In Touch with Branford: Branford Land Trust
Click here to watch the BCTV interview with BLT volunteers Peter Borgemeister and Joan Berdick.

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February 22
Winter/Spring Lecture Series: Tom Anderson, author of “This Fine Piece of Water: An Environmental History of Long Island Sound”
Long Island Sound is not only the most heavily used estuary in North America, it is also one of the most beautiful waterways, with picturesque seascapes and landfalls. But centuries of pollution and other abuse have gradually been killing off its marine life and have pushed the Sound to the brink of disaster. Tom Anderson will discuss the history of the Sound and its use as a resource from the time of contact between the Native Americans and Dutch traders through the suburban sprawl of recent decades—and how a group of scientists and citizens has been working to save the Sound from ruin. All lectures are held at the Blackstone Memorial Library at 7:00 PM and are free to the public.

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February 25
Nature Explorer Program: Animal Tracking Classes

The Branford Land Trust's NATURE EXPLORER program is pleased to offer Two ANIMAL TRACKING CLASSES on Saturday, January 28 and Saturday February 25, 2012 at 9:30 am. This class will be for about 90minutes and take place outdoors in the wilds of the Lake Saltonstall forest in western Branford. Open to all ages and free of charge!

Purpose: To teach beginners how to recognize animal and bird footprints and other signs of their passage through the woods. We will focus on opening our eyes, ears, noses and other senses to absorb what was, is and will be going on around us.

Teachers: Tom Cleveland and Jim Fox will lead the class. Both have taken formal tracking classes with experts in this arcane field. Jim Fox is a graduate of Suzanne Morse's Keeping Track School in Vermont and Tom Cleveland has taken tracking with John Stokes's Tracking Project in New Mexico. Both men have lived in CT forever and would delight in your presence!

Be Prepared: Wear hiking boots and warm clothes. The terrain is relatively flat and will not challenge those with moderate limits to their mobility. We will be bending over and looking at the ground more than rushing along for great distances. Expected course will be less than one (1.0) mile.

Where: Regional Water Authority Parking lot on north side of Hosley Avenue at its eastern end about 1/3rd of a mile before Hosley joins Brushy Plain Road. Directions from Exit 54 of I-95. Go north up Brushy Plain Road for 1.3 miles. Take a left onto Hosely Avenue (right before you get to the large water tower at the top of the hill). Go 0.3 miles and take a right into parking lot.

Contact: Feel free to call Tom Cleveland at 203-981-9040, email tgcleve@yahoo.com or Larry Wheeler at 203-499-7659, email larrrywheeler2@att.net.

Resources: Tracking and the Art of Seeing by Paul Rezendes, 1999 Harper Collins. Mammal Tracks and Sign of the Northeast by Diane K. Gibbons (Paperback.

Hope for snow but it will be fun even without it.

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March 28
Winter/Spring Lecture Series: TBA

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April 25
Winter/Spring Lecture Series: Mark Bennett, Long Island Sound Invasives
Mark Bennett will speak about aquatic nuisance species, otherwise known as invasive species. We will learn definitions and the means of introduction of the invasive species in local waters. We will see maps of current infestations, learn more about the ecological impact and some control measures. Mark is chief engineer for an electronics manufacturer of position sensors. He is a member of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, and will be the Division 24 vice-commander on January 1, 2012. As a member of the Auxiliary, he has worked as the marine safety officer involved with the Sea Partners program, a marine environmental education, protection and outreach effort.

For additional local events, see:
Guilford Land Trust
Meshomasic Hiking Club
Menunkatuck Audubon Society
New Haven Bird Club
 

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