Connecticut Park Centennial

Westport – Hartford, CT – Connecticut is celebrating our state park Centennial. Sen. Toni Boucher (R-Wilton) joined area lawmakers and Governor Dannel Malloy along with Department of Energy and the Environment (DEEP) Commissioner Dan Esty at Sherwood Island State Park in Westport to kick off the centennial celebration. Our state has an expansive system of 107 state parks and 32 state forests. Sherwood Island State Park was the first of its kind in Connecticut. This year we pay tribute to the environmental vision of Connecticut’s early leaders.

I also hope you will join me in adopting a state park. Adopting your Park does not require legislation and comes along with a fairly straightforward commitment to do the following:

• Acknowledge the State Park in your District;
• Visit the State Park to understand its assets and needs;
• Work with existing “Friends of Park” organization (the Friends of Sherwood Island) to launch an annual event (walk, clean-up, etc.) in 2013
• Help advocate for the needs of the State Park system.
• The CT DEEP advertises Sherwood Island State Park covers just over 235 acres in the Greens Farms section of Westport. It is bounded on the west by the Mill Pond and on the east by New Creek. Centuries ago, another creek (Gallup’s Gap Creek) ran roughly down the middle, with an island to its west (Fox Island) and marshland to its east.

Learn more about the park’s past by visiting the Friends of Sherwood Island history pages.

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