Outreach in the Community
Our educational programs, engaging camps, and supportive scholarships are designed to involve individuals of all ages in discovering and appreciating our local environment.
Calendar of Events
February
Who’s been in my backyard?
Highlights from this year’s tracking program with Erik Becker
February 24, 2024
March
Eunice Symonds Bushy Hill Camp Scholarship — Third and fourth grade students are encouraged to write a persuasive essay to win one- or two-week camp sessions at Bushy Hill Nature Camp.
Congratulations to this year’s Bushy Hill Day Camp scholarship winners!
Bushy Hill Day Camp is nature, education and exploration based. Campers participate in activities such as ropes course and team building games, tracking, plant and animal identification, fire building, and hiking.
April
Earth Day Event
HCH Library Community Room
Tap the link below to register!
Alice & David Crosby Environmental scholarship
This $1,000 scholarship is awarded to a graduating Clinton senior pursuing an environmental major in college. Download the application here.
Wishing Aslin success in her future endeavors!
CLCT is happy to announce that Aslin Wolfe was chosen as the 2024 recipient of the Alice and David Crosby Environmental Scholarship. Aslin is a Morgan graduate who will be attending the University of Connecticut majoring in a Animal Science. She hopes to use the knowledge and skills gained from her studies to foster positive changes in the natural environment.
Friday, April 26th, 2024
This year’s excursion to the vernal pool in the Indian River complex was once again a success. During this adventure, ‘prowlers’ discovered a diverse array of frogs and amphibians in various stages of their life cycles. Vernal pools, crucial wetland habitats scattered around Clinton, are frequently ignored and underestimated, yet they offer vital breeding grounds for many amphibian and invertebrate species.
Highlights from this year’s Peeper Prowl below
May
Wild & Scenic Film Festival
The CLCT extends our deepest appreciation to the numerous sponsors for their generous contributions and to the volunteers whose efforts ensured the success of our event. We also offer our heartfelt thanks to those who attended our film festival. We hope you found the experience both enjoyable and enriching!
May 22, 2024
Marine Science Day ——This is a full day of integrated learning for Clinton 4th graders at Clinton Town Beach. The students rotate through stations focusing on Math, Science, Engineering, Literacy and Conservation. The Clinton Land Trust (CLCT) station educates the students about the life cycle and history of osprey in the Hammock River.
June
-National Trail Day-
Join us at Peter’s Memorial Woods for a hike through a CLCT favorite. We will meet in the parking lot off Valley Road.
Ecology Camp 2024
This is a camp for children ages 7–11. Campers explore many different habitats comparing and contrasting the animals and plants in fresh and saltwater. They discover animals in tidal pools, salt marshes, sandy beaches, woodland forests and vernal pools.
Story Hike (ongoing) – On Saturday, June 25th, 2022, volunteers installed a new Story Hike in Kenilworth Forest on the Burncoat trail, located at the Kenilworth cul de sac off Kings Grant Road. This free event is co-sponsored with the Henry Carter Hull Library and is open every day. The new story is A Nest is Noisy with beautiful illustrations by Sylvia Long. Be sure to scan the QR codes on the trail signs to get more info.
August
Live Animal Program w/ Meigs Point Nature Center
Date: Thursday, August 15, 2024 3:30-4:45pm
Location: Henry Carter Hull Library 10 Killingworth Turnpike, Clinton, CT Community Room
Event Details
Under Invasion! Introduced plants and animals from around the world have invaded CT and Long Island Sound. Next to habitat destruction and loss, introduced species may be our biggest ecological problem.
Live animals! Meet a red-eared slider turtle, a monk parakeet, Asian shore crabs, periwinkles, and green crabs, learn why some are so successful and problematic in their new land and possible solutions.
October
Clinton Town Beach Cleanup, 2024
Our heartfelt thanks go out to all the volunteers who took part in the Clinton Town Beach Cleanup. Meeting and working with each of you was a delight. We deeply appreciate having allies like you in our efforts to combat marine debris. Although beach cleanups alone won't resolve the issue of ocean trash, they are a crucial component of the overall solution.
Plastic waste makes up 80% of all marine pollution and takes between 500-1000 years to degrade. The first step is to reduce our use and dependency on plastic whenever possible. Town beach and waterway cleanups are organized by Save the Sound who have coordinated the Ocean Conservancy International Coastal Cleanup in CT for over 20 years. The Ocean Conservancy compiles data collected from volunteers to help find solutions to the worldwide problem of litter pollution, poisoning oceans throughout the world.
The above photographs are from our Beach Cleanup 2024.
CLCT Annual Meeting 2024, featuring Dr. Elisabeth Ward
Date: October 21, 2024, 6:30 p.m.
Location: Henry Carter Hull Library, Clinton, CT
Special Guest:
Dr. Elisabeth Ward, Forest Ecologist
You are cordially invited to this year’s CLCT annual meeting This meeting offers a chance for the community to discover more about the CLCT’s mission, celebrate accomplishments of the past year, alongside the election of our officers and directors.
Following the business segment of the meeting, Dr. Elisabeth Ward will discuss the shifts in CT’s forest composition due to pest and pathogen invasions.
Light refreshments will be served.
Looper Moths and Hemlocks
These moths fly from mid-August to early October. The females lay their eggs on moss, lichen, or bark and the eggs don’t hatch until the following June. Pupation takes place in bark crevices or in masses of lichen or moss. The caterpillars eat the needles of Hemlock trees. — from “A View of Peters Woods” by Bert and Jinny Godwin
