Conservation NewsBriefs

Friday June 26th @ 2pm

Members get exclusive first access to complimentary tickets starting Monday, June 8th at 9:00am. General Admission access begins on Wednesday June 10th at 9:00am.

– Registration is closed –

About the Meeting

We’re planning an engaging discussion about the impact COVID-19 will have on our food supply and local farmers. Our speakers will present on –

Thomas Smiarowski: Impact of COVID-19 on Agricultural Operations
Amanda Freund : COVID Implications for a diversified dairy farm

We hope to wrap up the presentations with breakout room discussions and come back for Q&A with our speakers. This will be followed by a SNEC membership meeting, in which we will announce the FY 2020-21 Board of Directors election results.

Members should look for their electronic ballots to be distributed mid-May. We’ll also send out paper ballots if this method is preferable, just choose a medium and cast your votes!

The meeting will take place over Zoom on Friday, June 26th 2020 at 2pm. We look forward to seeing you then!

Meet our speakers:

Amanda Freund is a 3rd generation farmer in Connecticut. She is joined by 5 family members on the farm, together they manage 3 unique businesses: a dairy farm, a farm market and a manufacturing facility transforming their cows’ manure into biodegradable pots called CowPots. She is very active with her dairy cooperative, Agri-Mark (Cabot Cooperative) and has traveled around the country speaking at conferences about diversification, sustainable farming, women in agriculture and the joys (and challenges) of farming with family.

Thomas Smiarowski grew up on a dairy and vegetable farm located on the Connecticut River in Montague, MA. The primary crops grown on the farm were potatoes, cucumbers, sweet corn and asparagus. Following graduation from UMass, he worked for the USDA-Farm Service Agency (FSA) and it’s predecessor the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS) for 34 years occupying a variety of positions in two different locations in Massachusetts. The USDA-FSA is responsible for the administration of Federal programs that provide direct financial assistance to agricultural producers. He retired from the USDA-FSA in 2012 and for the past seven years has served as a part-time Extension Educator with the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Crop Insurance/Risk Management Education Program, which is funded through a grant by the USDA-Risk Management Agency (RMA), the Federal agency responsible for the Federal Crop Insurance. He has also worked on a similar program at the University of Rhode Island for the past four years. Currently he assists his brother, who owns and operates the family farm, with asparagus, potatoes, pumpkins and winter squash being the crops currently grown on the farm.

THANK YOU FOR THE CONTINUOUS SUPPORT OF OUR SPONSORS WHICH ALLOWS US TO HOLD THIS MEETING FREE OF CHARGE

Why are we going virtual?

While we’ll miss seeing our members in person at our Annual Summer meeting this year, a virtual meeting will allow for broader participation and will ensure the health and safety of our attendees.

With the ability for folks to tune in from their home or office, there is expanded opportunity for people to participate. Another benefit – this meeting will have no cost registration!

Election Details

SNEC SWCS is allowing online voting for the FY20-21 Board of Directors Election per our change of bylaws, enacted in 2019. Online voting will allow for quick and simple participation! We will also send out paper ballots to all members, for those who prefer this method. Members should receive a personalized link to their online ballot via email.* If a member sends in both a paper ballot and votes electronically, the first ballot received will be counted.

Biographies for BOD candidates are included in the ballot packet linked below. All members are eligible to vote for all candidates. Position Descriptions are available here.

You may write in a candidate; self-nominations are welcome. Candidates must be SNEC members in good standing and committed to participating. Please notify Renee Bouldin, Executive Director, at info@swcssnec.org of write-in candidates, so that the ballot posted can be updated and members notified.

Fiscal Year 2020-21 Board of Directors Election Ballot

*Are you a member and didn’t receive a digital ballot? Please take a moment to send your name and correct mailing address to info@swcssnec.org. This will ensure that you continue to receive up to date information. 

Conservation NewsBriefs

See Audubon Connecticut’s Living Shoreline Project!

SWCS SNEC Summer Meeting

Living Shoreline & Restoration Workshop & Field Tour

Friday, August 9, 2019

AUDUBON CT at Stratford Point

Address:  1207 Prospect Drive | Stratford, CT 06615

Stratford Point, Stratford, CT

9:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Free Lunch Included

SWCS SNEC Membership Meeting

2019 Schedule Summer Meeting

SWCS Members & Government Staff $35

Non-SWCS Members $50

The Soil & Water Conservation Society’s (SWCS) Southern New England Chapter (SNEC) is hosting an annual Summer Meeting for SWCS members and the public at the Stratford Point in Stratford, CT on Friday, August 9 in Connecticut.  Presentations will be followed by lunch, a SWCS membership meeting, and a Guided Field Tour to several sites including the Living Shore Line Project!

Current Speakers:

Dr. Jennifer Mattei, Professor of Biology at Sacred Heart University, CT will present “Stratford Point Living Shoreline: Restoring Multiple Coastal Habitats to Maintain Resiliency and Function”.

Ron Rozsa, Coastal Ecologist, will cover the “Habitat Management Plan for Long Beach in Stratford, CT”.

Susmitha Attota, AICP, Stratford Town Planner, and Daniel C. Stapleton, P.E., Senior Vice-President/Senior Principal of GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. (GZA) will co-present “Coastal Resiliency Planning in Stratford”.

Richard Potvin, Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge Manager, will discuss the proposed GMMU Salt Marsh Restoration project.

Guided Field Tours to 2 sites after lunch:

Living Shoreline and Restoration tour of Stratford Point, guided by Genevieve Nuttall, Audubon’s Bird Conservation Program Associate and Will Perret, Stratford Point’s Land Steward.  Click here for information about the restoration work onsite.

Proposed Salt Marsh Restoration at the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge Great Meadows Marsh Unit (GMMU), guided by Rick Potvin, Stewart B. McKinney NWR Manager.

Conservation NewsBriefs

Friday Field Tour

Coastal Erosion

August 10, 2018

Wakefield, Rhode Island

SWCS Members & Government Staff $35

Non-SWCS Members $50

The Soil & Water Conservation Society’s (SWCS) Southern New England Chapter (SNEC) is hosting an annual Summer Meeting for SWCS members and the public at the South Kingstown Land Trust Barn on Friday, August 10 in Rhode Island.  Rhode Island government staff will discuss the BeachSAMP, followed by a Field Tour to coastal erosion sites along the South Kingstown Town Beach, lunch, and a SWCS SNEC membership meeting.

Speakers:

Teresa Crean, Community planner and coastal management extension specialist with the Coastal Resources Center (CRC) and Rhode Island Sea Grant at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography.  Teresa will present  “Shoreline Change Special Area Management Plan and Coastal Resiliency Tools“.  Teresa joined CRC/Sea Grant in 2008 and is currently facilitating municipal-scale projects in Rhode Island that address coastal adaptation to climate change and sea level rise. This work involves evaluating the results of mapping exercises to clearly communicate challenges and opportunities to municipal stakeholders while collaboratively considering policies and projects that may increase resiliency in the face of potential impacts from coastal hazards and storm events. Teresa has also has worked on renewable energy planning, marine spatial planning and coastal community planning, addressing public access and working waterfront issues. All of her work employs a research and planning process that integrates the best available science with open input and involvement from a broad range of stakeholders, decision makers and the public. Teresa also has worked for non-profit regional planning commissions and for planning/design firms in the private sector. She earned a Master of Landscape Architecture (M.L.A.) from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse, a B.S. in Environmental Policy/Natural Resource Management from the University of Michigan and is a certified planner through the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).  Teresa’s e-mail address is tcrean@uri.edu.

Samantha Apgar, is a UConn PhD Student in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and will present “Tidal marsh bird nesting adaptations and consequences as sea levels rise”.  Samantha’s current research focuses on the ways in which birds that nest on the ground in tidal marshes are adapted to nest flooding. She is interested in how these existing traits make each species more or less at risk of extinction due to sea level rise. Her work focuses on the nest structure, egg structure, and chick and adult behavior of four avian tidal marsh specialist species (the Saltmarsh Sparrow, Seaside Sparrow, Willet, and Clapper Rail).  For a copy of Samantha’s SWCS SNEC presentation, please contact her at samantha.apgar@uconn.edu.  Her presentation is too large to download here.

Dr. Bryan Oakley is from Eastern Connecticut State University (ECSU) will speak on “Shoreline Change in the Matunuck area”.  Bryan is currently an Assistant Professor in the Environmental Earth Science Department at Eastern Connecticut State University and a part-time researcher in the Department of Geosciences, at the University of Rhode Island. He has broad experience in marine surveying, habitat mapping, coastal and glacial geology. My interests are wide-ranging, spanning the Quaternary geology of New England.  Dr. Oakley can be reached at oakleyb@easternct.edu and you may CLICK_HERE to see his presentation.

Janet Freedman, a Coastal Geologist at RI Coastal Resources Management Council will lead the “Shoreline change field tour-a look at adaptation approaches and more” at coastal sites along the town beach (approximately 2 miles)! Janet Freedman is a Coastal Geologist at the RI Coastal Resources Management Council. She is responsible for developing and implementing policy related to coastal hazards, shoreline changes, and sea level rise. She coordinates with federal, state, local and non-government partners on issues dealing with erosion control technologies, the beneficial re-use of dredged materials, climate change impacts and habitat restoration. Janet is a member of the Education and Outreach Committee of the RI Flood Mitigation Association, the RI State Hazard Mitigation Committee, the Providence Harbor Commission, the Northeast Regional Ocean Council Coastal Hazards Committee, and the Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal and Ocean Observing Systems Board of Directors. She has a Master’s degree from the University of Rhode Island Department of Geosciences where she studied late Pleistocene climate change and its present day implications.  Janet can be reached at jfreedman@crmc.ri.gov.

Debbie Surabian will give an overview of the “Coastal Zone Soil Survey (CZSS)”.  Debbie is the State Soil Scientist for Connecticut and Rhode Island with the United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service. She has over 20 years of experience with USDA NRCS as MLRA 12-6 Soil Survey Office Leader serving 8 northeast states and Soil Conservationist serving Florida. She is experienced with describing, classifying, mapping, and interpreting terrestrial, anthropogenic, and subaqueous soils, using ground-penetrating radar (GPR), and identifying soil characteristics of natural and disturbed soils.  Debbie’s e-mail address is Debbie.Surabian@ct.usda.gov.

Click here to see the Summer Meeting Flyer & Schedule

Matunuck Trip Map

Conservation NewsBriefs