LISS News
LISS Funding Level Increased
The Long Island Sound Sound Study will receive $7.8 million from EPA for fiscal year 2010, the largest amount ever for program activities. Congress passed a $4.0 million increase to the President’s $3.0 million dollar request for Long Island Sound. An additional $800,000 is expected through the National Estuary Program. The additional funds will be used to expand support for implementation of restoration and protection projects.
International Workshop Highlights New Technologies to Improve WQ
Speakers from as far away as Sweden, Germany, Canada, and Chile provided resource managers with examples of how shellfish and seaweed aquaculture can improve water quality as well as produce sustainable seafood products. The International Workshop on Bioextraction Technologies for Nutrient Remediation, held Dec 3-4 at the University of Connecticut in Stamford, was attended by more than 125 people. The workshop concluded with managers and environmental advocates discussing the challenges and opportunities of bringing some of these emerging technologies to Long Island Sound. The speakers included Odd Lindahl, a Swedish marine ecologist who is using the filtering capacity of mussels to remove an overabundance of nutrients off the Swedish coast. The harvested mussels can be sold for human consumption or for organic feed and fertilizer. Alejandro Buschmann, a leading expert in seaweed aquaculture and coastal management from the University of Los Lagos, Chile, also introduced the opportunities for using seaweed extractive technologies in managing nutrients in the coastal zone. Visit the workshop website at http://www.longislandsoundstudy.net/conf.htm to see speaker bios and an abstract of Lindahl’s project. Workshop proceedings, including Powerpoint presentations, will soon be posted on the site.
Community Groups Receive More than $1 Million in Futures Fund Grants
On Oct. 29, on a beautiful fall day at Harkness Memorial State Park off the Long Island Sound coast in Waterford, CT, federal and state environmental officials announced 33 grants to state and local government and community groups under the Long Island Sound Futures Fund (Sound Futures Fund). The $1,011,878 will be leveraged by $1.92 million contributed by the recipients, providing a total of nearly $2.94 million for on-the-ground conservation in Connecticut and New York. The funded project include removing a dam to improve fish passage, restoring tidal wetlands, developing a social marketing plan to protect the piping plover (an endanger species), and educating underprivileged children about Long Island aboard an authentic 19th century sloop. Descriptions can be viewed at http://www.longislandsoundstudy.net/futuresfund.
Check the LISS Web site for the 2010 request for proposals, which should be announced by late January or February.
Salt Marsh Guide Now Available
“Salt Marsh Plants of Long Island Sound” a beautifully-photographed field guide to assist students, teachers, and outdoor enthusiasts discovering the plant life of one of earth’s most productive ecosystems, the tidal marshes, is now available. The guide’s authors are Richard Scott Warren, PhD, professor emeritus of botany at Connecticut College, New London, Juliana Barrett, PhD, a coastal habitat educator with Connecticut Sea Grant, and Margaret (Peg) Van Patten, communications director for Sea Grant. For information about receiving a copy, visit CT Sea Grant’s publications page.
Around The Sound
Project to Wash Stormwater Unveiled
An ordinary parking area off a boat ramp in the Town of Southold on Long Island’s North Fork is the location of an innovative project to reduce pollution from stormwater flowing into Mattituck Creek, a tributary of the Long Island Sound. A ceremony to announce the opening of this re-imagined boat ramp, wetland restoration, parking lot and educational site took place on Nov. 9 and was well attended. The project was supported by the LISS Futures Fund. See stormwater article to learn more.
Before and after shots of the parking lot leading to the boat ramp. Mattituck Creek is in the background. Photo by Lillian Ball.
Seventh Graders Explore Mt. Sinai Harbors Wetlands
In October, Larissa Graham, Long Island Sound Study’s New York outreach coordinator, explored the local wetlands in Mt. Sinai Harbor with 275 seventh graders from the North Country Road Middle School in Miller Place, NY. “The students were given a great opportunity to participate in authentic, scientific field work,” said Laura Opitz, a seventh-grade science teacher. “They will use the data they collected to design a project and test ways that can help to protect and restore this area.” This study is part of Brookhaven National Laboratory’s Open Space Stewardship Program and is supported by New York Sea Grant and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
Audubon Seeks Great Meadows Participation
Audubon Connecticut, the state organization of the National Audubon Society, is developing a Conservation Plan for the Stratford Great Meadows Important Bird Area (IBA), including Fresh Pond, Long Beach West, and Pleasure Beach. The IBA Conservation Plan will document the area's natural resources, identify threats to these resources, and outline opportunities for management, research, and education. The goal is to develop strategies that will help maintain the fragile natural resources of the area, while also allowing for improved public access. Connecticut Audubon Society and Baystate Environmental Consultants have been charged with developing the Plan.
An important part of the planning process is receiving public input from those who have an interest in the Great Meadows Refuge and adjacent lands such as Long Beach West and Pleasure Beach. Public meetings were held in December, but citizens can also participate through an online survey.
For more information, contact Chris Field, IBA Coordinator at (203) 264-5098 x307 or cfield@audubon.org. A Sound Futures Fund grant is providing partial funding support for the initiative. Similar plans developed by Audubon Connecticut at other IBAs in Connecticut have helped local stakeholders carry out habitat improvements.
Milford Aquaculture Seminar
NOAA Milford Laboratory's 30th Milford Aquaculture Seminar will be held from Feb. 8-10 at the Courtyard Marriott, Shelton, CT. Deadline for abstracts is Jan. 6. For registration forms and instructions for authors, and a list of tentative speakers, visit MAS30. Contact Walter Blogoslawski at wblogosi@clam.mi.nmfs.gov or Lisa Milke at lisa.milke@noaa.gov for more information.
Water Web Links
Climate Ready Estuaries Report
The EPA’s 2009 Climate Ready Estuaries Progress Report released in early December, is available online at http://www.epa.gov/cre. The report highlights initiatives by 11 estuary programs, including LISS, to adapt to changes in the environment resulting from climate change.
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