During Pathfinders’ drive to purchase and “Save Deer Lake” a few years ago, the intention was to Save Deer Lake from being sold to a developer who had plans to turn the property into a housing development. The Deer Lake property is more than just “special”. Ecologically, it connects to hundreds of acres of State forest; it is a green belt corridor unique in the northeast.
Early on in our quest, we had a call from a staff member at the Connecticut Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, asking if he could come meet with our former directors, Mark and Patty Clifton. This Nature Conservancy representative arrived on a frigid winter morning & opened up his laptop on their kitchen counter. He showed them a map of Connecticut, focusing on the area along Long Island Sound from the New York border to the Rhode Island border, and going north approximately six miles. He explained that anything in dark green was resilient to climate change. Mark and Patty leaned over to study the map. Everything along our Connecticut coastline was a brownish color, except for the exact area of the Deer Lake property, which was dark green. He expanded the map west to New York City and east to Boston, and Deer Lake was still the only dark green area along the coastline. They instantly felt the hair on their arms go up with goosebumps. This was the moment our conviction to Save Deer Lake was solidified.
Now that Deer Lake has been “saved,” we want to ensure it stays that way FOREVER. A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and a government agency or qualified conservation organization that restricts the type and amount of development that may take place on a property in the future. Pathfinders’ goal is to implement a conservation easement that protects Deer Lake for accessible outdoor education and recreation. We are meeting with and learning from experts from The Nature Conservancy, Save the Sound, Audubon, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, and specialists in the fields of forestry, ecology, history, and more. We are walking every inch of the property to be sure we “get it right”. Our committee must visualize what this world and Deer Lake will be twenty-five years from now, fifty years from now, one hundred years from now, etc., as we work through the wording of this precious Conservation Easement document. We are committed to being good stewards of our cherished Deer Lake land. Our promise is to keep Deer Lake pristine forever. Our goal is to establish the easement by the end of 2027.
As we draft the conservation easement, we welcome and encourage input from our Deer Lake community. We invite you to participate in an in-person community forum at Deer Lake on November 10th. We’re also preparing a survey to send out in the coming weeks.