Category: Recreation: boating, fishing and trails

If you’re keen to explore the upper passages of the Quinnipiac River by canoe or kayak, be prepared to duck, climb and carry. Downed trees and woody debris form frequent obstacles, requiring clever craft maneuvering or an occasional short portage. The Quinnipiac River Fund estimates that 30 – 40 newly fallen trees impact the river each year. That’s a significant nuisance for boat navigation, so why not remove them?

While they may be inconvenient, the most eco-sensitive solution is not to extract them, the Fund explains, but rather address the root of the problem, which happens to involve the roots. Trees along the Quinnipiac are uprooted more often than those along less-developed waterways due to the high-levels of impervious cover in Quinnipiac’s watershed. Hard surfaces — such as driveways, roads and parking lots — carry stormwater at greater amounts and velocities than natural surfaces, leading to increased bank erosion and more frequent tree falls.

To help mitigate the erosion, the Fund supports efforts aimed at educating landowners and municipalities on the importance of low-impact development, including encouraging towns to require vegetative buffers — strips of land with permanent vegetation designed to intercept rapid stormwater runoff.

In the meantime, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Services and Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection suggest that most wood and downed trees should be allowed to remain in the river, as they help reduce the erosion problem by dissipating energy and stabilizing the banks. Likewise, DEP fisheries say that fallen trees provide important habitat for fish and wildlife.

Although removal of the downed trees is discouraged, minimal clearing and cutting is permissible, and often critical, to provide safe passage for water activities. Organizations like the Quinnipiac River Watershed Association organize clean-up activities and train volunteers to address the fallen trees in a manner sensitive to both environment and recreational access.

So when you encounter a maze of trunks and branches on your next Quinnipiac adventure, remember the river’s many challenges, and let the inconvenience propel you to action for a healthier Quinnipiac. Visit our conservation page to see how simple household actions — from lawn care to composting — can make a difference.

During summer, you are almost guaranteed to see an osprey on a walk through the 35-acre Quinnipiac Meadows preserve. And if you’re really lucky, you might spot a Diamond Back Terrapin, a threatened species of turtle that lives in brackish waters along the east coast. But even if you don’t,   you can learn about them and other creatures living in the preserve from the newly installed signs posted along the two loop trails.

The culmination of a yearlong project between the New Haven Land Trust and the Yale Peabody Museum, the signs provide visitors with an overview of the history, ecology, wildlife, and terrain of the preserve. They were funded in part with a grant from The Quinnipiac River Fund.

Winding its way through eastern red cedars, shadbush, and other native plants and grasses, the trails offer sweeping views of the Quinnipiac River and coastal marshland. Artfully placed benches made out of stone slabs found scattered on the site by previous owners have been constructed by local resident Chris Ozyck.

“What I love most is having this peaceful natural area so close to the city,” says Land Trust Operations Manager Lauren Bisio – Operations Manager.

Location: 1040 Quinnipiac Ave. Preserve entrance is near the Amtrak railroad bridge. Park in front of the gate and walk in through pedestrian entrance on the left side of gate.

The New Haven Land Trust is perhaps best known for managing 44 community gardens throughout New Haven and 6 coastal land preserves. Yet it also has an active events calendar with topics ranging from workshops on gardening to presentations on history and ecology.

University of New Haven Professor of Marine Biology John Kelly’s recent talk at Quinnipiac Meadows described the health of the fish population. Kelly studies the small mummichog fish in order to trace one of the primary threats facing the river’s fish population chemicals that are contained in pesticides and fertilizers, among other everyday products.

According to Kelly, endocrine disruptors destablize the hormones of male fish, leading to gender changes that can upset the population balance. Presently, Kelly has found that the fish in the Quinnipiac River appear unaffected by the chemical.

“Professor Kelly’s presentation gave participants in the walk a much better sense of how research is conducted to determine what potential human impacts may influence the health of the Quinnipiac River. What’s particularly interesting is just how much the health of the Quinnipiac River has improved in recent years – thanks in large part to improved environmental regulation and monitoring and scientific research. The phenomenon of the health of the Quinnipic River improving is supported by Professor Kelly’s research that indicates that endocrine disruptors don’t appear to be in high enough concentration in the Q River to negatively impact several fish species that he studies.”

The New Haven Land Trust holds educational and outdoor events regularly throughout the year. Visit their calendar for more information.

Both the University of New Haven’s research on the Quinnipiac River and the New Haven Land Trust are grant recipients of the Quinnipiac River Fund, a fund at The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.

In addition to hosting other educational events at Quinnipiac Meadows this summer, the New Haven Land Trust is also working on installing new educational signs in the preserve and improving the preserve’s walking trails.

Photo Credit: Ian Christmann