Stewardship

Issue

Long Island Sound’s shoreline is crowded with people. The coastal counties of the Long Island Sound estuary have a population density of 2,170 persons per square mile, the second highest of any coastal system in the country. This level of residential and commercial development comes at a cost to the still-vital natural resources of the Sound and its watershed.

Actions

• Recognizing that continued growth will put further pressure on the Sound’s remaining natural areas, LISS established the Long Island Sound Stewardship Initiative to protect the diverse plants and animals that make their home in or near the estuary. The Stewardship Initiative also seeks to ensure that the Sound’s citizens will continue to have access to the natural seascapes that make the area an enjoyable place to live. In 2006, the Stewardship Initiative work group identified 33 inaugural areas around the Sound with significant recreational and ecological values.

• LISS supports local partnerships of environmental and community groups and landowners, working with state and federal officials, to develop management strategies to fulfill Stewardship goals of conservation and public enjoyment of natural open space. To help pilot this concept, the Futures Fund provided a grant for “Model Conservation Programs for Stewardship,” in 2005 and again in 2007 to Audubon New York and Audubon Connecticut to work with local stakeholder groups to identify priority actions that further conservation at four Audubon-selected Important Bird Areas.
• One of these efforts in Rye has helped to promote a unique proposal in Rye’s Marshlands-Edith G. Read Stewardship area. In addition to the stakeholder groups, the Futures Fund in 2007 and 2008 invested in developing a conservation strategy for the Great Meadows Stewardship Area, and also in implementing several projects in stewardship areas
• Many stewardship areas are threatened by development that can impact native plant and animal communities, habitats, and scenic vistas. Increasing the total land area under conservation can help protect these natural features. As a result, the Stewardship Initiative supports state and local government efforts to acquire, or protect through easements, privately owned natural areas that act as buffers to enhance and protect stewardship areas.
• Through the Long Island Sound Futures Fund and other other grant initiatives, LISS has provided funds to the states of Connecticut and New York to help assist them in acquiring privately-owned natural areas.
• The EPA Office of Water in 2009 cited the Stewardship Initiatiive for Best Practices in acquiring and protecting high-valued natural habitats.