News and Events

Next Eastern CT RC&D Council Meeting is scheduled for Monday February 27, 2012 Location TBA.

*Event* Sucessful Goat Management Clinic: February 4, 2012 from 2:00-4:00pm @ the Putnam Library. Event Flyer (pdf)

*Event* CT Agriculture Commission Conference— Growing Farms in Your Community An AGvocate Conference
Saturday, March 24 from 9 am to 3:30 pm @ EastConn, Hampton, CT
If you would like more information about this conference see the Conference Flyer (pdf), or contact Jennifer Kaufman, AGvocate Program Director at 860-450-6007 or at AGvocate@yahoo.com.

*Event* 2011-2012 Connecticut Farm Energy Grant & Assistance Workshops: From December 2011 - March 2012 1 in each Connecticut County. Workshop Postcard (pdf) FREE to Attend
To register call (860) 345-3977 or email CTFarmEnergy@aol.com

*Event* Connecticut Land Conservation Council 2012 Annual Conference: March 24, 2012 @ Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT for more information go to their website.

Greenway Planning, Development and Stewardship - A Survey for Municipal Land Use Commissions and Land Trusts
Your answers to this simple survey will assist in answering the following questions and help us determine how we can best design our program to support your community greenway planning, construction, and stewardship efforts:
•How and why Connecticut municipalities are planning for greenways;
•What extent planned greenway areas are protected;
•Do those planning for greenways look beyond town and regional boundaries during the planning process;
•Where do those planning for municipal greenways look for information concerning other greenway locations; and
•What resources are needed to help plan, construct, and steward Connecticut's community greenways.
The Eastern CT Resource, Conservation & Development Program (RC&D) is partnering with CACIWC to increase the focus on the development and the stewardship of greenways as a method of connecting rural, suburban, and urban communities with particular attention to natural resource protection, riparian and wildlife corridor connectivity, economic development, preservation of scenic resources and community character, and connection of environmental justice populations to public services.

This first step, the survey, is to investigate potential open space and greenway linkages across municipal and regional boundaries, with a special focus on river corridors and watersheds.
Please use this link,to participate in this survey.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LRC23V7

*Event* Community & Natural Resources Planning Program November /December 2011 Workshops
Burlington Workshops - Brochure (pdf)
CT River Estuary Workshops - Brochure (pdf)
Thank you to everyone who attended one or more of the Community and Natural Resource Planning Program's fall workshops in the CT River Estuary region. Also thank you to cosponsors and partners, including the CT Environmental Review Team and the CT River Esturary Regional Planning Agency for making this possible. FYI, the presentations from the workshops are available at the following link. http://www.greenvalleyinstitute.org/previousseminars.htm CNRP is in the process of preparing another workshop series for this spring in the northwestern and southeastern corners of the state. If you weren't able to attend all of the workshops or see something else you're interested in, please feel free to attend those workshops and pass the word on to others in your community. Look for new program information later this winter.

*Event* Healthy Soils Workshop: Using cover crops to improve soil health. After the success of the first Soil Health Workshop, we decided to host another. Scout Hall, 28 Abbe Road, East Windsor, CT www.scouthall.com November 14,15 and 16 2011. Each day of this multiple day workshop covered a different facet of land use, and topics were directly relevant to the land use type of the day.
Monday, November 14th- Row Crops and Livestock Agenda (pdf)
Tuesday, November 15th – Perennial Crops (Orchard, Vineyard, Xmas Trees) and Greenhouse Growers Agenda (pdf)
Wednesday, November 16th – Small Scale Farming, the Residential Landscape, and Permaculture Agenda (pdf)

2011 Community Forum Beacon Falls - ERT participated in the events of the evening with a Display Board and also in giving a presentation. To see a video of the event created by R-Media follow the link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ffIMJvyE1k&feature=youtu.be
Pictures from the Event below:

Connecticut Farm Energy Fair was held on thursday July 21, 2011 hosted by CT Farm Energy Program in partnership with the Institute for Sustainable Energy to be held at Eastern CT State University. For more information go to www.CTFarmEnergy.org

2011 Eastern CT RC&D Annual Meeting was held on Monday June 13, 2011 from 11am-3pm @ Fort Hill Farms in Thompson, CT.

SNEC SWCS summer meeting which was held at the University of Connecticut. Speakers made presentations and there were tours of the Eagleville Brook Impervious Cover TMDL. Additional information regarding the Eagleville Brook Impervious Cover TMDL can be found at: http://clear.uconn.edu/projects/tmdl/findings.htm Click on “Retrofit Sites & Recommendations” then click on “Eagleville TMDL Project Sites” to view an interactive map of all project area BMPs. Event Flyer (pdf)

Soil Health Workshop: The Healthy Soils workshop was held February 18, 2011 at the Lebanon Fire Complex in Lebanon, CT. The workshop covered how Healthy Soils can reduce both cost and labor, while maintaining high productivity. Guest speakers and specialistsgave presentations and demonstrations on how to incorporate Healthy Soils management on your farmland. For more information go to www.easternrcd-ct.org or call 860-774-8397 x 2. Soil Health Flyer (pdf)

Protecting Dark Skies in The Last Green Valley February 28, 2011 @ 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM Chaplin Fire Station. Co-Sponsored by Green Valley Institute & Eastern CT Resource Conservation & Development Area. Contact Susan Westa at 860-774-9600, ext. 24 or susan.westa@uconn.edu

2011 Annual RC&D Leadership Forum in Washington, DC. This Forum is presented by the National Association of RC&D Councils and is a good opportunity to learn more about tools that RC&D councils can use. For more information on the Leadership Forum, go to the NARC&DC Website at http://www.rcdnet.org

In many communities you can no longer see the stars at night. Communities in The Last Green Valley struggle with how to keep the region's sky dark. There are techniques and lighting alternatives that communities around the country are using to address this concern.
Come here what your town can do to protect TLGV's night sky. Leo Smith, a member of the International Dark-Sky Association Board of Directors, will present a model ordinance and share lessons learned from other communities who are working to protect their nighttime skies. Flyer (pdf)

Forestry and Wildlife Habitat Workshops and Demonstrations on November 20, December 5, and December 11, 2010. This workshop series was sponsored by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) with instruction by UCONN Cooperative Extension, Forestry. Invite Flyer (pdf)

SWCS - SNEC 2010 Winter Meeting will be held Friday December 17, 2010 at the UConn Bishop Center, Storrs, CT. For more information go to www.swcssnec.org

2010 New England RC&D Conference: "Feeding Ourselves, Fueling Ourselves" was held on October 28-30, 2010 Go to www.newenglandrcd.org for photos and information from the event.

2010 CIPWG Invasive Plant Symposium: On Thursday, October 14, 2010, the Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group (CIPWG) held a symposium entitled Challenges and Successes: Working Cooperatively to Manage Invasive Plants at UConn . More information is available at www.hort.uconn.edu/cipwg. For additional information contact Donna Ellis at (860) 486-6448. The CT ERT Program was a co-sponsor and had a display at the event of 350+ attendees.

2010 Eastern CT RC&D Annual Meeting: The 2010 Eastern Connecticut RC&D Annual Meeting was held on Monday June 21st, 2010 from 10:30am-3:00pm at Goodwin College-The River Campus in East Hartford, CT. The agenda included: an RC&D business meeting, 2010 RC&D partnership awards, a presentation on Brownfields and the work that has been done at Goodwin College by Robert Carr of Zuvic Associates, An introduction to Goodwin's Environmental Program and a tour of the new campus by Bruce Morton, lunch, and the afternoon concluded with a cruise along the Connecticut River aboard the Hartford Belle with special guest Dr. Nicholas Bellantoni. You can find more details about at the Eastern CT RC&D Website at: www.easternrcd-ct.org

A Design Workshop with Randall Arendt: Reinventing the Commercial Strip & Creating New Mixed-Use Centers.On May 17th, 2010, a workshop at the Chaplin Firehouse was held. This was an excellent program with great examples from around the country of how other communities are addressing commercial growth issues and creating new villages. This program was co-sponsored by the Green Valley Institute and the CT Environmental Review Team. More information can be found at www.greenerprospects.com

Soil and Water Conservation Society Southern New England Chapter Winter Meeting Energizing the Rural Landscape—Renewable Power and Energy Efficiency Opportunities for Our Farms, Homes, and Communities - February 18, 2010 from 9:00am-3:30pm was held at Periwinkles Restaurant & Banquet Hall. 917 Southbridge St, Auburn MA 01501. Please visit their website for more information. www.swcssnec.org

Connecticut Environmental Review Team Program Recognition Brunch
On December 29th, 2009 the ERT was glad to recognize ERT Team Members who have provided 5 or more years of continuous service to the ERT Program at the Crowne Plaza Cromwell. Below are photos from the event.