Highlights from First Fall Hike -- Hawk Walk

Our first fall hike was a great success! Local hawkbander catches two wild hawks for the group. Trout Brook Valley orchard fields are an important hawk habitat area for hawks flying down the east coast flyway zone. They can see it from the air in the Sound and detour to Trout Brook to replenish before flying past New York City.

SPRING/SUMMER HIKES

SIGN UP NOW FOR JUNE HIKES IN TBV! 

We have scheduled five hikes to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the creation of the Trout Brook Valley 

preserve (TBV). These diverse hikes are open to everyone and offer a great way to explore the over 

1,600 acres of open space in our community. 

June 6th:  National Trails Day 

This hike, celebrating National Trails Day, is a long and moderately difficult one that explores both TBV 

and Jump Hill along multiple trails.  Meet at 8:30am for the 9am to 1pm hike.  RSVP to Lisa Brodlie at 

lbrodlie@aol.com or 203-227-1522.  (35 spots maximum) 

June 13th: Equestrian Ride 

Come explore TBV on horse-back!  Trails will be marked and will include access to the Orchard for an 

outstanding view of the Long Island Sound.  Meet at 8am and wander the trails at your own pace.  RSVP 

to Aili diBonaventura at ailidib@hotmail.com or 203-247-7369 

June 14th:  Orienteering 

Long-time orienteers, Rick & Susan DeWitt will lead an orienteering adventure in TBV.  Orienteering 

maps with marked locations will be distributed-don’t forget your compass!  Meet at 8:45am for the 9am to 

12pm adventure.  RSVP to Tara Kasaks at tkasaks@aspetucklandtrust.org.  (30 spots maximum) 

June 20th:  TBV History Tour 

Join Bruce LePage, former Executive Director of ALT, for a fascinating history review of TBV while 

enjoying a moderately difficult hike.  Meet at 9:15am for the 9:30am to 12pm hike.  RSVP to Bruce at 

belepage@sbcglobal.net or 339-1574 (35 spots maximum) 

June 27th:  Birding Hike 

Expert Milan Bull from the Connecticut Audubon Society will be on hand to discuss the amazing bird 

diversity in TBV.  Meet at 8am for a two-hour walk through TBV and bring your binoculars and cameras! 

RSVP to David Brant at dbrant@aspetucklandtrust.org or 331-1906  (35 spots maximum) 

All hikes meet at the Bradley Road parking lot in Weston.  Please call 331-1906 one hour before your 

hike for cancellations in case of inclement weather.  Please wear appropriate clothing including hiking 

boots and/or sturdy sneakers and bring water.  For more information, visit www.aspetucklandtrust.org or 

call David Brant at 331-1906.

ALT on Cablevision 5-30-09

David Brant discusses Phyliis the Sheep who was lost in the Aspetuck Land Trust's Trout Brook Valley Preserve for two weeks. He also describes upcoming walks to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the acquisition of one of the largest open space parcels in Fairfield County.

Phyllis the sheep. Found!

Phyllis, a three year old Icelandic sheep, who escaped from her owner on Sunday, April 25, has returned home to owner John Bauby and her fellow sheep.  

Phyllis has been hiding out and foraging in the Aspetuck Land Trust’s 750 acre Trout Brook Valley nature preserve in Easton and Weston.  After numerous sightings and attempts to catch the sheep, she wandered home today to the great surprise and relief of her owner, John Bauby.

According to David Brant, the Aspetuck Land Trust’s Executive Director, “Trout Brook Valley is one of the most expansive tracts of land in Fairfield County.  It is no wonder that Phyllis decided to call it home for a few weeks.  It is a wilderness in our own back yard. I think she enjoyed herself”   

Icelandic sheep are a rare breed – there are only 3,000 of them in the US.  They have a “wilder” sensibility than domesticated sheep, are very good foragers and adept at navigating the terrain in places like Trout Brook Valley. 

Said  owner Bauby, “I think Phyllis was tired of being pursued by the general public. She wanted to come home and get sheared. Her haircut is long overdue and she was getting hot. I thank the community for their outpouring of help. The response has been incredible.”

Please help find Phyllis the Sheep!

Phyllis, an Icelandic sheep, escaped from her owner on Sunday the 25th of April and has been spotted in our Trout Brook Valley preserve.

She's very scared and hot because she hasn't been sheared yet. Sheep are gregarious but she really needs our help to get her back home.

There are only about 3000 Icelandics in the US. Phyllis and all her friends are kept for wool production locally at the Bauby farm in Easton.

Icelandic sheep and all sheep in general are docile and very skittish. Most will run at the sight of humans and other animals as they view them as predators. The sheep are fast and will run if they feel threatened.

Here’s how you can help:

1) Download and print a map of TBV and bring it with you.

http://www.aspetucklandtrust.org/maps/ALT-001-map_troutbrook.pdf

2) If you spot Phyllis, mark the location on the map. Note her general health condition and any other details.

3) Call her owner, John Bauby, at 203-913-7929

He is very appreciative of any information leading to the safe recovery of a very missed sheep.

Happy Earth Day!

Click to view Earth Day video from the EPA

In Historic Step, EPA Determines Global Warming Major Threat to Human Health, Environment
A Wake-Up Call for Action

(Washington – April 17, 2009). In an historic step, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson today formally determined that global warming pollution "endangers" the nation's human health and well-being.

"The U.S. is taking its first steps as a nation to confront climate change," said Vickie Patton, deputy general counsel at Environmental Defense Fund. "Global warming threatens our health, our economy, and our children's prosperity. EPA's action is a wake up-call for national policy solutions that secure our economic and environmental future."

Today's landmark action is required by the U.S. Supreme Court, which rejected the Bush EPA's "laundry list" of reasons not to address global warming pollution under the federal Clean Air Act in a landmark April 2, 2007, judicial decision.

Today's decision – a determination that global warming pollution is a danger to America's health and well-being – reflects the first step under the federal Clean Air Act to begin establishing national emission standards for large global warming emitters but does not contain such emission limits. It is anticipated that EPA will finalize the "endangerment" determination while it begins developing national emission standards for new motor vehicles and new coal-fired power plants, the nation's two largest sources of global warming pollution.

EPA's action comes as Congress takes its own historic steps toward enacting a cap on global warming pollution. The House Energy and Commerce Committee next week will begin hearings on comprehensive energy and climate legislation and move quickly to a vote on the bill, called the American Clean Energy and Security Act. Chairman Henry Waxman has committed to moving the bill out of committee by Memorial Day. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she intends to bring the bill to the House floor this year.

Background

EPA Responds to an Order from the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2003, the Bush EPA denied a 1999 request to establish greenhouse gas emission standards for motor vehicles under the Clean Air Act. EPA claimed it had no power to address global warming pollution, expressly reversing prior EPA legal opinions. On April 2, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court in Massachusetts v. EPA pointedly admonished EPA for its refusal to act by proffering a "laundry list of reasons not to regulate" greenhouse gas emissions. The high Court commanded EPA to make a decision on the basis of science: "That EPA would prefer not to regulate greenhouse gases because of some residual uncertainty…is irrelevant. The statutory question is whether sufficient information exists to make an endangerment finding."

The Science Shows Abrupt Climate Impacts and Threat to Poor, Elderly, Human Health. EPA's extensive review of the science, conducted as part of today's "endangerment" determination, documented: (1) abrupt climate change impacts including the accelerated flow and thinning at the edges of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets and associated effects on sea level rise; (2) the climate-related human health perils for the poor, the elderly, the disabled, and the uninsured, and (3) the expected climate-induced rise in smog pollution and heat-related deaths in major regions of the country.

Pollution Has Soared While EPA Denied Responsibility. EPA's action is long overdue. Since citizens petitioned EPA to address global warming pollution in 1999, the nation has discharged nearly 70 billion tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and heat-trapping carbon dioxide concentrations have soared to 385 parts per million (2008).

Policy Solutions, Not Scare-Tactics. EPA's announcement is a wake up call for national policy action that will reduce global warming pollution and grow America's clean energy economy. But the usual suspects that lobby to delay progress and avoid accountability continue to use scare tactics to claim that action by EPA will result in a "cow tax" and make other absurd claims. EPA is not even requiring reporting of greenhouse gas emissions for sources emitting less than 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually. To put the 25,000 reporting threshold into perspective, it is the amount of pollution emitted from the annual energy use of about 2,200 homes, approximately 58,000 barrels of oil consumed, or 130 railcars of coal.