New Canaan Land Trust

New Canaan Land Trust Annual Membership Meeting

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The New Canaan Land Trust invites its members and the community to its annual membership meeting on Tuesday, November 15th at 6:30 pm. The Land Trust’s annual meeting offers residents the opportunity to learn more about the 55-year organization and meet like-minded members of the community. Comprised of almost 400 acres, the conservation organization plays an important role in New Canaan in fulfilling its three-part mission of protecting open space, caring for and restoring habitat on its properties, and engaging the community. The meeting will feature guest-speaker Sarah Finnie Robinson, a New Canaan resident and the founding director of The 51 Percent Project, a climate communication initiative based at Boston University Institute for Global Sustainability. Robinson holds faculty appointments at Boston University’s College of Communication and at the Graduate Program in Urban Biogeoscience & Environmental Health.

Carriage Barn Arts Center

An Evening Under the Fireflies

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The New Canaan Land Trust and the Carriage Barn Arts Center invite you to the opening of the 2022 New Canaan Sculpture Trail at the Carriage Barn on Friday, June 17th from 7 to 10 pm. The Sculpture Trail is a collaborative outdoor art exhibition that inspires reflections about our natural surroundings through the interaction art and nature. After the inaugural exhibition in 2020, this year the Land Trust will host its first in-person fundraiser event with the theme of “An Evening Under the Fireflies.” The party features: wine, local craft beer and signature cocktails; a local farm to table menu; a jazz trio; a silent auction with unique items; and the opportunity to mingle with artists and friends.

Allyson Halm

Reports of ‘Aggressive Deer’ Prompt Temporary Closure of Greenlink Trail Near Irwin Park

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Officials from the New Canaan Land Trust say they’re taking steps to widen a walking trail near Irwin Park, after deer who had funneled into a narrow portion of it reportedly “attacked” several people last week. Conceived about one decade ago as part of the town’s expanding “greenlink,” the trail allows Irwin visitors who continue north along a sidewalk on Weed Street to walk through the woods and into the back of the New Canaan Nature Center property. 

Yet screening planting for neighbors of the trail has encroached on the accessway through the area, creating a stretch of very narrow passage where, last Thursday, at least one of two deer appeared to have panicked when confronted by people walking the trail, according to Animal Control Officer Allyson Halm. “It sounds to me like the deer was trapped and panicked,” Halm said. Police received seven reports of confrontations between the panic-stricken deer and walkers trying to pass, including one case where the doe got up on her hind legs and pommelled a woman with her hooves, causing bruises, Halm said. Halm said when she went to the area Thursday to investigate, she saw a doe and a younger deer, perhaps one year old, and added that there may have been a fawn in the area that she didn’t see, though the newborn deer was not on the narrow trail itself.

Around Town

Podcast: New Canaan Sculpture Trail

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This week, on 0684-Radi0, our free podcast (subscribe here in the iTunes Store), we talk to Nancy Bemis, co-chair of the New Canaan Sculpture Trail. Composed of 10 sculptures to be found throughout New Canaan and running under the theme “Open Space for Everyone,” the Sculpture Trail is up now and will remain in place through October. A kickoff celebration and fundraiser for the New Canaan Land Trust called “An Evening Under the Fireflies” will be held 7 to 10 p.m. on Friday, June 17 at the Carriage Barn Arts Center. 

Here are recent episodes of 0684-Radi0:

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Letter: New Canaan Land Trust’s Bid To Purchase Vine Cottage

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We wanted to let the public know that the New Canaan Land Trust submitted a bid on December 2, 2021 to purchase Vine Cottage.  While our bid has been declined, Land Trust’s Board of Directors thought it’d be helpful to outline the reasons why we believe our offer makes tremendous sense for the town of New Canaan and its residents. In developing our proposal, we began with the guiding principle that preservation of Vine Cottage, a historic treasure of New Canaan, is essential to the town and many of its residents. We believe that the Land Trust can play an important and unique role in protecting this local landmark. By way of background, historical preservation is part of the Land Trust’s DNA. While the Land Trust is best known for conserving open space, preservation of historic sites has been part of our mission from the start.