U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Buys 290-Acre Parcel In Haddam
By MONICA POLANCO
The Hartford Courant
HADDAM —
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Friday bought an undeveloped 290-acre parcel from the Nature Conservancy and the town of Haddam for $1,755,000, officials said.
The purchase establishes the Salmon River division of U.S. Fish and Wildlife's Silvio O. Conte refuge, which was established in 1997 to protect plants, fish and wildlife that live throughout the 7.2 million-acre Connecticut River watershed.
The 290-acre property in Haddam Neck, once home to the Johnson family's Elm Camp, is considered one of the most important properties for conservation because it's at the confluence of the tidal Pine Brook and Salmon River, the benchmark for water quality in Connecticut. The land links the ecologically rich Salmon Cove with more than 6,000 acres of protected land to the north, said Shelley Green, the Nature Conservancy's lower Connecticut River program director.
The Nature Conservancy and Haddam each paid $1 million to buy the land in 2005 to keep it from being developed. Members of both parties said they were glad to sell it to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
"Everyone now will be able to rest easy knowing that that property will be available in perpetuity for the use of the public and preserved from any future development," said Haddam First Selectman Tony Bondi. "I couldn't be happier."
Green said she owes a "big thanks" to U.S. Reps. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, and Chris Murphy, D-5th District, and Sens. Chris Dodd and Joe Lieberman, who advocated for Congress to provide the Fish and Wildlife Service with enough money to buy the land.
The federal agency, which is required to pay market value, bought the property for $245,000 less than what the Nature Conservancy and the town of Haddam paid because of declining market values, Green said.
The Nature Conservancy and Haddam officials are splitting the $1.8 million sale evenly, Green said. In Haddam, the money will be placed in a separate, interest-bearing account until the finance board decides how to spend it, Bondi said. Townspeople have recommended that it be used for open space.
Green's organization will now focus on its next most important project: working to preserve a 582-acre privately owned parcel in Haddam Neck. Connecticut Yankee, the landowner, is fielding expressions of interest from various parties, including nonprofits, for-profits and land preservation groups.
By MONICA POLANCO
The Hartford Courant
HADDAM —
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Friday bought an undeveloped 290-acre parcel from the Nature Conservancy and the town of Haddam for $1,755,000, officials said.
The purchase establishes the Salmon River division of U.S. Fish and Wildlife's Silvio O. Conte refuge, which was established in 1997 to protect plants, fish and wildlife that live throughout the 7.2 million-acre Connecticut River watershed.
The 290-acre property in Haddam Neck, once home to the Johnson family's Elm Camp, is considered one of the most important properties for conservation because it's at the confluence of the tidal Pine Brook and Salmon River, the benchmark for water quality in Connecticut. The land links the ecologically rich Salmon Cove with more than 6,000 acres of protected land to the north, said Shelley Green, the Nature Conservancy's lower Connecticut River program director.
The Nature Conservancy and Haddam each paid $1 million to buy the land in 2005 to keep it from being developed. Members of both parties said they were glad to sell it to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
"Everyone now will be able to rest easy knowing that that property will be available in perpetuity for the use of the public and preserved from any future development," said Haddam First Selectman Tony Bondi. "I couldn't be happier."
Green said she owes a "big thanks" to U.S. Reps. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, and Chris Murphy, D-5th District, and Sens. Chris Dodd and Joe Lieberman, who advocated for Congress to provide the Fish and Wildlife Service with enough money to buy the land.
The federal agency, which is required to pay market value, bought the property for $245,000 less than what the Nature Conservancy and the town of Haddam paid because of declining market values, Green said.
The Nature Conservancy and Haddam officials are splitting the $1.8 million sale evenly, Green said. In Haddam, the money will be placed in a separate, interest-bearing account until the finance board decides how to spend it, Bondi said. Townspeople have recommended that it be used for open space.
Green's organization will now focus on its next most important project: working to preserve a 582-acre privately owned parcel in Haddam Neck. Connecticut Yankee, the landowner, is fielding expressions of interest from various parties, including nonprofits, for-profits and land preservation groups.