Protecting the valuable Connecticut Highlands
There is an ancient geological fault, Cameron’s Line, that runs roughly from Ridgefield to Granby, crossing Litchfield County on a diagonal.
It marks the thrust of one ancient continent on another, 450 million years ago. It now serves as the boundary line of the Connecticut Highlands — essentially, the Litchfield Hills.
That designation has brought federal money to the region. That money, married with state and local funds has helped preserve 3,600 acres of open space on 22 properties on the region.
With the skyrocketing cost of real estate in the region — powered by COVID- 19 and the desire to move away from the city and telecommute — that money is increasingly crucial for land preservation.
“Time is not on our side,” said U. S. Sen. Chris Murphy speaking at a roundtable on the Highland program last week. “It’s a problem of rising real estate costs.”
Murphy spoke at the program’s latest and largest success — the preservation of 627 acres off Beech Hill Road in Goshen. The state of Connecticut and the federal Highlands project each contributed $ 1.2 million towards the $ 2.4 million purchase price. The deal closed in April.
The land will be added to the bordering 900- acre Goshen Wildlife Management Area. It is also near the 700- acre Croft Nature Preserve owned by the Connecticut Audubon Society, creating a block of more than 2,000 acres of preserved land in the town.
Such big blocks will become increasingly important as global warming alters the landscape. As the climate changes, so will biodiversity. Large open space areas will allow wildlife to shift north or south as needed.
The Beech Hill Road land is also valuable because it has a mix of open fields, brush lot and forest — the mosaic that attracts different species of wildlife.
Jenny Dickson, director of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said there have been 83 different species of birds sighted in the land. The New England cottontail rabbits, the native rabbit species the state is trying to foster, is there, as well.
“It’s hot spot,” she said. Tim Abbott, regional conservation and Greenprint director for the Housatonic Valley Association in Cornwall — said the Beech Hill property is a good example of how different factions — federal and state agencies, towns and private landowners — can cooperate.
“It allows us to make more projects finish,’’ he said.
Katie Dykes, state DEEP commissioner said those forces all came together to preserve the Beech Hill Road land.
“In a state this densely populated, this was a lightning strike,” Dykes said at the roundtable meeting.
There is good news, and maybe better news on funding front. Murphy said he is confident that the Highlands Conservation Act — which expires this year — will be renewed.
He also said he hoped the funding — now set at about $ 10 million a year, split between Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut — will double.
“We want to supercharge the Highlands Conservation Act,” he said.
However, Murphy said increasing Highlands funding might not mean adding new states to the mix. The Highlands Conservation act was set up in 2004 specifically to preserve open space in only four Northeastern states.
“It’s not easy for a separate region to get federal approval,” he said.
Now, he said those state and their congressional delegations committed to the Highland program.
“When you get a smaller number of states and representatives, they work a little harder,” he said. “We’ve reached a sweet spot.”
Filling in a huge gap in federal funding would be approval of the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, which has been reintroduced in Congress after stalling last year.
It would provide $ 1.4 billion annually to state for wildlife study and protection. Connecticut would get $ 11.8 million a year in this funding.
Such money is deeply needed to allow state wildlife biologists to study the changes in biodiversity climate change will bring.
Kyla Hastie, deputy regional director of external affairs for the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s office in Hadley, Mass. — which administers the Highlands funding in Connecticut — said the U. S. Department of the Interior has not yet taken a stance on the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act.
But she acknowledged how important it could be.
“It’s a game- changer,” she said.
The DEEP’s Dykes said such money would be invaluable in helping the state to do more than just preserving open space.
“Acquisition of property comes first and then the problems are just beginning,” Dykes said. “We don’t always have the resources for management.”