Science &
Conservation
Conte Corner: Celebrating Trees
March 1, 2024As spring arrives, we’re celebrating trees and their important—and complex—role in preserving the Connecticut River Watershed....
Is It Too Soon to Talk About Climate Natural Solutions In Vermont?
March 1, 2024Just as birds need healthy forests and grasslands, protected wetlands, and connected floodplains for habitat, Vermont’s human communities need those same landscape features to survive the onslaught of weather shifts caused by global climate disruption....
Cymbella Cistula
March 1, 2024While many are familiar with the fish and wildlife that define our landscapes, there are other lesser-known critters that play a role in creating and maintaining a healthy ecosystem....
Gardening for Good: The Dark Side of Light
March 1, 2024The first twinkle of a June firefly is one of the greatest delights I experience from my yard...
First Annual Award for Early Career Achievement in Environmentalism
December 1, 2023On Tuesday, August 15, at 6:30 p.m. at the Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library, Estuary magazine and its parent The Watershed Fund bestowed its first Annual Award for Early Career Achievement in Environmentalism on Madeline Lahm....
Gardening for Good: Energy Smart Landscaping
December 1, 2023Winter is a good season to take a closer look at the “bones” of your home landscape, with an eye toward planning something new or editing what you have....
Conte Corner: National Parks
December 1, 2023Do you know how many National Park units there are in New England and the Connecticut River watershed?...
Migrating Under a Microscope
September 1, 2023Since their arrival in the 1600s, New Englanders have constructed fishways to help fish pass over small dams and barriers, but the early designs were rudimentary, often just a constructed gap....
The Land and Water Conservation Fund Matters
September 1, 2023The value of open land accessible to all of us has never been clearer: as the pandemic has shown, available, safe outdoor spaces are critical to our overall health and happiness....
Spice up Your Home Landscape
September 1, 2023Unfortunately, finding the right native shrub can be daunting, and the offerings from the easy-to-find places, such as the local grocery store or big box hardware stores, have a limited menu, most of which are non-native and too many of which are invasive....
Wild and Scenic
June 2, 2023Tucked away in the Northwest corner of Connecticut flows a river that once was deemed “unsuitable and undrinkable.” Remarkably, this same waterway, the Farmington River, today provides a major recreational paradise, one of the top trout fishing rivers in New England, and clean drinking water for nearly one million people in Hartford County....
Gardening for Good: What You Can Do in Your Own Backyard on Behalf of the Planet
June 1, 2023The headlines are discouraging: A 69% average decline of birds, amphibians, mammals, fish, and reptiles since 1970.* I...
Thermal Refuges
June 1, 2023The tall mountains of the Pacific Northwest usually gather a lot of snow that typically lasts through the summer. The snowmelt provides a reliable source of cool water that descends the rivers, supporting salmon and trout populations. In the Connecticut River watershed, the pattern is different....
Conte Corner- Friends of Conte
June 1, 2023Each spring when the light returns and the crocuses bloom is an important time for the Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge: the Congressional Appropriations process....
Making the Grade
June 1, 2023More than 200 colored circles freckle the coastline of Long Island Sound on a digital map. Peter Linderoth, director of water quality for Save the Sound, calls them “Skittles,” but instead of candy flavors, this colorful assortment represents grades....
Below the Surface- Rivers Have Mussels, Too!
March 1, 2023Along the seashore we’re familiar with ribbed mussels and blue mussels (which make a delicious meal), but unlike these saltwater mussels, the freshwater cousins do not taste good nor do they form large rafts or adhere to hard substrate like dock piers and rocks....
Gateway Commission at Fifty
March 1, 2023It takes the vigilance of every generation to protect a valued natural resource, like an estuary....
Conte Corner: New Column Starts with Summer Issue
March 1, 2023Through the Conte Corner the authors hope to bring to life how laws, policies, and funding, in DC and locally, make a difference to the watershed, the Conte Refuge, and you and me: the people who live, work, and play here....
Below the Surface- Behold the Mighty Minnow
December 1, 2022It seemed like just another spring day when we stopped at the Salmon River, a tidewater tributary of the Connecticut River that splits the towns of Haddam and East Haddam, Connecticut....
A Century Ago, Odell Shepard Fell in Love with New England
December 1, 2022This teacher, scholar, poet, and wayfarer was an editor and emulator of Thoreau....