Your Vision matter, and we want to hear from you. Please contact The Last Green Valley office for more details. Together we can care for, enjoy and pass on The Last Green Valley – and reach for the stars. Bill Jobbagy, Chairman Board of Directors TLGV Board of Directors 2018-2019 TLGV Staff Bill Jobbagy, Chair, Coventry, CT Thomas Dufresne, Southbridge, MA Lois Bruinooge, Executive Director Mike Nelson, Vice Chair, Norwich, CT James Gothreau, Putnam, CT LyAnn Graff, Office Coordinator Myra Ambrogi, Secretary, Plainfield, CT Lisa Hayden, Sturbridge, MA Kyle Gregoire, Donor and Community Joan St. Ament, Treasurer, Woodstock, CT Jennifer Kaufman, Mansfield, CT Relations Manager Steven Ayer, Franklin, CT Mike Longenbaker, Tolland, CT Francesca Kefalas, Assistant Director Donna Baron, Lebanon, CT Marty Nieski, Dudley, MA Bill Reid, Chief Ranger Janet Blanchette, Thompson, CT Samuel Smit, Norwich, CT Sharon Wakely, Finance Administrator Elsie Bisset, Voluntown, CT Eric Thomas, Coventry, CT, representing PROGRAM CONSUltants Debra Burns, Putnam, CT the Governor of Connecticut Christine Armstrong, Education Karyn DiBonaventura, Pomfret, CT Mark Winne, Charlton, MA Outreach Coordinator Lou Dzialo, Baltic, CT Liz Ellsworth, Education Outreach Assistant Jean Pillo, Water Quality Monitoring and TRBP Coordinator 1 1 Starry Night CONNECTIONS Disappearing Dark Skies Impact Our Environment, Health and Hearts by Francesca Kefalas Jim Wheeler 2 or as long as humans Why does it matter? Why in the have walked the earth our modern world do we need to see eyes have been drawn to the stars when we know perfectly the stars. well how the seasons work? When we no longer need them to Every known culture in navigate the oceans or the skies history has connected its thanks to technology? story to the stars. From the ancient Babylonians and Our lives may actually depend on Native Americans to the Egyptians, having that dark night sky above us. ſthe Mayan, the Vikings and the “Human health, the entire cultures who came before, the need ecosystem really, is tied to the to understand the world through cycles of night and day,” said the movements of stars drove their Richard G. Stevens, a professor structures, their spirituality and the of Community Medicine and fabric of their societies. Health Care at UCONN. “I think The night sky connects us through we’re close to a tipping point. The time and across distances. scientific community is starting to take this seriously.” Yet, beginning with the industrial revolution we have steadily The problem is light pollution. disconnected from that night sky. Until recently, however, the idea Today, more than 80 percent of of light pollution was not taken Americans only see the brightest seriously. “How can light pollute?” stars and moon in the night sky. Stevens said. “That was the The Milky Way is a thing to be seen question I used to get.” in photos taken somewhere else. Stevens has studied exactly how Here, in The Last Green Valley light pollutes since the 1980s and National Heritage Corridor, we are the frustrating part is it really is the lucky ones. Most of us can still not a difficult problem to fix. This see the Milky Way on a clear night. is not water or air pollution. It’s We have something no one else a matter of turning off the lights between Boston and Washington when they are not needed. D.C. can claim in such a large area. “I see problems as either wicked But as we continue to turn the or tame,” Stevens said. “Wicked night into day with artificial light problems are problems with no easy the stars are dimming even here. solution, like complex social system “We’re losing our night sky, issues. Tame problems have pretty there’s no question about that,” easy, clear solutions. This is a tame said Geoff McLean, a NASA Solar problem we are not dealing with.” System Ambassador and a Last Tame, only in the ability fix it, Green Valley Volunteer Ranger. however. Light pollution is far “In the last two years I’ve been more than sky glow – that light noticing the sky at night is getting you see on the horizon from a brighter and brighter than it was large city or even a small town. nine years ago when I started The cycles of night and dark doing astronomy outreach control circadian rhythms and programs. We only see the Milky almost all life on the planet relies Way on the darkest nights now on that cycle of night and day. when before it was routine.” 3 Research published in 2018 in Russell D. Sampson, Professor of In the late 1990s Chicago “Science Advances” of the “New Physical Sciences and Co-director embarked on an alley-lighting World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky of the Robert K. Wickware program as part of an effort to Brightness,” reveals that while Planetarium at Eastern Connecticut reduce crime in the city. In 2000 a 80 percent of Americans cannot State University, said the problem study was published that showed see the Milky Way, 99 percent of is largely one of perception. the increased lighting actually us live under light-polluted skies, “Nighttime lighting makes us resulted in an increase of 21 meaning we do not know true feel safer, but there is a growing percent in the crimes analyzed, darkness.