Father of the Everglades

CONNECTICUT Woodlands FATHER O F THE EVERGLADES: A LANDSCAPER FROM CONNECTICU T TRACING THE PAS T OF THE MA TT ATUCK ST ATE FORES T The Magazine of the Connecticut Forest & Park Association Fall 2012 Volume 77 No. 3 About Connecticut Forest & Park Association and Connecticut Woodlands Magazine Diane Friend Edwards Boulders frame a hiker's view walking the Nayantaquit Trail in Lyme. See page 18. Connecting People to the Land Annual Membership Our mission: The Connecticut Forest & Park Individual $ 35 Association protects forests, parks, walking Family $ 50 Connecticut Woodlands is a quarterly trails and open spaces for future generations by magazine published since 1936 by CFPA, the connecting people to the land. CFPA directly Supporting $ 100 member-based, non-profit organization involves individuals and families, educators, Benefactor $ 250 dedicated to conserving the land, trails, and community leaders and volunteers to enhance natural resources of Connecticut. and defend Connecticut’s rich natural heritage. CFPA is a member-based, non-profit organiza- $ 2500 Members of CFPA receive the magazine in Life Membership tion that relies on members and supporters to the mail in January, April, July, and October. carry out its mission. CFPA also publishes a newsletter several times a year. Our vision: We envision Connecticut as a Corporate Membership place of scenic beauty whose cities, suburbs, Club / Non-profit $ 75 For more information about CFPA, and villages are linked by a network of parks, Sustaining $ 100 to join or donate online, visit our website, forests, and trails easily accessible for all people www.ctwoodlands.org, or call 860-346-TREE. to challenge the body and refresh the spirit. We Landmark $ 250 picture a state where clean water, timber, farm Give the gift of membership in CFPA. Stewardship $ 500 fresh foods, and other products of the land make Contact Marty Gosselin at 860-346-TREE. a significant contribution to our economic and Leadership $ 1000 Advertising Rates for Connecticut Woodands cultural well-being. Half page: $180 per issue / $600 yearly (four issues) Connecticut Woodlands Quarter page: $90 per issue / $300 yearly Published quarterly by the Eighth page: $60 per issue / $200 yearly Connecticut Forest & Park Association, 16 Meriden Road, Design services available for a fee. Rockfall, CT 06481-2961 Indexed in the Connecticut Periodical Index, Printed on recycled paper ISSN 00106257 Telephone: 860-346-TREE Fax: 860-347-7463. E-mail address: [email protected] World Wide Web site: http://www.ctwoodlands.org 2 | CONNECTICUT WOODL ANDS | FALL 2012 CONNECTICUT Woodlands The Magazine of the Connecticut Forest & Park Association FALL 2012 Volume 77 No. 3 CONTENTS FEATURES DEPARTMENTS 6 FATHER OF THE EV ER GLA DES . 4 PRES ID ENT ’S M ESSA GE. How did Ernest F. Coe evolve from Connecticut rates high in the way cities a New Haven landscaper who culti- meet the wild. vated exotic plants for Connecticut’s By Eric Lukingbeal. front yards into the man who fought to preserve South Florida? 5 EX EC UTIV E DIRECTOR ’S M ESSA GE. By Christine Woodside. Connecticut is CFPA’s Everglades. By Eric Hammerling. 10 FI NDI NG M ATTAT UCK S TATE F OREST . Old-timers and others map the not-so- 5 EDI TOR ’S N OTE . hidden past of 4,510 acres. Preventable drownings at a By Gwendolyn Craig. popular park. By Christine Woodside. 14 FROM THE L AN D. A Connecticut Nutmegger. By Jean Crum Jones. 16 ESSENT IAL F ACTS OF LI FE . Discovering the great outdoors: On the Cover : The importance of environmental Clockwise from top: education in the life of the young child. Ernest F. Coe's signature in his Elm City By Lori Paradis Brant. Nursery catalog; the Everglades landscape he fought to preserve; Coe (in bow tie) 18 TRY T HIS HIK E. leading a boat tour in the Everglades; A pretty loop in Lyme: Alone, but not a map plotting his New Haven nursery lonely, on the Nayantaquit Trail. near today's Yale Bowl; Coe, standing, By Diane Friend Edwards. visiting a store c. 1925. 21 WAL KCT. Family Guides critical to success. Inset images from Florida State Archives; background photos By Leslie Lewis. by Christine Woodside. 20 FROM THE A RCH IV ES . The governor champions open space:1962. By James Little. 20/22 OB ITUARI ES Henry Townshend. Harold Mattern. 22 ENVI RONMENTAL UP DATE After years of dread, it’s here: Emerald ash borer found. Middletown passes ordinance against all-terrain vehicles. MAPLE SUG AR CHART ONL INE : To see Steve Broderick’s guide to tapping maple trees, a supplement to his summer issue article on practical aspects of maple sugaring, see www.ctwoodlands.org. FALL 2012 | CONNECTICUT WOODL ANDS | 3 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE THE C ONNE CT ICUT F ORES T & P ARK ASSO CIA TION , INC. Connecticut rates high in the way cities OFF ICERS PRESIDENT, ERIC LUKI NGBEAL , Granby VICE-PRESIDENT, WI LL IAM D. B REC K, Killingworth meet the wild VICE-PRESIDENT, GEOFFRE Y M EISSNER , Plantsville VICE-PRESIDENT, DA VID P LATT , Higganum BY ERIC LUKINGBEAL VICE-PRESIDENT, STARR S AYRES , East Haddam TREASURER, JAMES W. DOMBRA USKAS , New Hartford ometimes we are so overwhelmed by environmental data SECRETARY, ERIC H AMMERL ING, West Hartford that it’s hard to make sense of it. I’ve found that one of the FORESTER, STE VE B RO DER ICK, Eastford most useful tools is the Council on Environmental Qual- S ity’s annual “report card” on Connecticut’s environment. DI RECTORS This year’s report for 2011 is the 40th. It uses a standardized RU SSELL B RENNEMAN , Westport set of 31 indicators to measure progress, or lack of progress. You ROBERT BU TTERWORTH , Deep River can read the report on CE Q’s Web site in under an hour. Here’s STARL ING W. C HILDS, Norfolk what I found most intriguing. RU TH CU TLER , Ashford ANN IE deB OER , Middletown Last year’s big storms—the August hurricane and the Octo- LAURENCE DIAMON D, Coventry ber snowstorm—revealed some “previously obscure” data. The CAROL INE DR ISCOLL , New London data concerns the wildland–urban interface, or W UI , a measure ASTR ID T. H AN ZALE K, Suffield of the proximity of dwellings to forest, wetlands, and grasslands. JEAN C RUM J ONES , Shelton Eric Lukingbeal Seventy-two percent of our land area falls in the W UI category, DA VID L AURETT I, Bloomfield MI CHAEL L ECO URS , Farmington more than any other state. The W UI was originally developed DA VID K. L EFF , Collinsville to measure forest fire risk. In another sense, it’s a measure of sprawl. But it partly SCOTT LIVI NGSTON , Bolton explains our extended power outages. LI NDA M ACAR Y, Clinton Connecticut’s high standing in W UI has resulted in our taking advantage of this LAUREN L. Mc GRE GOR , Hamden proximity to watch wildlife around the home and to conserve habitat. We do this JEFFRE Y O’ DONNELL , Bristol much more, and we spend much more, than the average American does. On the av- DEBORAH C. S PAL DI NG, Guilford erage plot of ground here, we are “watching” our wildlife more than in nearly every RI CHAR D W HITEHO USE , Glastonbury other state. “Watching” includes feeding, photographing, and conserving habitat. In HONORAR Y DI RECTORS only two other states are there more bird species per square mile. (That’s one of the reasons the late bird guide author and artist Roger Tory Peterson chose to live here.) GOR DON L. A NDERSON , Glastonbury HARROL W. B AKER , J R., Bolton Connecticut’s wildlife watching is quite extraordinary. No other state can beat RI CHAR D A. B AUERFEL D, Redding our residents’ preference for watching wildlife around the home (within one mile). GEOR GE M. C AMP , Middletown We are one of five states where we spend more to watch wildlife than we spend on ANN M. CUDDY , Ashland, Oregon hunting and fishing. Of course, this may not be an unalloyed good—our hunting SAM UEL G. DO DD , North Andover, MA and fishing participation rates are falling, especially among the young. And hunters JOHN E. HI BBAR D, Hebron and anglers support conservation efforts. PHILIP H. J ONES , J R., Shelton Outdoor activities and conservation are good in themselves. But they also produce ED WAR D A. RI CHAR DSON , Glastonbury large economic benefits. The 2011 study by the University of Connecticut estimated L. P. S PERR Y, J R., Middlebury that 9,000 jobs and $1 billion in economic activity can be traced directly to outdoor SALL Y L. T AYLOR , Mystic activities in just state parks and forests. For every dollar the state has spent on parks, SID NE Y VAN ZAN DT, Noank $38 in economic benefits has resulted. STAFF A high W UI score has other consequences, not all of them good. Invasive exotic CO MM UNICATIONS ASSOCIATE , JENN IFER B ENNER , Roxbury species follow low-density housing development, which has been the land use pat- EDUCATION DIRECTOR, LOR I P ARA DI S B RANT , Rockfall tern here since World War II . Our ecosystems’ biggest threat comes from invasives. FOREST & PROGRA M DIRECTOR, GOODWIN FOREST CENTER, Yet, as CE Q points out, there is no coordinated statewide program to deal with it. STE VE B RO DER ICK, Eastford CE Q’s report includes a letter to the governor, urging him to consider that our TRAIL STEWARDSHI P DIRECTOR, CLARE C AIN, Niantic top W UI rating and our citizens’ high rate of watching wildlife make us the “ Nature ME MBERSHI P & MARKETING DIRECTOR, MART Y GOSSEL IN, Durham State.” It’s a persuasive request but coupled with a warning that our high level of vol- EXECUTI VE DIRECTOR, ERIC H AMMERL ING, West Hartford unteer conservation commitment may not continue indefinitely.

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