BELL CEDAR ATLANTIC WHITE CEDAR SWAMP
| Avalonia Land Conservancy, Inc. is in the process of acquisition of the property known as Bell Cedar Swamp, North Stonington, CT. Donations are requested and can be sent to Avalonia, P.O. Box 49 Old Mystic CT 06372 .The following is information sent to the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection as part of a grant application. The grant for 50% of the purchase price was awarded to Avalonia Land Conservancy in October 2010. Synergy: Bell Cedar Swamp is about 90 acres and abuts 70 acres of land held by The Nature Conservancy (the Appleton property), and so complements existing preserved open space. Water quality: Class 1 systems are characterized as resources having little current development in the watershed and which have historically not been affected by the removal of water for human uses. A Class 2 watershed allows greater levels of human alteration and may include some waste receiving streams. The Wyassup Brook watershed, tributary to the Greens Falls Stream is lightly developed and has protected forested headwaters. This watershed could be classified as a Class 1 system. The Bell Cedar swamp is entirely in the aquifer protection overlay zone of the Town of North Stonington. Unique. Bell Cedar Swamp in North Stonington, CT is a rare intact cedar swamp and as such constitutes a valuable recreation, wildlife habitat and natural resource. This Atlantic White Cedar swamp is listed as a Connecticut Imperiled Natural Community. The New England Wildflower Society, in their Spring/Summer 2010 field trips brochure describes another Atlantic White Cedar Swamp (in Wellfleet , Massachusetts} as follows: “Rare and globally-threatened, Atlantic white cedar swamps are cool, dark, acidic, saturated wetlands, their hummocks and hollows dominated by sphagnum mosses and other bog species, including sweet gale, highbush blueberry, swamp azalea, and Virginia chain fern.” Value: Bell Cedar Swamp will provide multiple resource access values including ground water supply recharge protection, passive recreation such as hiking and birding, forest protection and amphibian spawning areas. Bell Cedar Swamp constitutes a prime naturally occurring feature: a large Atlantic white cedar swamp, which is a rare and imperiled type of inland wetland. Bell Cedar Swamp is a habitat of plant and animal species that are either threatened, endangered, or of special concern. The State of Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection Natural Diversity Data Base (CTNDDB) letter of March 9, 2010 identifies Green adder’s mouth (Malaxis unifolia) in the Bell Cedar swamp. Green Adder's Mouth is a very small Orchid that grows on sphagnum hummocks in bogs. Bell Cedar Swamp figures prominently in the map of state and federal listed species and significant natural communities in the North Stonington area . For a detailed description of some of the flora and fauna of Atlantic white cedar swamps, including Bell Cedar, click here. A survey crew working for The Nature Conservancy sighted a bobcat and three kittens on the eastern edge of the swamp in 2003. Bell Cedar Swamp constitutes a native ecological community that is now uncommon. The CTNDDB lists this wetland as an Acidic Atlantic White Cedar Swamp, which is very limited in Connecticut and is a high priority for protection. Since Bell Cedar Swamp sits over the center of the North Stonington Aquifer, which is source water for the Green and Pawcatuck Rivers and feeds water supply areas of Pawcatuck and Westerly RI, its preservation would enhance or conserve the water quality of the State’s lakes, rivers and coastal water. Bell Cedar Swamp has a long documented history and constitutes part of North Stonington’s historical and agriculture heritage. For a description of Bell Cedar Swamp during the 17th and 18th centuries, click here and see Appendix C. The Red brook which forms part of the northwest boundary was so named for the bog iron colorization. New England Towns.org notes: “In the pre-industrial and early industrial period, when long-distance travel was difficult, New Englanders relied on local sources for metals, minerals, and building stone. The glacial landscape of New England, dotted with bogs, provided a ready supply of "bog iron" ore to fill the forges of many an early blacksmith.” |
Please see Judy Benson's New London Day article at this link.