During the last week of February, my wife Jean and I attended a seminar at Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. The subject of the seminar was the “Future of Connecticut’s Forests.” It was our first exposure to the Forestry School at Yale and we were very impressed with the school, the students and the program.
As regular readers of the HLWA newsletter, you will have noticed the Board of Directors of the HLWA has been increasingly interested in preserving open space and the forested land in the Highland Lake watershed. The purchase of the Long Pond Ridge (Majewski) property on West Wakefield Boulevard, the recent acceptance of the property on the east side of the lake, and the frequent articles on our Legacy Program are some of the incentives we have undertaken to preserve as much land as possible in the watershed. We have also spoken at Town meetings against the current Board of Selectman’s preordained policy to sell Town-owned land in the watershed without a conservation restriction.
The reason for our concern is very basic. There is a direct correlation with the quality of water of Highland Lake and the forested land in the Highland Lake watershed. All Winchester residents should be aware of this connection between trees and water quality.
The seminar at Yale confirmed this dependence of waterbodies on forests and also pointed out Connecticut forests are undergoing a second period of deforestation. Early settlers found nearly all of Connecticut covered by forests. For a thousand years before Europeans arrived in the state, Native Americans burned the forests in spring and fall to eliminate the underbrush to provide a more suitable habitat for the animals on which they depended for food.
However, as the settlers arrived, the forests were cleared for agricultural purposes, and by 1820 only 20% of Connecticut forests remained. Connecticut citizens were not concerned with the importance of forests from an environmental incentive, but as the farmlands wore out and farmers left their farms to find work in the cities, the forested land returned—so by 1953, 63% of the state had returned to forests.
Since 1953, the “second state deforestation” (as described at the seminar) began, and in 1998 only 60% of the state was forested. Currently, Connecticut is losing 5,000 to 6,000 acres of forest annually. The reason for this second deforestation has been blamed on urban sprawl, and it is clear we have not learned over these many years how to protect our natural resources. The challenge we face is how to protect our forests and at the same time address problems emanating from local land development.
On Monday, March 9, a meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) was held at Town Hall for the continued progress of the Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD), and I hope many of you were in attendance. In addition to the P&Z, the Inland Wetlands and Watershed Commission, the Economic Development Commission, the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Redevelopment Agency, the Conservation Commission and the Water and Sewer Commission were invited, as well as the general public.
George Closson, the head of the committee responsible for the update of the POCD, David Golebiewski of TPA, and Sean Hayden of the Northwest Conservation District provided the audience with a thorough review of the progress made to date. New Haven-based TPA Design Group has been contracted by the Town to bring the plan up to date, which has to be accomplished by 2010. The Northwest Conservation District provided the maps that make up an integral portion of the POCD. A Geographic Information System (GIS) provides maps that allow for viewing, interpreting and analyzing data that will be a major source of information—a vast improvement for the land-use commissions and the Town.
It is important the public attend future meetings and our voices are heard. It is very important as much as possible of the remaining open space in Winchester is left as open space, and we need to make this known to those responsible for drafting the POCD. We need both open space and space for sensible development. This plan will provide the direction for future development in Winchester and define the impact on the Highland Lake watershed.
Earlier in this article I referred to the Long Pond Ridge property, the 7.9 acres of property on the west side of the lake that was purchased by donations from local residents and a State grant. The land was transferred to the Winchester Land Trust on June 13, 2007. Someone recently asked me why it was now referred to as the Long Pond Ridge property. Long Pond was the original name for Highland Lake, and when we were looking for a name to replace the original owner’s name, Clare Stevens came up with Long Pond Ridge. We liked the new name and, as they say, the rest is history.
On other subjects, kudos to Pat Masucci and her dance committee of Denise Mancini, Lynn Brennan and Rhonda Marchand and all the volunteers who worked so hard. The Golden Gala Dinner Dance on January 24 was a wonderful affair and a good time was had by all. It was our kickoff of HLWA’s 50th anniversary celebrations.
On Saturday, May 16, we are sponsoring a “Bottoms Up Day” at Highland Lake. Scuba-divers from throughout the region have been invited to clean up the bottom of Highland Lake, and prizes will be awarded for various categories of what the divers find. Our major issue is we need a lot of boats to support the divers. I realize many residents do not have their boats or docks in the water on May 16, but if you could possibly provide a boat on the 16th it will be greatly appreciated. See Fran Delaney’s article on Bottoms Up Day for more details.