Steep Rock Association, Inc.

New feature on our Steep Rock website

Admin — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:58:47 +0000

Donations to Steep Rock Association can now be made by credit card. Simply go to our ‘Donate’ page and click the ‘Donate Now’ button. The donations can be setup to either draw one time, weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually.

Tunnel Road is temporarily closed

Admin — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 14:52:57 +0000

Hurricane Irene made a mess of Tunnel Road. The gate at Tunnel Road is closed because of a washout. Repair and maintenance is a town of Washington function which has a long, long list of roads that will need to be repaired after Irene came to town.

Newly Blazed Trail

Admin — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:09:50 +0000

Macricostas has a newly blazed trail from June Road to Waramaug Rock (about 0.75 mile). Parking is limited on June Road. The newly blazed trail is not on the Macricostas map.

Admin — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 13:35:00 +0000

Tunnel Road is now open!! Thank you to Kevin Smith and all the Washington highway crew for making Tunnel Road accessible again.

Admin — Thu, 26 May 2011 15:20:37 +0000

What are those Purple Boxes Hanging in the Trees? Steep Rock Association is pleased to be working in cooperation with the US Department of Agriculture and the UCONN Cooperative Extension Service on a project to monitor the presence of the invasive insect pest, Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). The purple boxes you may have noticed in the nature preserves and along roadsides throughout Litchfield County are panel traps designed to attract any EAB that may be in the area. Luckily, EAB has not yet been detected in Connecticut; however, a major outbreak has occurred in New York just 25 miles from the State line. The traps will be hung in ash trees from May through August.
The Emerald Ash Borer is a small, metallic-green-colored beetle that is lethal to all North American ash trees. It spends most of its life as a larva feeding on the inner bark and only lives outside of the tree as an adult for a few weeks. Ash trees subjected to an EAB infestation generally die within 3-5 years.
Nearly all EAB outbreaks are believed to be directly related to movement of ash material from infested areas. You can help slow the spread of this invasive and destructive pest by surveying your own ash trees and not moving firewood from your home to other areas.
For more detailed information about the Emerald Ash Borer, please visit the following website: www.emeraldashborer.info

Admin — Wed, 11 May 2011 19:46:46 +0000

Take a Hike at Hidden Valley Preserve during Connecticut Trails Day Celebration — Please join us Saturday, June 4 at 9:00 a.m to 11:00 a.m. Take a 3-mile hike through hemlock forests, over small streams, and following an old railroad bed and the Shepaug River. We will also pass through a shelterwood cut – a recently completed habitat improvement project. Bring water and wear sturdy shoes. Meet Clark Gifford and Steve Law at the wooden “Hidden Valley Reservation” gate located on the west side of Sabbaday Lane (about 2 miles North of Route 109). Heavy rain postpones to June 5, 9:00 a.m. Pre-registration is required. For questions and to register contact: Clark Gifford, srlandmanager@gmail.com.

Admin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:47:43 +0000

Habitat Enhancement at Hidden Valley Preserve
If you have noticed timber harvesting at Hidden Valley Preserve along Sabbaday Lane, don’t be alarmed! It’s all in the name of improving forest diversity and wildlife habitat. Steep Rock Association, working under a grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Services(NRCS), is implementing a forestry practice known as a Shelterwood Regeneration Harvest. This forest management technique promotes conditions suitable for the natural reproduction of selected tree species by removing the understory and leaving large “seed trees” scattered throughout the site to produce new seedlings.The project encompasses approximately six acres and is designed to accomplish three primary goals:

(1) promote oak regeneration, (2) diversify the age composition of the forest, and (3) enhance wildlife habitat for species that rely on early successional or shrubby forests. The resulting mosaic of mature and early successional forest growth is expected to improve forest health and enhance the habitat for a greater diversity of wildlife species.

Admin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 17:59:44 +0000

Meet the New Executive Director
On July 1st, Steve Law began his tenure as the new Executive Director. Steve earned a B.S. in Wildlife Management from the University of Maine and brings to Steep Rock a vast amount of experience in natural resource management, environmental education and real estate. For the past 18 years, Steve worked for Mecklenburg County in Charlotte, NC where he created and managed (for 13 years) a highly respected and award winning Division of Natural Resources. The Division manages approximately 5,000 acres of nature preserves, conducts natural resource management projects throughout the park system, operates three nature centers, provides environmental education programing on a countywide basis, maintains more than 30 miles of trails and coordinates outdoor recreation programs. For the past five years, Steve was a real estate coordinator for the County with the primary responsibility of acquiring land for parks, nature preserves and greenways. Steve is a native of South Salem, NY.

Admin — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 09:59:37 +0000

Steep Rock Association, Inc.’s financial statements for 2009 are available: Steep Rock Financial Statements, 2009 (6.5 MB PDF).

Admin — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 19:06:46 +0000

The Spring, 2010 Steep Rock Vista Newsletter is available as a PDF.