Groton Open Space Association

The Day’s Account of Rell Awards

Groton – The Day published Dec. 3, 2010, the following account of Gov. Jodi Rell’s visit to Noank Dec. 2. The account was written by Judy Benson.

State budget woes and recessionary belt-tightening took a bit of a vacation Thursday, when Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced $4.5 million in grants for projects to restore habitats for migrating fish, remove invasive plants and improve ecosystems around the state.

Four of the 17 projects are in southeastern Connecticut: removal of the Ed Bills Pond dam in Lyme; demolition of old, unsafe buildings and other work on the Sheep Farm property in Groton; removal of phragmites (a common reed) on the lower Connecticut River sites in Essex, Old Lyme, Lyme, Old Saybrook and East Haddam; and construction of a fishway at the Hallville Dam on Poquetanuck Brook in Preston. The grants to the four projects total nearly $700,000.
Statewide, five of the 17 projects will remove dams that impede the passage of diadromous fish (those that migrate between fresh and salt water); four will build fishways; and eight will restore habitats and preserve open space.

Recipients include municipalities, land trusts, nonprofit environmental groups and regional organizations.

“These dollars will be used by cities, towns and environmental organizations to implement projects that will restore and protect unique and critical lands, ranging from forest habitats to tidal wetlands,” Rell said in a news release.

Amey Marrella, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection, said the funds used for the grants came from two sources. One was the Long Island Sound License Plate program, in which people pay a premium fee for special decorative license plates, with the understanding that the funds will be used to improve the Sound. The other source was fines paid by companies cited for violating state environmental laws.

“We had accumulated a bit of money,” Marrella said. “We’re not going to be able to do anything of this magnitude again for a while.”

At the same announcement ceremony, which took place at the Noank Historical Society building, Rell also announced that $5 million in funds for farmland preservation is expected to be approved by the state Bond Commission next week. An additional $300,000 in grants to help farmers make improvements to their operations is also expected to be approved.

Rell said that by the end of 2010, the state expects to have preserved an additional 2,000 acres on 20 farms. Since the program began in 1979, 270 farms and a total of 36,000 acres have been preserved.

After the ceremony, two members of the group negotiating to buy the Sheep Farm property conducted tours. Within its 63 acres are meadows, forests, ledges, wetlands, scenic vistas, stone walls, Fort Hill Brook, two waterfalls, sites of local historic and archeological significance and other features.

The Groton Open Space Association has raised most of the funds it needs to purchase the property, which was a working sheep farm until about a decade ago, said Sidney Van Zandt, GOSA vice president. GOSA is negotiating with the owners and hopes to close on the deal by the end of the month, she said.

Once the unsafe buildings are removed and trails marked, the property will be open for use by the public, including students from nearby schools, said Susan Sutherland, GOSA treasurer. Sutherland and Whitney Adams, a GOSA director and retired botanist, led the tours Thursday afternoon.

Two of the other local projects receiving grant funds will be led by The Nature Conservancy: the phragmites removal on 14 sites on the lower Connecticut River, and the removal of the dam at Ed Bills Pond in Lyme to accommodate passage of migrating alewife and Atlantic salmon.

“When we get the Ed Bills Pond dam out, the east branch of the Eightmile River will be free flowing,” said Steve Gephard, senior fisheries biologist for the DEP.

The fourth local project, the construction of a fishway at the Hallville Dam on Poquetanuck Brook, will be done by the Eastern Connecticut Conservation District. The fishway will include a fish counter and a video camera with live Internet feed to monitor the passage, which will enable migratory fish to reach Hallville Pond for spawning.