Guiding Principle
Greenways provide a prime opportunity to connect people and communities, linking rural, suburban,
and urban portions of eastern Connecticut while providing habitat protection and expanding open
space and recreational opportunities.
Greenways
A ‘Greenway’ is defined within the CT General Statutes under Section 23‐100 as a corridor of open space
that:
a. May protect natural resources, preserve scenic landscapes and historical resources or offer opportunities
for recreation or nonmotorized transportation,
b. May connect existing protected areas and provide access to the outdoors,
c. May be located along a defining natural feature, such as a waterway, along a man‐made corridor,
including an unused right‐of‐way, traditional trail routes or historic barge canals or
d. May be a greenspace along a highway or around a village.

Goal
To increase the focus of RC&D and its partners on the development and the stewardship of greenways
as a method of connecting rural, suburban, and urban communities with particular attention to natural
resource protection, riparian and wildlife corridor connectivity, economic development, preservation of
scenic resources and community character, and connection of environmental justice populations to
public services.

Objective 1: Investigate potential open space and greenway linkages across municipal and regional
boundaries, with a special focus on river corridors and watersheds.
Strategies:
1. Conduct (1) simple survey in partnership with the Connecticut Association of Conservation
and Inland Wetland Commissions to query conservation commissions, inland wetlands
commissions, and land trusts if, when planning for open space and greenways, they look
beyond town boundaries and consider regional greenway linkages when participating in
creation of their municipal plans of conservation and development (POCD) or their own open
space plans.
2. To compliment strategy 1. provide an informational brochure on where to go to learn of
greenway and blueway connections within the State, New England, and New York and why
they are important, and provide that resource through hardcopy mailing to conservation
commissions, inland wetlands commissions, and land trusts, and on the RC&D website.

Objective 2: Find, coordinate, and support interested citizens, groups, organizations, and
government bodies to participate in greenway development through intergovernmental, nonprofit, and
NGO’s collaborations.
Strategies:
1. Provide support for (2) intermunicipal or regional non‐profit conservation collaborative
initiatives or continuing organizations.
2. Provide grant assistance through administrative service and/or fiscal responsibility
for (1) intermunicipal or regional nonprofit organization.

Objective 3: Partner with the City of Hartford, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA),
Capitol Region Council of Governments (CRCOG), State of Connecticut Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP), and neighborhood groups to identify actionable next steps for the multi‐use trail
system along the Park River in Hartford and coordinate the completion of existing grants with the
identification of additional funding resources.
Strategies:
1. Re-establish contacts along South Branch corridor to begin development of Meadow Trail
project.

Objective 4: Support connection of environmental justice populations to public services and partner
in the development of non motorized corridors.
Strategies:
1. Assist (1) municipality and school district in understanding the Safe Routes to School (SRTS)
program concept and seek opportunities to link SRTS planning efforts to off‐ street trails and
greenways systems.

Objective 5: Work with CT DEP, NRCS, Regional Planning Organizations, the Green Valley Institute,
conservation commissions, open space committees, land trusts, Connecticut Land Conservation
Council, Connecticut Greenway Council, and others to lead a focused effort to identify and connect the
many fragmented and local greenways throughout Eastern Connecticut, with focus on including the
East Coast Greenway and Air Line Rail Trail.
Strategies:
1. Participate in (2) meetings and support the efforts of the newly formed CT Forest
Partnership and Collaboration Working Group.

Objective 6: Partner with The Green Valley Institute, the CT DEP and others to develop a model to
assist communities with their greenway and open space mapping and planning initiatives.
Strategies:
1. Support the development of statewide geospatial cadastral standards by participating in (3)
CT State Geospatial Information Systems Council & Cadastral Framework Data
Subcommittee, Data Inventory, and Assessment Working Group meetings.
2. Participate in (1) natural resource or land use conference concerning the mapping and
inventorying of open space and development of a statewide geospatial land records
system.

Objective 7: Continue to coordinate and partner on greenway and blueway trail identification and
statewide mapping and support Rivers Alliance of Connecticut with their statewide blueways initiative.
Strategies:
1. Make (3) global positioning systems (GPS) units and training available to municipal and
conservation non-profits to facilitate, and in exchange for, completion of specific trail
mapping projects to be included in the State of Connecticut, DEP trail geographic information
system (GIS) database.
2. Coordinate and/or support the planning of (1) blueway and greenway connection and access
point.

Objective 8: Work to assist conservation organizations with land and trail stewardship capacity.
Strategies:
1. Develop and make available list of references and organizations that can assist with land and
trail stewardship and make available on website.

 

Greenways Updates: News & Events

Greenway Planning, Development and Stewardship - A Survey for Municipal Land Use Commissions and Land Trusts
Your answers to this simple survey will assist in answering the following questions and help us determine how we can best design our program to support your community greenway planning, construction, and stewardship efforts:

•How and why Connecticut municipalities are planning for greenways;
•What extent planned greenway areas are protected;
•Do those planning for greenways look beyond town and regional boundaries during the planning process;
•Where do those planning for municipal greenways look for information concerning other greenway locations; and
•What resources are needed to help plan, construct, and steward Connecticut's community greenways.

The Eastern CT Resource, Conservation & Development Program (RC&D) is partnering with CACIWC to increase the focus on the development and the stewardship of greenways as a method of connecting rural, suburban, and urban communities with particular attention to natural resource protection, riparian and wildlife corridor connectivity, economic development, preservation of scenic resources and community character, and connection of environmental justice populations to public services.

This first step, the survey, is to investigate potential open space and greenway linkages across municipal and regional boundaries, with a special focus on river corridors and watersheds.
Please use this link,to participate in this survey.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LRC23V7

*News* Seven projects that will benefit southeastern Connecticut's coastal areas are among those chosen to receive some of the $2.4 million in Long Island Sound improvement grants announced November 12, 2010. The Long Island Sound Futures Fund 2010 grant recipients were announced by the Environmental Protection Agency. The Eastern Connecticut Resource Conservation and Development Area, partnering with the Eightmile River Wild and Scenic Coordinating Committee and the three towns of Salem, East Haddam and Lyme received a $37,046 grant to conduct stormwater mapping and planning. This project has a total cost of $75,972. Article from the Day (pdf) Eightmile Press Release (pdf) Article from the Norwich Bulletin (pdf)

From left to right: Margot Burns, Anthony Irving, Patricia Young