Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont: Silvio O. Conte National Fish & Wildlife Refuge, Special Focus Areas

Site Location & Description:

In 1991, the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge (NFWR) Act directed USFWS to study the entire Connecticut River watershed, from Vermont and New Hampshire, through Massachusetts to Connecticut, and create a national fish and wildlife refuge. The Conte NFWR is no ordinary refuge. The Connecticut River watershed, 7.2 million acres in four states, is larger and more populous than areas usually considered for a refuge. The purposes of the Conte Refuge are also much broader, it is one of the few fish and wildlife refuges, and protecting natural diversity is a new scientific and social challenge. There are several announced, identified and potential IBAs within the boundaries of the Refuge:

Ecological Values:

The Connecticut River is the longest river in New England, flowing 400 miles from its source to Long Island Sound. The watershed encompasses 7.2 million acres in four states with nearly 400 towns and over 2,000,000 residents within it. The lower 60 miles of the river are free flowing.

Forty-eight “Special Focus Areas” encompassing roughly 180,000 acres have been identified within the watershed. These areas contribute substantially or in unique ways to supporting natural diversity in the watershed. There are two recognized IBAs and 7 identified IBAs within the Refuge Special Focus areas in Connecticut and 14 in Massachusetts, 4 in VT and 1 in NH.

Special Focus Areas provide the following biological values:

habitat for federally-listed species; habitat for a number of rare species and/or rare vegetative community types; important fisheries habitat; important wetlands; habitat for waterbirds; substantial areas of contiguous habitat;large blocks of unusual habitat; and landbird resting, feeding, and breeding habitat.

The tidal region of the Connecticut River is home to internationally-recognized tidal marsh communities, exceptionally intact forest blocks and tributaries, and a multitude of creatures, including six kinds of plants and animals that are rare or endangered worldwide. The wetlands complex of the lower Connecticut River has been identified as internationally important by the RAMSAR convention; the river is also designated as an American Heritage River System. The area is distinguished by its extensive system of high quality freshwater and brackish tidal marshes that serve as essential habitat for a number of regionally, nationally, and globally rare or otherwise significant species. According to a joint Connecticut DEP and USFWS assessment, there are no other areas in the Northeast with such extensive or high quality fresh and brackish tidal wetland systems as those of the Connecticut River estuary.

The Connecticut River is also remarkable in the percentage of undeveloped land still present in its lower and upper reaches, and is one of the few large river systems in the United States that lacks a major metropolitan area at its mouth. The river corridor and its complex of habitats provide a linear system of relatively undisturbed and contiguous habitats, especially important to species sensitive to habitat fragmentation through loss of intervening essential habitat and buffers. The Connecticut River is important as a migratory corridor for many species of birds as well as anadromous and catadromous fish. The floodplain forest in the corridor has been documented, through the Conte Neotropical Migrant Landbird Stopover Study, as an important flyway for migrant landbirds in spring migration.

Public Use and Benefit to the Community

The Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge is charged with providing environmental education and research opportunities. Recreational opportunities at Conte include wildlife observation and photography, hiking, and fishing. Acquisition within the Conte Special Focus areas would allow improved habitat management and create significant opportunities for environmental education, wildlife viewing, and research. The location of these special focus areas within the heavily populated Central Connecticut Valley of New England would allow the Refuge to serve urban areas more effectively, including Middletown and Hartford, CT, Springfield, MA, Brattleboro, VT and Manchester, NH.

Threats

The Connecticut River watershed is facing tremendous pressures from development throughout its length. Areas on or near the river are in high demand as locations for high-end luxury housing, and there is increasing risk of fragmenting forest blocks throughout the watershed.

Acquisition Status

The Refuge consists of 31,354 acres with a total acquisition goal of 93,395 acres. Acquisition priorities include additions that enhance environmental education and scientific research on the Refuge. $3.3 million is needed for FY '06 to purchase lands within special focus areas of the Connecticut River Watershed to provide research, public access and environmental education opportunities in heavily populated central Connecticut Valley of New England.

Public Support

Tremendous public support exists for protection of the Connecticut River and for acquisition of land by the Conte NFWR. Many environmental groups have an interest in the conservation of land within the watershed including: Audubon Connecticut; Audubon Vermont; the Massachusetts Audubon Society; the Audubon Society of New Hampshire; The Nature Conservancy; Mattabeseck Audubon Society; Potapaug Audubon Society; Trust for Public Land; Connecticut Audubon Society; Hartford Audubon Society; The Friends of the Silvio O. Conte Refuge, and many other groups.

Habitat

Freshwater tidal marsh, floodplain forest, upland forest, shrubland, grassland/agricultural.

Species

Home to threatened & endangered species such as:

Federally threatened species: Piping Plover; Peregrine Falcon; Bald Eagle; Puritan Tiger Beetle; Shortnose Sturgeon.

State-listed species: Whip-poor-will; Yellow-breasted Chat; Bald Eagle; Red-shouldered Hawk; Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow; Seaside Sparrow; Sedge Wren; Northern Saw-whet Owl; Short-eared Owl; Least Bittern; American Bittern; Snowy Egret; Great Egret; Willet; Piping Plover; Northern Harrier; Snowy Egret; Horned Lark; King Rail; Black Rail; Common Moorhen; Pied-billed Grebe; Blue-winged Teal; Peregrine Falcon; American Kestrel; American Oystercatcher; Upland Sandpiper, Yellow-crowned Night Heron; Brown Thrasher; Bobolink; Savannah Sparrow; Ipswich Sparrow; Grasshopper Sparrow, Least Tern; Common Tern; and several species of state-listed plants and insects.

Home to Audubon WatchList species: American Black Duck; ‘Atlantic’ Brant; Black Rail; Piping Plover; American Golden Plover; American Oystercatcher; American Woodcock; Red Knot; Short-billed Dowitcher; Whimbrel; Short-eared Owl; Blue-winged Warbler; Kentucky Warbler; Prairie Warbler; Rusty Blackbird; Wood Thrush; Cerulean Warbler, Worm-eating Warbler; Willow Flycatcher; Black-and-White Warbler; Hairy Woodpecker; Seaside Sparrow; Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow and Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow.

Partners in Flight High Conservation Priority Species: Home for at least 37 species of birds considered of high conservation priority by Partners in Flight.

Other species: Floodplain forest of the Connecticut River has been documented as being important stopover habitat for migrant landbirds. Large blocks of forest remaining in the upper reaches of the watershed are critical nesting areas for many species of forest-nesting birds and habitat for large mammals such as Black Bear and Moose. The freshwater tidal marshes of the lower river are important habitat for migrant shorebird stopover, rails and other marsh birds, and as a waterfowl migratory stopover and wintering area.