SERVING MYSTIC, GROTON, STONINGTON, NORTH STONINGTON, NOANK AND OLD MYSTIC VOLUME 19, ISSUE 24
Press available free at www.thewesterlysun.com THURSDAY, JANUARY 1, 2009
Land along Shunock River to be named in honor of Donald Henne
By Leslie Rovetti
Special to the Press
N. STONINGTON – A new acquisition for the Avalonia Land Conservancy will be named after the late Don Henne, the town’s first Conservation Commission chairman and an advocate for preserving the Shunock River watershed.
The preserve, the Donald R. Henne Memorial, is part of a larger tract on Babcock Road that will be subdivided into the Shunock River Estates housing development.
“The developer set aside 74 acres of open space which runs along the Shunock River,” said Mac Turner, an Avalonia director.
The conservancy chose Henne as the property’s namesake partly because of his role in acquiring the land.
“He was very instrumental in getting it set aside,” said Mac’s wife Pat, who served on the conservation commission with Henne.
An environmental scientist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Henne had not only a desire to protect fragile environmental spaces but also a great deal of knowledge on the subject.
“He woke up a lot of people to the real value of protecting the Shunock River,” Pat said.
Henne first served on the town’s Wetlands Commission, and then became the Conservation Commission’s chairman when it first began in 2003. He chaired the commission until he stepped down in 2006. In 2007, he passed away at the age of 56.
“It was an untimely death and a loss to the community,” Pat said.
The property was once part of a farm, Mac said, and has cart paths cut through the woods and fields. On the Henne memorial, the pathway runs parallel to the river. Some of the path runs along glacial eskers, which Mac described as “a glacial deposit, sort of a ridge.” The eskers bring the path, in spots, above the river, allowing people to look down at the beavers or up at the birds.
“It makes for a nice dry and well-established trail,” he said.
At one point, the path runs through a marsh for about 120 feet. Mac said the conservancy would be building a walkway over the marsh to allow hikers and horses, which will be allowed on the property, to comfortably cross the marsh.
“That will complete the trail network,” he explained.
The conservancy recently obtained the wood for the project – thanks to a deep discount from United Builders Supply in Westerly-and will soon be looking for volunteers to help build the walkway as well as clear paths. The scheduled workday will be posted on the group’s Web site, www.avalonialandconservancy.org.
Mac noted that in 20 or 30 years when the town is more developed, people will walk around the Henne memorial and be grateful for the foresight to preserve the property. He said he believes that people will echo Henne’s thoughts, which were “it’d be a shame to lose it,” he said.