Earth Day Vernal Pool Hike

We had a great Earth Day hike last Saturday, April 20.  Below are some pictures from our meanderings in the vernal pools with Ecologist Anthony Zemba from Connecticut Audubon Society.   If you haven’t read the wildlife study of Trout Brook Valley that we did in partnership with Connecticut Audubon, you can read the full report here.  Sign up for our hikes here. 

Ecologist Anthony Zemba in a vernal pool

Vernal pools are filled by snow melt and spring rains and contain amphibians that form the foundation of the forest food chain. Trout Brook is host to over 100 plant and animal species of conservation concern. Help us protect the preserve’s biodiversity and sensitive plant and animal habitats by staying on marked trails.

New Policies at Trout Brook Valley Conservation Area

Last October, Aspetuck Land Trust contracted with Connecticut Audubon Society to conduct a wildlife study in the 1,009 acre Trout Brook Valley Conservation Area.  Our goals for the year-long study were to identify the wildlife and ecologically fragile areas within the preserve. 

View of Saugatuck Reservoir from Popp Mountain in Trout Brook Valley

The study is now complete and according to CT Audubon, Trout Brook Valley is one of the most important ecological features of Fairfield County. It forms the core of a 6,400-acre expanse that is the “green heart” of the region, according to the Connecticut Audubon Society report which identified a remarkable inventory of species and their habitats in the preserve. 

One of the most interesting features of Trout Brook Valley are its 60+ ephemeral wetlands or vernal pools.  Miley Bull from CT Audubon discusses the importance of vernal pools below, which form the foundation of the forest food chain on the property. 

Connecticut Audubon Society’s conservation biologists spent hundreds of hours over four seasons performing fieldwork at the preserve and analyzing data. They conducted surveys of birds and amphibians, which both are indicators of ecological health, and assessed the habitat quality and ecological functions of the preserve. The report also recommended strategies to help protect the flora and fauna that make the environment so rich and beautiful.

Tree used as Bobcat scratching post!

We now have a plan to manage Trout Brook Valley based upon the scientific findings of the wildlife study, which can be found HERE.  Our next step is to better educate the public about this unique and important natural resource.  Our members should be proud that we undertook this effort which will help us to more effectively manage the property for both conservation and public use purposes.  

We implemented new policies in Trout Brook Valley as a result of the wildlife study.  We are now asking people to leash their dogs throughout the preserve to protect the sensitive habitats we discovered. And we now have a 2 mile off leash loop trail in the Crow Hill section of the preserve on the blue/white trail.  We closed the red/black trail because the trail was too close to vernal pools, and are currently re-routing/improving the green/white trail to connect with the white trail with help from the Fairfield County Chapter of the Northeast Mountain Biking Assoc. This trail will now be open to mountain biking.  

Land Trust member with dog on leash with child in tow!

Discount on Local Christmas Trees

Print out this Blog post and get 10% off a locally grown Christmas tree at the CT Audubon Tree Farm located on Sasco Creek Road in Westport.  Lou has a Forestry degree from Yale and knows his trees! He's also a great cook and makes his own beer and venison jerkey! Sorry ladies, he's married.

Lou on right with happy customers



They sell beautiful wreaths too




For other great "hyper local" holiday gifts CLICK HERE.  Getting someone a Gift membership in Aspetuck Land Trust for the holidays is mentioned as a great green gift idea!

Please support our local organizations this holiday season!

Happy Holidays!

Aspetuck Land Trust


U.S. Congressman Jim Himes Visits Aspetuck Land Trust

United States Congressman Jim Himes visited Trout Brook Valley in Easton as part of his 17 Days/17 Towns tour. 

Himes visited the orchard area of Trout Brook Valley with Land Trust executive director David Brant to learn more about the 1,009 acre preserve which is one of the largest forest blocks in Fairfield County and is an important natural resource in the region.  

We walked among the apple trees in the orchard and picked some blueberries.  David and the Congressman stayed well under the 2 quart limit!

Congressman Himes with Aspetuck Land Trust Executive Director David Brant

CT NEWS 12 showed up to interview the Congressman.

We had a great talk and walk and the Congressman was amazed at the scope and breadth of Trout Brook Valley, a true gem of Fairfield County.  

Walking up to the orchard 

View of the Farm fields and barn from orchard hill

Why Should You Join Aspetuck Land Trust?

The Aspetuck Land Trust is many things to many people. Below are my top 4 reasons to join the Land Trust.

Reason #1
You believe in land conservation and open space.  Last year, we saved  73 acres in Easton and Westport. The Newman Poses preserve in Westport and Randall's Farm preserve in Easton are great additions to our 42 other trailed nature preserves on over 1,700 acres of land in the 4 local towns we serve.

34 Acre Randall's Farm Preserve, Easton. 

Reason #2
You think it's important to preserve local plants and animal species for future generations.  We are working with CT Audubon to conduct a flora and fauna survey in the 1,009 acre Trout Brook Valley preserve, our largest, most popular and wildest preserve.  Trout Brook is home to 17 state listed endangered species and 80 species identified by the state of CT as having the greatest conservation need.  CT Audubon scientists  have found 141 bird species, 15 mammals, 13 different amphibians and 11 reptile species. Insects and other invertebrates are gradually becoming more numerous and to date 10 different dragonfly and damselfly species and 24 different butterflies have been recorded. Also, more than 85 different wildflower species have been identified. To see the very cool Audubon blog posts on the survey findings, click here

Eastern Newt in Trout Brook Valley Vernal Pool

Reason #3
You think it's important that children have a connection with nature. We created a Natural Playground for children at our Leonard Schine Preserve in Westport, launched a hike series for kids called Short Hikes for Short People, and are educating the public about the joys and benefits of getting children outside by screening the inspiring movie, Mother Nature's Child.   We have been very successful in getting more families and children outside! Last year, 7,400 people clicked the Natural Playground link on our website and many of them visited.  Hundreds of children have participated in our short hikes!

Tower at Natural Playground

Yummy Reason #4
You love blueberries.  We maintain 800 blueberry bushes in the southern tip of the orchard in our Trout Brook Valley preserve in Easton/Weston? 2012 is an epic year for blueberries.  Our  local, organic berries are now ripe for pickin' and will be bearing through August.   There is nothing better than hiking in with your children, grandchildren or friends to pick and eat our blueberries. This is a great local adventure that I guarantee you will love!  It's a 30 minute hike to the bushes. 

Land Trust member and volunteer pruner from Weston

If you want to pick blueberries, I recommend you park at the Elm Drive entrance to the Trout Brook Valley Preserve and follow the trails to the orchard which is indicated on the map.  After you enter the orchard through the gate, go right and walk down the hill to the blueberries. There is a 2 quart limit. But this doesn't include what you eat!  And if you want to help us prune the bushes in the spring, email me at dbrant@aspetucklandtrust.org. Every year, over 100 volunteers help us prune the bushes and as a benefit they can drive in on a specified day to pick them. This year it was last Saturday and I include some pics from the day including the pie I baked! We spend alot of time and effort on the bushes and I hope you enjoy the fruits of literally hundreds of hours of labor. 

Land Trust Family

I am inspired by all of the things we do. And I should be. I am the executive director of the Land Trust. But more importantly, I hope you are inspired too, and will join us.  Land Trust members care about the land, the unique character of our local towns, and the preservation of plants and animals.  They care about having local adventures and value spending time outdoors with friends and family.  To become a member of Aspetuck Land Trust, CLICK HERE.  Individual memberships start at $35, about the price of a few quarts of organic blueberries, and you can join by credit card. Easy!  Pie not included! 

My children like to pick and eat! 

My beautiful pie

A work of art

My daughter likes dad's blueberry pie!

Randall's Farm Nature Preserve Grand Opening

Aspetuck Land Trust opened up a new nature preserve in Easton last week! The 34 acre Randall's Farm Nature Preserve donated by Mrs. Henry B. DuPont III of Fairfield includes some of the last great old farm fields in Fairfield County.

From left: Aspetuck Land Trust executive director David Brant, land donor Joan DuPont, former ALT executive director Bruce LePage and ALT Board President Princie Falkenhagen. 

The new preserve is located on Sport Hill Road (Farmers Row) north of Sherwood Farm and Silverman's Farm, and is adjacent to Gilberties Farm which has a retail store in Westport called Gilberties Herb Gardens.  Sport Hill Farm and Snow's Farm are about a half mile north from the preserve on the right.  This new nature preserve of mostly old hay fields is in good company among Easton's other local farms and highlights Easton's agricultural heritage. If you visit make sure to stop in and purchase locally grown apples and vegetables from Easton's local farmers.

The local press was on hand for the opening and here is a sampling of the news coverage from the Fairfield Minuteman, Connecticut Post, Easton Courier, and the Hamlet Hub. News 12 Connecticut stopped by to cover the festivities.

A map of the Randall's Farm Nature Preserve can be found here.  We would like to thank Mrs. DuPont for this generous gift of land that preserves a piece of Easton's rural character and which will remain a permanent fixture of Easton for generations to come.

View of one of the old farm fields on the 34 acre preserve
Photo by SimplyMaura.com

Nature is Everywhere - even in NYC

My family had a great trip to NYC for our annual birthday celebration for our children Josh and Sydney.  The theme of this year's trip was nature.

We started off by visiting the South Street Seaport Museum where we stumbled upon Manhattan before people! The Mannahatta Project tells the story about what Manhattan looked like when Henry Hudson stumbled upon it in 1609.  To learn more about this incredible glimpse into the not so recent past take a look at this clip: http://www.wcs.org/multimedia/videos/the-mannahatta-project.aspx

Manhattan now and as Henry Hudson saw it in 1609

From there, we went to the new Freedom Tower at Ground Zero and saw the Survivor Tree which is a pear tree that was the only tree to survive after the 911 attacks.  It had to be removed and nursed back to

health before it was transplanted back to its original home. This is a moving and inspiring place which is a testament to the resilience of our people and nature.

Survivor Tree

 

After a nearly sleepless night which is always the case when our twins spend the night on a pull out couch in a hotel room, we woke up the next day and took the subway to Madison Square Park to see a famous elm tree that we had been reading about in a great children's book entitled, The Tree.  The book is about New York growing up around this tree which sprouted from a tiny seedpod in the 1700's and still stands. We were there at the perfect time to see seedpods from another elm blowing down with the breeze and I thought back to what it must have been like when that first tiny seedpod drifted down with the wind and took root at this very spot.  More on the book can be found here

The old and famous Elm in its last days

We ended the day by walking on the verdant and popular new High Line Park.  What an amazing testament to the power of nature which took root by human design on this old abandoned elevated freight rail line on the West Side of Manhattan.  The kids loved it and so did I.  

High Line Park

My little peanut, Sydney

So, whether you are in New York City, the Rocky Mountains, Adirondacks, or hiking on one of our nature preserves at Aspetuck Land Trust, nature will find you.  It is resilient and it is fragile. It is inspiring. And it is absolutely essential for our own preservation.

David