By Patricia Houser
For Nature’s Sake
Patricia Houser
Earth Day, an annual event first celebrated nationwide in 1970 and now observed in 193 countries, will be celebrated on the Milford City Green on April 22 with several dozen exhibitors offering a variety of approaches to Milford’s Earth Day theme of “Fighting for Our Planet.”
The full list of exhibits and activities scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the Green that day can be found on the event website at MilfordEarthDay.org, including tables to be hosted by nonprofits like CT Audubon, a master wildlife expert on bears, volunteers and citizen groups offering craft activities for children and how-to demonstrations and explanations on gardening and waste reduction.
Representing the business community, the outdoor sports company REI and others with sustainable goals and products will be on hand. And those who have wondered, “What does the Milford Tree Commission do?” can speak with that group and others from the city.
To get the most from the day, the hosting group, Milford’s Environmental Concerns Coalition, encourages visitors to bring their sense of wonder and be prepared to ask questions. The first Earth Day, after all, was proposed as a “teach in,” equipping the public with much-needed information and inspiration.
With that in mind, a good place to start the day would be three especially impactful organizations: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Trout Unlimited and Save the Sound.
The modest exterior of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s research facility in Milford, one of a handful of NOAA’s coastal laboratories in New England, gives no clue to the exciting, essential work of the scientists within – including analyses and breakthrough innovations in shellfish nutrition, habitat and genetics that can help clams, mussels and oysters survive and support a vigorous aquatic ecosystem, even in the midst of climate stresses.
On the Green for Earth Day, visitors to the NOAA table will meet scientists from the NOAA Fisheries Milford Lab engaged in the abovementioned research. “The lab will bring some native shellfish to demonstrate how they eat algae, making the water both clearer and cleaner,” said Science Communications Specialist and NOAA affiliate Kristin Jablonski. “We will also show underwater video from oyster farming gear in Long Island Sound, demonstrating how native fish species use the gear as habitat.”
Whereas NOAA is a federal agency, Trout Unlimited is a nonprofit environmental group founded in 1959 in Michigan that today has over 300,000 members and 387 chapters across the country. Much more than a group of fishing hobbyists (although they offer satisfying workshops and events for that population), all Trout Unlimited chapters are working toward ideal management of the natural resources that foster healthy cold-water fish habitat. Their motto is, “If we take care of the fish, the fishing takes care of itself.”
At Milford’s Earth Day, Trout Unlimited will be represented by their local Nutmeg chapter, which has a particular interest in restoring and protecting landscapes that affect the Saugatuck, Mill, Aspetuck, Pequonnock and Farmill Rivers. The Nutmeg chapter members on hand at Earth Day will answer questions, and their table will include brochures and QR codes with the organization’s information, a video on conservation practices and a sample fly rod and tied fishing flies.
Meanwhile, anything affecting the quality of water and habitat in and around the Long Island Sound will attract the attention, and at times intervention, of the Save the Sound organization. They are watchdogs and advocates, keeping an eye on legislation in Hartford while also maintaining a presence, on the ground and in the water, conserving and restoring habitats that marine species depend on for survival.
The associate soundkeeper for Save the Sound, Emma DeLoughery, will be at the Milford Green and ready to answer questions and offer details on current soundkeeper projects and issues affecting the Sound. Visitors can view water quality results from a 2022 Long Island Sound report card and, for an interactive challenge, says DeLoughery, folks can play “a fun Long Island Sound trivia game with the chance to win Save the Sound swag items as prizes.”
In 1970, the first Earth Day was prompted by a sense of urgency to clean up polluted skies and waters and kicked off a chain of events that, among other things, saved bald eagles and made air and waterways cleaner. But pollution overall did not go away; some environmental risks remained, and others grew. In fact, carbon dioxide emissions, a prime driver of the climate crisis, have increased by roughly 90 percent since 1970, according to the EPA.
As we explore what to do and what conversations to have this 2023 Earth Day, we might think about what it would take to lead the anchor of the evening news to say something like Frank Reynolds did on CBS on April 22, 1970, while showing a map of the US: “On this Earth Day millions of Americans in the communities which dot this map have taken the first step to survival.”
Patricia Houser, PhD, AICP, shares her exploration of local and regional environmental issues in this column as a member of the nonpartisan Milford Environmental Concerns Coalition.