Letter: NCHS Student Supports Town Helping Land Trust with Fowler Property Purchase

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I am Will Santora and a current senior at New Canaan High School.

Over the past three years, I have worked closely with the New Canaan Land Trust as a steward to land preservation. The work that I have done involved my time as an intern as well as a club leader in the high school. The close contact and relationships that I have built within the Land Trust community have helped me grow as an individual and provided me with an education that is normally not provided in high school education.

Because the Land Trust has provided me with education in land stewardship, I have learned that any possibility to preserve even more open space is incredibly important in a town like New Canaan. The town itself needs to provide support for this important cause. Over the past few years, the awareness of the New Canaan Land Trust has rapidly increased. Many people go for walks in the properties and I have seen new appreciation for the wild land that surrounds us.

This new wellbeing and outdoor activity is now being encouraged by providing more access for people to get outdoors. Land Trust properties also provide preserved pockets of green space through the town. The properties are a habitat for many plants and animals.

In times of drought, the land trust properties find themselves valuable in soaking up water for the aquifer. The preserved land is invaluable and has a multitude of resources that it provides the town.

Currently, the Land Trust is looking to purchase the Jim Fowler property in the Silvermine area. This property is crucial to preserve. Not only does it contain rare and precious wetland habitat, but it also abuts another Land Trust property.

If we are able to purchase and preserve this land forever, there would be an even larger circuit of preserved land in the Silvermine area. From there, the Land Trust can work to create walking trails and work to improve the habitats in the area. This work will provide future opportunities for students in New Canaan to get incontact with the land, just as I did three years. I hope that you support the effort and recognize the value of preservation and the educational work that the New Canaan Land Trust provides.

Thank you,

Will Santora

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