Follow the Trail with Bill Reid,
The Last Green Valley's Chief Ranger
Time to plan a pollinator garden
One of the joys of winter is when the seed and plant catalogues arrive in the mail. Warm memories of spring and summer jump from the glossy pictures of plump vegetables and colorful flowers. The catalogues are a brief respite from the dreary winter shades…
Childhood Memories Renew My Desire to Get Youth Outside
I have a tense relationship with social media. At times I find it useful and at others it is anything but. Earlier this week, however, it offered me an opportunity for nostalgia. Someone created a Facebook page for the town I grew up in and…
Bill Hull: A conservation leader in The Last Green Valley
Saturday is the birthday of renown conservationist Aldo Leopold. He was a scientist, ecologist, forester, author and environmentalist and is best known for his book “A Sand County Almanac.” In his chapter “The Land Ethic,” Leopold wrote “the land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of…
A 2020 Bucket List of Places to Visit in The Last Green Valley
With the New Year approaching it’s goodbye 2019 and hello 2020. What will the New Year bring for you and your family here in The Last Green Valley? As I contemplate the year ahead, I like to think about the places I have not visited…
Smaller rivers within the Natchaug River watershed are a focus for healthy waters
Here at The Last Green Valley, Inc. (TLGV) we value our role documenting and advocating for the region’s rivers. Water from the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers, and the smaller rivers, streams and brooks that feed them, flow southward into the Thames River and Long Island…
Exploring Winter in The Last Green Valley
Our region’s first appreciable snowfall arrived Dec. 1. It was the first “plowable” event for local communities and town and state plows were out in force soon after flakes started to fall. Winter arrived despite the calendar indicating it is still autumn. The winter solstice…
Nature’s Clean-Up Service: Appreciating the Turkey Vulture
“Vultures are homely, but they clean up all the garbage and that’s good. And they’re elegant in the sky.” — Roger Tory Peterson. Roger Tory Peterson is one of our most revered ornithologists and for decades his “Field Guide to the Birds” has been the…
Our forests are a precious resource
The Last Green Valley National Heritage Corridor is made up of 77% forested land. Connecticut and Massachusetts are some of the most forested states in the county, and in our region we are blessed with large blocks of state forests such as the Pachaug, Nipmuck…
Time to pay tribute to that ‘other bird’
Last week I reported on bald eagles returning to our region in ever increasing numbers. It got me thinking about that other bird so revered here in the United States – the wild turkey. The bald eagle and the wild turkey could not be more…
Bald eagles making a home in the corridor
I’ll never forget the first time I saw a bald eagle in The Last Green Valley. It was during the 2008 Walking Weekends (now called Walktober), and I was paddling at Mansfield Hollow Lake with a group of people led by Betty Robinson. It was…
Taste autumn at local orchards
We’re lucky to live in New England where the seasons announce themselves in ways that tantalize all the senses and remind us how special this place is. Last month, the colors of our forested hillsides bedazzled our eyes and as October creeped toward November the…
Daylight savings time is the true winter predictor
Did you remember to set your clocks back Saturday night for this morning and the end of 2019′s daylight savings time? I stick to the old adage fall back and spring forward to remember how to set the clock for the biannual time change. For…