A preserve for the birds
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- November
- 21
Upland sandpipers, grasshopper sparrows, eastern meadowlarks, and savannah sparrows — birds that depend on grasslands and that are in decline because of disappearing habitat — will hopefully get a boost from a land deal announced this week over in Connecticut and Massachusetts.
“A former tobacco farm stretching across 450 acres of meadows on both sides of the Connecticut / Massachusetts border will be conserved as a two-state Wildlife Management Area, the governors of both states said (Nov. 18).The Conservation Fund, a national organization dedicated to preserving land and protecting natural resources, facilitated the purchase, working with the two states and former property owner Swedish Match Co., the successor to Culbro Tobacco and General Cigar.
Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick said the $4.4 million purchase mitigates the loss of grasslands elsewhere along the Connecticut River corridor.”
There’s a map at the end of the post to give you a general idea where this is.
To learn about the struggles such grassland birds are facing here in New York, check out Audubon New York.
Learn about meadowlarks and use the link to “Species Accounts” on the page’s left side to look up the other species.
As for tobacco farms in the Connecticut River Valley, go here for more information.
This entry was posted
on Friday, November 21st, 2008 at 3:36 pm by Mike Risinit.
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Journal News staff writer Greg Clary writes Earth Watch, reporting on environmental issues in the lower Hudson region. Clary has been a reporter, editor and columnist at the Journal News since 1988 and has covered police and courts, transportation, municipal government, development and the environment in the Lower Hudson Valley, among other topics. 
Laura Incalcaterra covers the environment, open space and zoning and planning issues for The Journal News. A Boston College graduate, Laura grew up in Rockland, attended East Ramapo schools and has worked for The Journal News since 1993. Laura has written features and covered North Rockland, crime, government and a host of other issues.
Mike Risinit covers Patterson and Kent in Putnam County, as well as environmental topics touching on the Hudson River and the Great Swamp. Risinit has been a reporter at The Journal News since 1998.
