ABOUT THE PRESERVE

The Preserve is mostly in Old Saybrook, with smaller pieces in Essex and Westbrook. It is jointly owned by the Town of Old Saybrook and the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP).

When DEEP contributed 24 percent to complete the purchase, it made The Preserve a state forest. The state owns 32 other forests in CT, all of which are in a “Sustainably Managed Forests” program. They manage the forests to produce marketable timber, and contract out to log the forests with heavy equipment and sold at market. The money recovers DEEP’s costs, and profits go to the State to help pay DEEP forestry salaries.

We don’t take issue with Sustainable Forest Management, which is focused on an objective: usually, it's growing timber for the wood products market.

But this is a plan for “Sustainable Forestry” in the wrong forest. The Preserve should be protected because:

The Preserve is a sanctuary for scores of species of animals, birds, amphibians and reptiles that include threatened, rare and species of concern – animals and plants that live and thrive ONLY in undisturbed forests.

We are proud to have habitat worthy of flora and fauna we see or hear, and want to continue to be able to, walking through a largely intact forest.

But if it’s logged, will the next generation ever see spotted or box turtles? Dusky or marbled salamanders? Wood frogs? Wood thrushes?

Heavy equipment crushes fragile subterranean fungal infrastructure, essential to forest health that can take a century to recover. It also introduces invasive weeds.

We firmly assert that not all forests are suited to be managed for timber. Heavy equipment, trail bridge-building and forest fragmentation, all parts of DEEP’s Preserve management plan, are very destructive to habitat, and most of all to soil The last ten years of new forest science supports proforestation, a strategy that underscores how crucially important the sub-soil health of the forest is to its overall long-term vigor.

In The Preserve, a mature forest (80-150 years or more since the last major logging operations), the damage done to the habitat would be incalculable.

Intact, mature forests provide exceptional benefits—storing carbon and water, supporting biodiversity, providing habitat and buffering climate impacts. In places like the Preserve, these benefits are maximized when disturbance is minimized.For this reason, we are asking Governor Lamont to designate The Preserve a Natural Area Preserve, with no logging, and allow it to recover and regrow into the old-growth forest it was for centuries until Europeans arrived on these shores.

People and culture

Our people are what make us unique. Rather than outsourcing our construction engineers from questionable outsourcing establishments, we provide them with an environment that supports professional growth.

We are strong believers in giving our employees a voice. Our teams are put together with the help of our resident psychologist to ensure maximum productivity and engagement.

Esther Bryce

Founder / Interior designer

Lianne Wilson

Broker

Jaden Smith

Architect

Jessica Kim

Photographer