Anonymous Friend of Branford Purchases 34 Acres in Stony Creek to be Preserved

Editor's note: this is a press release from First Selectman Anthony "Unk" DaRos.

I’m happy to announce today that the Branford Land Trust has just purchased the 34 acre Weil property in Stony Creek. The purchase has been made possible by the extremely generous donation of the full purchase price by an anonymous friend of the Land Trust, Stony Creek, the Branford community and a personal friend of mine.

The Weil property is a parcel that every thoughtful Creeker for the past several decades has worried about, coveted, or developed a scheme to protect. Their motivation is clear.

The closely clustered homes of Stony Creek face out on Long Island Sound and the Thimble Islands on one side and on acres of spectacular open space on the other. This acquisition protects much of that essential and appreciated open space, Stony Creek’s back yard.

This acquisition also protects an additional stretch of the Branford Trail, the 28-mile walking trail that circles Branford from where Indian Neck overlooks Branford Harbor to Branford Point. In Stony Creek and other shoreline neighborhoods, the Branford Trail provides access to the coastal marshes that are a key part of Branford’s character.

Protecting this part of the trail from future development ensures that it will be used and enjoyed by generations to come.

This extraordinary gift is in the very best tradition of our remarkable
community. From Branford’s earliest days, when John Taintor willed the land that became the Green to the Town to erect a new meeting house, far-sighted and generous citizens have given land for public use, each contributing to a legacy for the community that includes many of our cherished landmarks.

Among the more familiar are at , , where the was later built, and . The Foote Family Charitable Trust has given us , which it continues to manage, as well as several parcels of woods and wetlands all across Branford from the Saltonstall ridge in the north to the Sybil Creek marsh near the Long Island Sound to the Land Trust’s Short Beach Preserve.

More than 80 percent of the 900 acres now owned by Land Trust were given by individuals or local businesses, and the purchase of the others was made possible by large and small contributions from many in the community.

Prominent among these gifts to the Land Trust are several properties from the Sliney family including the Lucy Hammer Woodlands on Cherry Hill Road, the Van Wie Woods, more than 100 acres of woods, field and wetlands given to the Land Trust by Ray Van Wie and his son and daughter-in-law Bill and Alice Van Wie over more than 30 years, the Stony Creek Limited Partnership property, which lies immediately south of the Weil property, and more recent gifts by Karen Pritzker and Michael Vlock of Bob’s Woods next to Young’s Pond and the large donation to the Land Trust that made the purchase of the property possible.

The protection of the Weil property has importance beyond providing a quiet retreat for the people of Stony Creek and the rest of Branford. These protected coastal woodlands are critically important for the health of nearby Long Island Sound.

Adam Whelchel, director of conservation programs for The Nature Conservancy - CT, commented: “The acquisition of the Weil Property further highlights the commitment and foresight of the Branford Land Trust, the Guilford Land Conservation Trust and the Town of Branford. Evidence of their ongoing successes in acquiring critical watershed areas such as this is evident in the highly productive near shore habitats and shellfisheries in and around the Thimble Islands and adjoining coastlines. Coastal watershed management that seeks a balance between development and protection ultimately improves the livelihoods of downstream folks and species that depend on Long Island Sound.”

The Weil property also lies at the beginning of a migration corridor that
runs north through Connecticut and Massachusetts to northern New England and Canada.

In a statement commending the Land Trust on yet another key conservation acquisition, Patrick Comens, director of bird conservation for Audubon Connecticut, noted that “[T]he protection of the Weil Property secures a keystone piece in the long-standing efforts to protect the critical coastal forest in the Stony Creek/West Woods/Sachem’s Head area of Branford and Guilford,
which is among the largest and most important blocks of coastal forest remaining in the state. Coastal forests are important to migratory birds as they find themselves near the shoreline of Long Island Sound at the end of their night-time long-distance journeys. As dawn approaches and the birds find themselves over water or the more developed areas of our coastline, such coastal forests provide critical habitat for them to rest and refuel for the next night’s journey. Our coastal forests are a true habitat oasis in our highly developed coastline.”

We should all be appreciative of the extreme generosity displayed by so many of our residents in their foresight to help the town and the Land Trust preserve these tremendous assets.

On behalf of all of the residents of the Town of Branford I would like to thank everyone that worked so hard to make this happen and protect this wonderful asset for our future generations, in particular, the donor that made this happen I again say thank you.