We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2012 Faulkner’s Light Brigade 2012 Photo Contest. There were a total of nine entries. Town and state of the entrants is listed if known. Thank you to all who participated for the great shots! See the winning images: [Read more…]
Stuart B McKinney Refuge Receives 2012 GreenGov Presidential Award
The White House Council on Environmental Quality recently announced the winners of the 2012 GreenGov Presidential Awards, honoring Federal agency teams and individuals who are taking innovative approaches to curbing waste, reducing energy use and saving taxpayer money in federal agency operations. Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge in Connecticut, as part of a team led by the United States Coast Guard Academy, won the 2012 GreenGov Presidential Award in the Green Dream Team category. The refuge developed a partnership with the Sustainability Club at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy to support roseate tern management efforts on Falkner Island. The Sustainability Club also coordinated with the Military Academy at West Point, the local government, the Boy Scouts, and area high schools.
Press release
Learn more about Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge
Published on: Thursday, September 27, 2012
Annual Open House
The week of September 3rdwas a busy one on the island. USF&WS had their work cut out for them with the mowing of 5 feet of vegetation. The stairs and other areas needed to be cleaned of bird droppings. There were thousands of terns on the island for the summer. FLB was busy during the same week prior to having visitors on the island. The blackboard and floor in the boathouse needed to be cleaned from the birds and once dried it needed to be painted. While the blackboard dried, the stairs in the lighthouse were swept. The following day, posters were placed on the blackboard and USF&WS placed benches in the boathouse and on the island for the visitors. The plan was to have 5 trips on the USF&WS Landing Craft on
Saturday, September 8, and 3 trips on Sunday, September 9. The reason for 3 trips on Sunday was to open the
island to private boaters with a water taxi being made available to them from their anchorage on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately the windy weather and rough seas required cancelling the event for the day on Saturday. Rick Potvin, the USF&WS Manger, announced that they would do 7 trips on the Landing Craft on Sunday starting at 8 am. Those that wanted to visit the island were thrilled to hear this news.
Sunday was great! The volunteers set up at the Guilford Marina at 6
am to be ready for the early visitors. Island volunteers were transported by the USF&WS Landing Craft at 7 am. The first visitors arrived around 8:30 am. The first event on the island was a humorous presentation by Rick Potvin about the lighthouse, the island and the wildlife habitat. There were more than 300 visitors on the island. Everyone had a chance to go up in the lighthouse. While waiting the visitors were entertained by Andy Weaver who was a lobsterman in the area for several decades and who would frequently visit the Coast Guardsmen stationed on the island. Also while waiting visitors were offered a chance to hike over to the North Spit with someone from
USF&WS. Visitors had a chance to sit on the pier and walk on the beach after going up in the lighthouse. All visitors were most appreciative of the opportunity and left the island with a big smile. We all now wait for the 2013 Open House the weekend after Labor Day.
OPEN HOUSE NEWS FLASH
The Saturday September 9th visits to Faulkner Island have been cancelled due to small craft warnings. Sunday, September 9, we will be running 7 trips to the island beginning at 8 am until 4 pm. If your trip on Saturday was cancelled, please consider trying for a Sunday visit, as we have added 4 trips to the Sunday schedule. There may be a wait, but you won’t want to miss this once a year opportunity!
Faulkners Island at Guilford Town Hall
Visit the Guilford Town Hall this July for a diorama of the history of Faulkner’s Island.
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