Entries by b.macdonald

New guide on Recommended Practices for Landscape Conservation Design highlights Connect the Connecticut

October 1, 2018 in /by

Wondering how to develop, facilitate, or participate in a landscape conservation design (LCD) project? The new Recommended Practices for Landscape Conservation Design guide provides a road map for practitioners who are just venturing into this collaborative process based on lessons learned from landscape-scale projects across the country, including Connect the Connecticut. The guide contains five sections covering […]

Federal grant of nearly $5M benefits Connecticut River watershed

April 19, 2018 in /by

A new $4.98 million federal grant from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program will support projects in four states to improve water quality, wildlife habitat, and climate resilience in partnership with private landowners. The projects were selected with guidance from Connect the Connecticut and other regional conservation tools to maximize their collective conservation […]

Kestrel Land Trust acquires 161 acres of “core area” in Pelham, Mass.

March 7, 2017 in /by

The Kestrel Land Trust and the Town of Pelham Conservation Commission have acquired a 161-acre parcel of land in Pelham, Mass., that will serve as a valuable natural asset for both people and wildlife. The Buffam Brook Community Forest, which lies within a high priority terrestrial “core area” in the Connect the Connecticut landscape conservation […]

Town of Palmer

January 29, 2017 in /by

“These tools give us more resources to effectively achieve action items within our open space and conservation plans, and to justify these actions within a regional framework for keeping our shared resources resilient.”

Angela Panaccione, Town of Palmer Conservation Agent

Connect the Connecticut provides guidances for sound investments to protect Long Island Sound

November 1, 2016 in /by

Information from the landscape conservation design for the Connecticut River watershed is being used to identify candidate projects for a grant program focused on reducing runoff into Long Island Sound by protecting private forestlands threatened by development. Habitat maps for a six bird species, including wood thrush, that were developed as part of the Connect […]

FWS Director presents award to Connect the Connecticut leadership team

June 30, 2016 in /by

At the annual Northeast region employee appreciation ceremony, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe presented the John S. Gottschalk Partnership Award to the group of Fish and Wildlife Service staff who were instrumental in leading the Connect the Connecticut landscape conservation design project. The award is presented to a group of employees who […]

Charting a course for the Connecticut River

June 30, 2016 in /by

Whether planning a canoe trip or a conservation project along the Connecticut River, it helps to look at the big picture. North Atlantic LCC Communications Coordinator Bridget Macdonald reflects on the importance of efforts that bring partners together to share responsibility for taking care of the things they value collectively, like Connect the Connecticut, in […]

Mass Live calls Connect the Connecticut a “major conservation vision”

June 6, 2016 in /by

Connect the Connecticut is gaining attention for bringing large datasets and diverse partners together to achieve a shared vision. In a June 2016 news story, the No. 1 news source for Western Massachusetts called Connect the Connecticut a “major conservation vision” that will help partners across the four-state Connecticut River watershed “prioritize and coordinate land acquisition efforts” in the face of […]

Editorial calls Connect the Connecticut a “breakthrough”

April 28, 2016 in /by

In an April editorial, the Hampshire Gazette praised the Connect the Connecticut project for bringing different groups involved in protecting the Connecticut River watershed onto the same page by pinpointing the places most in need of conservation. Read the editorial, Data can aid conservation efforts, on the Daily Hampshire Gazette website.