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NEW HARTFORD — The state Department of Environmental Protection will begin the second phase of a regulated deer hunt within a large portion of the Nepaug Reservoir next week. The program’s shotgun season begins at the site Nov. 18.
Of the reservoir’s 3,400 acres, 1,400 have been enrolled in the DEP Wildlife Division’s deer hunting program, according to information included within a Metropolitan District Commission newsletter that outlines the program. This is the first time hunting has been legally allowed at the reservoir.
The commission — which owns and operates the reservoir — provides drinking water and sewer services to the residents of Bloomfield, East Hartford, Hartford, Newington, Rocky Hill, West Hartford, Wethersfield and Windsor, as well as portions of other towns.
Nepaug lies within large sections of New Hartford and Burlington. The land included in this fall’s hunt surrounds the reservoir to the north and west.
Currently the state is managing a bow hunting season at Nepaug. It began Sept. 24 and runs through Tuesday, Nov. 17. This is the first time hunting has been legally allowed at the reservoir.
The DEP is administering the regulated hunt in conjunction with the Metropolitan District Commission.
The goal of the program is to reduce the size of the area’s deer population to allow for the regrowth of sustainable forest land. Deer over-browsing can threaten the health of the watershed and therefore the quality of the water supply.
“Watershed forests help to protect and purify water supplies by slowing rainfall and runoff, moderating stream flows, stabilizing soils and trapping pollutants and sediment,†the commission wrote in its newsletter.
Andrew Labonte, a state wildlife biologist, said the decision to institute the pilot program at Nepaug this fall came after commission officials became aware
of the large amount of damage the deer browsing was having on the health of the forest.
Labonte said the commission conducted clear cutting in the area about two years ago, “but they saw no regeneration.â€
Commission officials erected a small, fenced area that would protect the vegetation. After a period of time, the trees and shrubs located within the fence were regrowing at a healthy rate, while those outside were not.
“Ninty percent of regeneration had been browsed by deer,†Labonte said. “Everything was barren.â€
The state conducted a lottery to hand out the 122 permits to hunters interested in participating in the program. To receive a permit, however, hunters first had to pass a background check conducted by the commission’s patrol staff.
In addition, all participants were required to attend mandatory pre-hunt meetings that reviewed the program’s goals, safety and security procedures, as well as special requirements for watershed protection, the commission said in its newsletter.
So far, there have been seven deer killed through the hunt.
Labonte said this low number was not unexpected.
“There are so many acorns in the woods the deer don’t need to move too far to feed, making them less vulnerable to hunters,†he said. “I’m sure the firearms season will be quite different, seeing the area has not been hunted prior to this year.â€
The state will conduct a second bow hunting season, which will run from Dec. 23 to 31. This will be the third and final season of the year.
Labonte said the program will most likely become an annual one at the site.
“For deer management to be successful it has to be a continuous effort,†he said. “It has to be done on an annual basis.â€
For more information
about regulated hunts, visit the state Department of Environmental Protection Web site at ct.gov/dep.
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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.