By: Maya Ray, 2024 Long Island Sound Study Intern
This summer, twelve high school students were overseen by Will Perret, Senior Coordinator of Audubon Connecticut and Connecticut’s Coastal Stewardship specialist, as they stewarded two natural areas along the Connecticut coast.
“We like to try and connect them to the different facets of conservation work,” said Perret. “You know, it’s not all just being out in the field, sitting at a table for outreach or doing data collection. There’s the policy work, there’s communications, there’s graphic and media design, there’s education.”
With support from a 2022 Long Island Sound Futures Fund grant of $249,989, Audubon Connecticut is encouraging young adults from schools in underserved areas to explore conservation careers. Through partnerships with local public school districts, students are employed as WildLife Guards, Salt Marsh Stewards, and college-level crew leaders. The program has been running yearly since it was first funded in 2016 by a LISFF grant of $34,997.
“I’m so glad that there is a position like this, so I could explore my different options,” said Natalie Romero, a student Wildlife Guard.
The 2022 grant is funding the program at two sites in Stratford, Connecticut at Long Beach and Great Meadows Marsh.
Long Beach is a popular recreational site spanning roughly 1.5 miles. The area, in addition to being a hot spot for fishing, birding, and other beach activities, is also a valuable nesting location for multiple bird species including piping plovers and least terns. A section of the beach also includes a marsh where 42 dilapidated cottages once stood, posing as environmental hazards until their $1.14 million dollar removal in 2011, which included a $233,000 contribution from the Futures Fund. The land the cottages were built on is directly adjacent to the primary nesting area on the beach, which is separated from marshy areas by a single road.
At Long Beach, Wildlife Guards encouraged locals to be a “good egg,” pledging to make bird-conscious decisions when visiting the beach. Guards could also be found westward scouting out bird populations. By recording species type and the number of sightings, students were able to track how many and which types of birds are using Long Beach as a nesting spot.
Great Meadows Marsh, a part of the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge, was once over 1,400 acres of land. It has since been downsized by more than half, due to excavation, invasive species colonization, and sea level rise. The marsh is an important site for fish, crabs, migratory birds, and endangered species like the salt marsh sparrow and marsh pink flower. A joint effort to restore 34 acres of the marsh was launched in 2019, resulting in reduced mosquito populations, the return of native plants, and greater biodiversity. The restoration of the marsh has been the result of collaborative volunteer efforts in group plantings and trash cleanups. According to Perret, around 175,000 plants have been hand planted by Audubon Connecticut staff, volunteers, and contractors.
At Great Meadows, the WildLife Guards were responsible for planting multiple native plants in barren areas of the marsh. Today, the plants can be seen repopulating the once-empty areas. They also performed routine watering of plants and cleaned up debris within or directly outside of the marsh area, occasionally helping a wayward diamondback terrapin turtle across the road.
“It’s so shocking to see how there was absolutely nothing out here, and now look at it.” Ruthie Lopez, a WildLife Guard. “Even in one ecosystem, there’s so much stuff going on.”
These spirited high schoolers worked diligently to nurture plant and animal biodiversity through fieldwork and informed beachgoers about the importance of protecting sensitive species in high traffic areas, encouraging people to “share the shore”.
“Trying to ultimately change hearts and minds in the long run, that’s the goal.” said Perret.
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