Big plans for Lyme, Old Lyme lands outlined
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service would like to develop public access, educational programs
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service would like to develop public access and educational programs at property it owns in Old Lyme, and significantly expand and manage a nearby site on Whalebone Cove and the Eightmile River watershed.
The two properties — the 56-acre Roger Tory Peterson Unit in Old Lyme, and the 97-acre Whalebone Cove area in Lyme — are both part of the 36,000-acre Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge that extends through the Connecticut River watershed into Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont.
The wildlife service’s plans for the two local properties are included in the draft version of a conservation plan that will be the subject of public hearings in November in each of the four states where refuge lands are located.
The Connecticut hearing will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. on Nov. 12 at the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s Sessions Woods Wildlife Management Area on Route 69 in Burlington.
In addition to the Peterson and Whalebone Cove properties, the Conte refuge includes two other properties in Connecticut — the Salmon River division in Haddam Neck and the Deadman’s Swamp Unit in Cromwell.
Andrew French, refuge project leader, urged local residents interested in the future of the Peterson and Whalebone Cove properties to take advantage of the public comment period, which extends through Nov. 16.
In addition to the public hearing, people can also send written comments electronically or by mail.
“It’s important that people provide comments, and they can comment more than once,” he said Wednesday. “What are people interested in, and where are the gaps in our plan? It’s also important for people to say why.”
The Peterson property, where the artist, ornithologist and famed bird guide author had his office, was acquired by the service in 2012. It is located on Saunders Hollow Road.
French said the service is hoping
a group of local residents will emerge to “adopt” the property and form a Friends group. A friends group would include volunteers who could work on creating trails and educational programs and getting the property open to the public regularly, he said.
“We’d love to work with them to improve the property,” he said.
The wildlife service currently doesn’t have the staff and resources to do so without the help of volunteers, he said.
According to the plan, the wildlife service would foster programs and activities that would provide opportunities for wildlife observation and photography, and interpretive materials about the life and work of Roger Tory Peterson.
It envisions the building that once housed his office being used for educational programs for school groups. The property around the office is mainly hardwood forest.
In the Whalebone Cove area, the service would like to acquire an additional 3,689 acres of surrounding lands that are in the Whalebone Creek and Eightmile River watersheds, according to the plan.
Land already conserved in that area by the state and private conservation groups totals almost 7,000 acres, the plan notes.
Expanding the refuge in that area would provide areas for coastal wetlands to migrate inland with sea level rise, and protect a critical ecosystem for many bird, plant and animal species with “exemplary” water quality, unique geology and “unique natural communities,” the plan states.
Rare and threatened species including the wood thrush, the Louisiana water thrush, the blue-winged warbler, the New England cottontail rabbits and bald eagles are among the species that nest or stopover during migration in the “exceptional habitat” the area provides, the plan states.
The large tidal marshes there are used by greenwinged teal, common merganser, bufflehead, wood ducks and other species.
“Whalebone Cove is one of the most undisturbed and biologically significant freshwater marshes along the Connecticut River,” the plan states. It has “one of the largest stands of wild rice in the state,” providing an important food source for migratory birds.
In the plan, the service proposes to manage and protect the cove and surrounding areas, as well as allow for public access for wildlife observation, photography, environmental education, interpretation, hunting and fishing.
The draft plan can be found at: http://www.fws.gov/refuge/ Silvio_O_Conte/what_we_do/ conservation.html.
It describes four alternatives that have been evaluated for management of the refuge, including the service’s preferred alternative, Alternative C. Alternative C would protect, restore and manage a diversity of habitats, increase the range of compatible public uses and access, and expand the refuge boundary, the wildlife service said in a news release.
Written comments may be submitted by Nov. 16 to: http:// www.regulations.gov. In the “Search” box, commenters should enter the docket number for this project (FWS-R5NWRS-2015-0036). Comments can be submitted by clicking on “Comment Now!” Attachments can be made to the electronic comment form. Comments provided in this manner will be posted and made available for public review.
The public can also comment by mail to: Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWSR5-NWRS-2015-0036; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; MS: BPHC; 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
The service intends to publish the final plan in the spring for a 30-day review, with a final decision expected next summer.