Fundraiser and press conference will bring together conservationists, students, elected officials
Aerial view of Plum Island lighthouse. (From Preserve Plum Island website)
Students from Old Saybrook High School’s Ecology and Interact Clubs, and a regional environmental organization are joining forces this Saturday, March 11, to raise awareness and support for protecting rare bird habitat on Long Island Sound.
Connecticut Fund for the Environment (CFE) and its bi-state program Save the Sound will devote the proceeds of the “polar plunge”-style fundraiser towards the organization’s multi-year battle to save Plum Island from sale and private development.
The event takes place at 10 a.m. on Old Saybrook Town Beach at Great Hammock Rd. (Rte. 154), Old Saybrook.
A piping plover ready to plunge! Image from CFE website.
Plum Island, an 840-acre, federally-owned island in the eastern end of Long Island Sound, is home to threatened and endangered birds like the piping plover and roseate tern, as well as other rare species. Seventy Connecticut and New York organizations work together as the Preserve Plum Island Coalition, partnering with grassroots activists and champions in Congress to halt sale of the island. CFE/Save the Sound has also brought an action in federal court claiming that the government’s decision to sell the island violates numerous federal environmental laws.
A press conference featuring local, state, and likely federal elected officials will kick off the event at Old Saybrook Town Beach, followed by a dash into the frigid Long Island Sound. Senator Richard Blumenthal (schedule permitting), State Representative Devin Carney (R-23rd) and Old Saybrook First Selectman Carl Fortuna are all expected to be present.
Prizes will be awarded for the most funds raised and “Best Costume.”
“Plum Island Plunge for Plovers” is open to the public. Members of the public are encouraged to register and set up their own fundraising pages at www.bit.ly/plum-plunge, or support the students’ efforts at this page.
Blue Moon Raptors is an organization geared to rehabilitate ill, injured, and orphaned birds of prey in order to return them back to their natural habitat when possible. Rose Cresi, founder of Blue Moon Raptors, will give a presentation at Lyme Public Library, Saturday, March 25, at 2 p.m. at which she will have several live birds with her – two kestrels (who have been brought to her from Maine for rehabilitation), a barn owl and two other birds of prey. She will discuss the birds, rehabilitation of the birds and in addition, talk about the important role the birds have in our ecosystem.