Our Region's Dominant Development Pattern is Sprawl
Viewing southern New England from "space" using Google Earth , the green is unmistakable. As one zooms in closer though, the tan, white and grey strands-the dominant pattern of development-becomes clear: spreading networks of residential and commercial development slide by seemingly unending except for large and small areas of solid green and tan, forests and fields still undeveloped but no less active.
Woodlands Clean the Air, Filter our Water and Help Moderate Impacts of Global Warming
While local farms and their cultivated fields allow us to purchase freshly-grown food and fiber, the woodlands in our communities provide us with clean air and water, trails, wildlife, scenery, timber, firewood and opportunities for revitalization and reflection. We are aware more than ever before that our region's woodlands play a critical role in the sequestration of carbon and in the filtration of drinking water for millions of people. Woodlands may also play a role in replacing coal with bio-fuels in powering the New England electric power grid.
Our Region's Second Most Important Resource: The Stewardship Ethic of Private Woodland Owners
It has been said that private forest landowners are one of our region's most important resources. Each day, landowners around the region practice stewardship through the conservation and proper management of their woodlands. The many protected and well-managed forestlands in southern New England and eastern New York are their legacy.
Conservation Organizations are Focused by Nature
Time, staffing, and funding constraints encourage most land conservation trusts and other environmental organizations to focus on specific geographic areas, programs, and land protection strategies. Opportunities to collaborate across political boundaries occur on a case by case basis and not necessarily by design.
Highstead Seeks to Foster Conservation through Collaboration Across Political Boundaries
Highstead's Regional Conservation program seeks to build on the regions legacy of environmental stewardship by advancing the conservation of regionally important woodland landscapes in southwestern Connecticut and throughout southern New England and eastern New York. Our approach centers on the concept of collaborative conservation and on the fact that governments and on-the-ground environmental organizations and businesses including land trusts, watershed associations, environmental justice and agriculture advocates, foresters and other natural resource professionals as well as the forest products, planning, community development and associated business communities, have much to gain from working together across political boundaries to conserve the forests of their city, town(s), watershed(s), states, and region.
We foster collaborative conservation through the following methods:
