Another work party to remove water chestnut plants from the Mattabesset River’s Floating Meadows is scheduled for Saturday morning, August 5, at 9 a.m.  We have made much progress in removing these invasive aquatic plants through earlier efforts this season, but a couple of patches and some stray or recently emerged plants remain.  Canoes and kayakers will gather and launch at the Phil Salafia Canoe and Kayak Launch at 181 Johnson Street in Middletown.

This perhaps final effort for the summer will be led by Alicea Charamut of the Connecticut River Conservancy, formerly known as the Connecticut River Watershed Association.  Participants are asked to pre-register with Alicea by email at acharamut@ctriver.org or by calling (860) 704-0057.

Gloves and bags will be provided. Participants, as usual, need to provide their own canoes, kayaks, lifejackets, and water.

This year is the bicentennial of Henry David Thoreau’s birth, and to celebrate, Mattabeseck Audubon Society, the Rockfall Foundation, and the Jonah Center are co-sponsoring a program, “An Evening with Henry David Thoreau”, with Thoreau impersonator Richard Smith, a historian and staff member of the Thoreau Society in Concord, MA. The program is scheduled to be held on Thursday, September 28 at 7:00 pm at the deKoven House in Middletown.

The Jonah Center, along with Ecoin, Project Green Lawn, and other environmental organizations successfully pursued adoption of a City of Middletown ordinance  to protect children from toxic lawn chemicals. The Common Council voted 11-1 in favor of the ordinance amendment at its meeting on July 3, 2017.  Many Council members also voiced strong support for whatever funds and staff training will be necessary to implement the “non-toxic” field maintenance practices similar to those used by the Town of Branford. Reducing the use of fertilizers and herbicides helps the environment, since these chemicals pollute local streams, rivers, and Long Island Sound.

While the immediate goal of ordinance passage has been achieved, we need to remain vigilant and supportive of full implementation of the new practices.  We also need to convince the wider community to avoid using lawn chemicals. The Project Green Lawn Brochure is our best local resource on lawn care without chemicals.

If you wish to stay involved in the campaign against pesticides and other harmful lawn chemicals, please sign the petition below. This will enable us to add your email address to  our “lawn chemical action network” so you will receive any action alerts or important news on this topic.

I support the Amendment Regarding Natural Turf Care to Protect Human Health and the Environment, and its specific goal: Protecting children from exposure to toxic pesticides by avoiding use of such chemicals not only on K-8 school grounds (as state law now requires) but on all city-owned recreational fields, regardless of the age of the persons using the fields.

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