TheA newsletter of the ConnecticutHabitat Association of Conservation and Inland Wetlands Commissions, Inc. Summer 2013 volume 25 number 2 CACIWC’s 36th Celebrating Connecticut Parks and Open Spaces Annual Meeting s. Pamela Adams, former Director of & Environmental Connecticut State Parks, will highlight Conference MCACIWC’s 36th Annual Meeting and Environmental Conference with her keynote address SAVE THE DATE! on “Celebrating 100 Years of State Parks Saturday in Connecticut.” November 16, 2013 Connecticut’s parks, forests, and open space parcels are an important part of the character of our state. NEW LOCATION! These sites range from large, well-established state Courtyard by Marriott parks and forests to recently acquired town and land 4 Sebethe Drive trust parcels. Together, these lands provide countless Cromwell, CT 06416 opportunities for quiet walks and other enjoyable recreation activities for resi- www.courtyard.com/bdlhc dents and visitors alike. Many of these beautiful places also serve an important conservation role by preserving critical habitats for native plants along with WORKSHOPS! resident and migratory birds and other wildlife. Professionally Presented for Conservation The management of these parks, forests, and open space parcels is frequent- & Wetlands ly left in the hands of a single agency or organization. Unfortunately, these Commissioners, organizations are facing increasing challenges in and Agents their efforts to appropri- “Connecticut’s parks, ately balance the growing demands for access forests, and open and the long term goals Watch for the complete of habitat preservation. space parcels are an Many of these agencies, list of new workshops on often faced with de- creasing resources, are important part of the our website: now partnering with other organizations to www.caciwc.org. better manage these character of our state.” challenges. Our member Please direct questions conservation commis- sions are in a unique to us at: position to help form coalitions to serve as effective stewards of both state and [email protected] locally owned lands within their region. NETWORKING! During 2013, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Professional & Protection, State Parks Division, along with the Friends of Connecticut State Parks Non-Profit (FCSP) and the Connecticut Forest and Park Association (CFPA), organized a Displays & Information Connecticut State Parks Centennial Celebration to recognize the century of park land preservation efforts in Connecticut. CACIWC is pro- moting this year-long celebration with various presentations CACIWC News 2 scheduled for the 2013 annual meeting. CEPA is Amended 3 State Parks Centennial 5 Pamela Adams worked for the Connecticut Department CT Roadside Vegetation Management 6 Legistative Overview 2013 8 of Environmental Protection (DEP) starting in 1976 as an Inside Annual Recognition Awards 16 Environmental Analyst. In 1997 she became the Director 36th annual, continued on page 10 www.caciwc.org 1 CACIWC CACIWC News Briefings Board of Directors his September will mark the 100th anniversary of the Officers inaugural meeting of Connecticut’s first State Park Alan Siniscalchi President TCommission. With this meeting, the six member Laura Magaraci Vice President commission began the process of identifying sites to preserve Maureen FitzGerald Secretary as Connecticut’s first parks. To help honor these early efforts, Charles Dimmick Treasurer support our existing parks, and promote a strong future state park system; the State of Connecticut Department of County Representatives Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) State Parks Alicia Mozian Fairfield County Division partnered with the Friends of Connecticut State Parks Ann Beaudin Hartford County (FCSP), and the Connecticut Forest and Park Association Steve Wadelton Litchfield County (CFPA) to organize a Connecticut State Parks Centennial Marianne Corona Middlesex County Celebration. The Centennial Celebration has organized a Anita Goerig New Haven County Mary Ann Chinatti New London County year-long calendar of events starting this summer through Rodney Parlee Tolland County the state park birthday parties planned for the summer of Vacant Windham County 2014. As this issue of The Habitat goes to press, CACIWC is making final plans to join the Centennial Kick-Off at Alternate County Representatives Dinosaur State Park in Rocky Hill on Wednesday, August 1, Dr. Benjamin Oko Fairfield County 2013. CACIWC is also encouraging its member conservation Vacant Hartford County commissions to support the Centennial “SoJourn” (Summer Vacant Litchfield County Outdoor Journey) beginning on Thursday, August 15 with Heidi Wallace Middlesex County visits to various state parks along a 169 mile route (to honor Peter Basserman New Haven County Connecticut’s 169 municipalities) throughout Connecticut. Vacant New London County For more information on these events, please visit the State Tom Ouellette Tolland County Parks Centennial website at: www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view. Vacant Windham County asp?a=2716&q=523470&deepNav_GID=2135. Darcy Winther DEEP Liaison 1. To help promote this year-long celebration of Connecticut State Parks, CACIWC is dedicating our 36th Annual Meeting and Environmental Conference, scheduled for Saturday, November 16, 2013, with the theme of Celebrating Connecti- cut Parks and Open Spaces. The Annual Meeting Committee is The Habitat is the newsletter of the also organizing a series of informative workshops on how best Connecticut Association of Conservation to support existing open space parcels and preserve important and Inland Wetlands Commissions local habitats. Please see the conference information in this is- (CACIWC). Materials from The Habitat sue of The Habitat and watch for additional conference news on may be reprinted with credit given. The our www.caciwc.org website. You may direct any questions on content of The Habitat is solely the our annual meeting to us at: [email protected]. responsibility of CACIWC and is not influenced by sponsors or advertisers. 2. The CACIWC board of directors expresses its thanks to the Editor: Tom ODell commissions that have already paid their 2013-14 member- Associate Editor: Ann Letendre ship dues in response to the recently distributed reminder and renewal form. A copy of this form and additional information Correspondence to the editor, manuscripts, has also been placed on our website: www.caciwc.org. Our inquiries, etc. should be addressed to website also provides a description of additional individual The Habitat, c/o Tom ODell, 9 Cherry and business membership categories you or your company can St., Westbrook, CT 06498. Phone & fax use to provide additional support to CACIWC. We continue 860.399.1807 or e-mail [email protected]. to very much appreciate any additional contributions that you www.caciwc.org can provide to support various CACIWC programs including CACIWC news, continued on page 11 2 The Habitat | Summer 2013 Editor’s Comment: Recommended reading for Conservation Commissions considering intervening in a municipal or state land use decision. Journey to The Legal Horizon by Attorney Janet Brooks The Connecticut Environmental Protection Act Is Amended: Public Act 13-1861 In the “Land of Steady Habits,” Don’t Expect a lot of Changes fter a number of failed attempts in the How much the intervenor has to allege in the verified past few legislative sessions, the General pleading is the subject of the amendment. Assembly passed a law amending the A The intervenor becomes a party to the proceedings. As Connecticut Environmental Protection Act (CEPA). The status quo prevails! Am I being facetious? a party the intervenor may put on evidence to prove the Hardly. The General Assembly codified (put into allegations of unreasonable conduct, to rebut the appli- statute) the holding of the Connecticut Supreme cant’s presentation and may cross-examine the applicant Court’s 2002 decision in the Nizzardo case, which in or their representatives. It is not the applicant’s duty to turn affirmed the Connecticut Supreme Court’s 1984 characterize the conduct, if the intervenor does not offer decision in CFE v. Stamford. any expert evidence on the pollution, impairment or destruction. It is not the agency’s job to investigate the Review of CEPA intervenor’s claims. The agency has the duty of “con- Let’s remind ourselves of sidering” the alleged unreason- the elements of CEPA. It is able conduct. If an intervenor is supplementary to other envi- “If you believe that government successful at proving the harmful ronmental laws. So, a wetlands should be transparent, you will effect of the proposed conduct, agency begins its duties by appreciate how this amendment the agency is not authorized to implementing the state wetlands makes it easier for citizens to know approve the application as “long act. CEPA only applies when what the court standard is upon first as there is a feasible and prudent invoked. For our discussion2, we reading the statute.” alternative.” The intervention pro- are concerned with the authority cess starts with a sworn statement granted under CEPA to allow alleging unreasonable conduct to “anyone,” broadly defined, to intervene in “administra- a natural resource. It ends with the agency determining tive proceedings” where conduct is proposed which is whether there is proof of the unreasonable conduct, and “reasonably likely to have the effect of unreasonably if so, whether there is a feasible and prudent alternative polluting, impairing or destroying