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Autumn is an enchanting time in Litchfield County. The air is crisp and the hillsides come alive in a kaleidoscope of colors. What better time to lace up your hiking shoes and head for the hills in search of breathtaking views?
Earlier this month, the Kent, Conn.-based Northwest Connecticut Land Conservatory (NCLC) sponsored a trek to its Cobble Mountain Preserve, accessible from Macedonia Brook State Park. Those who participated were treated to magnificent views of the Taconic and Catskill Mountain ranges.
The trail passes along Macedonia Brook and includes a steep ascent over a rocky outcrop to the blue-blazed Macedonia Ridge Trail. Referring to Cobble Mountain, “This is a special preserve because it is adjacent to Macedonia State Park and visitors park at the state park,” noted Elizabeth Schrang, Membership Engagement Manager at NCLC. The conservancy has protected 192 acres of Cobble Mountain and the surrounding area, which includes 86 acres of ridgeline and the northwestern hillside.
VIEWS OF THE BERKSHIRE AND LITCHFIELD HILLS
There are many other worthy sites to hike throughout Litchfield County. Trails run through high land and low, across difficult and easy terrain, and they offer unique insight into the history, geology, flora and fauna of the area.
Lion's Head in Salisbury, Conn. is a rather short hike in total distance, but it offers a stunning vantage point. The overview at Lion’s Head is high above the valley you hiked up from, and you can see for miles into the distance. Take in the view of the Litchfield Hills south to southeast, Twin Lakes to the east, Massachusetts north and northeast, and surrounding mountainsides, farmland, and woodlands.
Rand’s View, also in Salisbury and part of the Appalachian Trail system, also has some spectacular views, as you can see the Berkshire Hills in the distance. The hike is through some woods and about four or five miles in total, so it is very doable even for beginners.
Salisbury’s Mount Riga State Park is an undeveloped public recreation area and offers hiking, such as the Undermountain Trail, which connects to the northernmost section of the Appalachian Trail in Connecticut.
FOREST HIKE REVEALS RARE WETLANDS
The Sharon Land Trust’s 197-acre preserve located on the Kent/Sharon town border is a delightful place for a short autumn hike. The preserve is predominantly forested and also encompasses several post-agricultural fields and extensive wetlands, which includes rare, red spruce wetlands, considered to be one of Connecticut’s critical habitats.
Here a few other great hikes to enjoy this autumn, according to Visit Connecticut:
Roxbury has several natural preserves that are perfect for hiking, but among the most interesting is the Mine Hill Preserve that runs past old iron mines, granite quarries and the ruins of a 19th-century iron-making complex. You’ll pass a sparkling reservoir, two mine tunnels, a series of grated air shafts and granite cliffs as you eventually descend back to the Shepaug River Valley, past an abandoned quarry and finally to a former furnace complex.
The 4,000-acre White Memorial Conservation Center in Litchfield has 35 miles of trails, including interpretive nature trails, a boardwalk trail that circles a wetland habitat and a good portion of the Mattatuck Trail. Before heading out or after your walk, you might want to visit the Conservation Center, which features displays, hands-on exhibits, live animals, an outdoor bird sanctuary and a gift shop.
Macedonia Brook State Park in Kent encompasses 2,300 acres and crosses over mountains and peaks, giving visitors an opportunity to enjoy various levels of hiking and trekking. One of the most popular trails includes the 6.5-mile blue-blazed Macedonia Ridge Trail, which crosses the aforementioned Cobble Mountain. You will pass by numerous springs and streams.
A hike along the Tunxis Trail in Barkhamsted leads to Indian Council Caves, where you make your way into the woods from Route 219. After reaching an old woods road, a small climb reveals a lush evergreen forest enveloped in tranquility.
GREEN CIRCLE TRAIL HUGS THE SHEPAUG RIVER
One of Connecticut’s most spectacular land trust properties, Steep Rock Preserve in Washington, Conn., has many trails within a 974-acre natural setting. Just a few are the four-mile Steep Rock Loop, which showcases many of the preserve’s features, and the three-mile Green Circle Trail which follows snaking curves of the Shepaug River.
Hidden Valley Preserve, also in Washington, offers 700 acres of mixed forest and meadows crisscrossed by nearly 17 miles of trails which offer a variety of terrain for hiking. Wooded hillsides slide into a river valley below, and there are spectacular views from the Lookout and Pinnacle.
These are only a sampling of recommended hikes to enjoy this fall. You can easily find your own special path by merely taking a drive, stopping at a roadside pull-off and venturing into the woods. You never know what wonders await.
The Bantam River passes through a portion of the 4,000-acre White Memorial Conservation Center in Litchfield, Conn. Photo by Leo Kulinski Jr.
The view from the Northwest Connecticut Land Conservancy’s Cobble Mountain Preserve. Photo by Leo Kulinski Jr.
The Brave Old Oak at Cat Swamp at White Memorial Conservation Center. Photo by Leo Kulinski Jr.
The Bantam River passes through a portion of the 4,000-acre White Memorial Conservation Center in Litchfield, Conn. Photo by Leo Kulinski Jr.
Telecom Reg’s Best Kept On the Books
When Connecticut land-use commissions update their regulations, it seems like a no-brainer to jettison old telecommunications regulations adopted decades ago during a short-lived period when municipalities had authority to regulate second generation (2G) transmissions prior to the Connecticut Siting Council (CSC) being ordered by a state court in 2000 to regulate all cell tower infrastructure as “functionally equivalent” services.
It is far better to update those regs instead, especially for macro-towers given new technologies like small cells. Even though only ‘advisory’ to the CSC, the preferences of towns by law must be taken into consideration in CSC decision making. Detailed telecom regs – not just a general wish list -- are evidence that a town has put considerable thought into where they prefer such infrastructure be sited without prohibiting service that many – though not all – citizens want and that first responders rely on for public safety.
Such regs come in handy when egregious tower sites are proposed in sensitive areas, typically on private land. The regs are a town’s first line of defense, especially when cross referenced to plans of conservation and development, P&Z regulations, and wetlands setbacks. They identify how/where the town plans to intersect with the CSC process. They are also a roadmap for service providers regarding preferred sites and sometimes less neighborhood contention. In fact, to have no telecom regs can weaken a town’s rights to protect environmental, scenic, and historic assets, and serve up whole neighborhoods to unnecessary overlapping coverage and corporate overreach. Such regs are unique to every town and should not follow anyone else’s boiler plate, especially industry’s.
Connecticut is the only state that has a centralized siting entity for cell towers. The good news is that applicants must prove need for new tower sites in an evidentiary proceeding and any decisions have the weight of the state behind them. The bad news is that the CSC used to be far less industry-friendly and rote in their reviews, which now resemble a check list. There is an operative assumption at CSC that if an applicant wants a tower, they must need it, otherwise why spend significant money to run the approval gauntlet? This reflects a subtle shift over the years at CSC from sincere willingness to protect the environment toward minimal tweaking of bad applications with minor changes. The bottom line is that towns really cannot rely on the CSC to do all the work for them.
What CSC issues telecom providers is a “certificate of environmental compatibility” after an evidentiary proceeding (not unlike a court case) with intervenors, parties, expert witnesses, and the service provider’s technical pro’s sworn in and subject to cross examination. Service providers get to do the same with any opposition from intervenor/party participants – like towns and citizens -- and their experts. It’s an impressive process whose ultimate goal is the fine balancing between allowing adequate/reliable public services and protecting state ecology with minimal damage to scenic, historic, and recreational values. They unfortunately often fall short of their mandate – like approving cell towers with diesel generators over town aquifers -- evidenced by CSC only rejecting about five cell towers in the past 15-20 years.
The CSC was founded in 1972 and clarified its mission in the 1980’s to prevent the state from being carved up willy-nilly by gas pipelines, high tension corridors, and broadcast towers. With the sudden proliferation of cell towers beginning in late 1990’s, it became the most sued agency in Connecticut by both an arrogant upstart industry if applications were denied and by towns/citizens when bad sites were forced on them. CSC gradually formed a defensive posture that drives their decisions toward industry with deeper pockets and attorneys on retainer.
For citizens, nothing can wreck one’s day like the CSC. It behooves towns to protect what little toolkit they have, and understand the legal parameters of the CSC’s playing field. The CSC is not a “normal” government agency where municipal/citizen redress is based on logic and local support. Their process is largely immune to everything but specific kinds of evidence – like town regs with setbacks/fall zones, radio frequency transmission signal strengths, sensitive areas identified, and detailed wildlife inventory, among others.
There is a current cell tower fight involving two intervening towns -- Washington and Warren; both with good cell tower regs – over a tower site within 1200’ of a Montessori School, near Steep Rock’s nature preserves with comprehensive geology/wildlife databases that include endangered, threatened and special concern flora and fauna, on established federal/state migratory bird flyways, within throwing distance to a historic site capable of being listed on the Underground Railroad, and with an access road on a blind curve entering a state highway that will permanently damage wetlands, vernal pools, and core forests. There are well credentialed environmental experts, including Dr. Michael Klemens, former chair of Salisbury’s P&Z, as well as the former director of migratory bird management at the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and an RF engineer testifying to alternative approaches, plus three attorneys representing intervenors. It is the most professional challenge I have seen at CSC since Falls Village successfully mounted one that protected Robbins Swamps several years ago.
The hearing is ongoing, with uncertain results. To see what it takes today to stop an inappropriate tower siting, see Docket #543 under “Pending Matters” at https://portal.ct.gov/csc before removing local cell tower regs – the lowest hanging fruit that any town can possess in case it’s needed.
B, Blake Levitt is the Communications Director at The Berkshire-Litchfield Environmental Council. She writes about how technology affects biology.