- Target:
- The City of New Britain, Connecticut (USA)
- Region:
- United States of America
Although A. W. Stanley Park is in a city -- New Britain, Connecticut -- it includes acres of intact forest with large old trees. The nature trail (largely paved, so it is wheelchair accessible) that runs through the park woods was designated a White House Millennium Trail in 2000 in recognition of its value to the community.
The destruction of forest in A. W. Stanley Park would be to recreate part of a golf course that would be lost if construction of a big store takes place on the current golf course, which is across Route 71 from the park.
A. W. Stanley Park’s wooded areas provide valuable habitat for wildlife, with over 150 species of birds and diverse plant life. The woods are used by local residents for recreational walking and running, observing and photographing wildlife, and simply enjoying time in natural surroundings. The woods provide sound barriers to traffic noise from Route 71, help to filter and purify the water supply to the pond they surround, remove greenhouse gases from the air, supply oxygen, and cool the surrounding neighborhoods. The park’s woods are also an important site for outdoor instruction in courses on birds, plants, ecology, and geology at Central Connecticut State University, and for programs that the Parks Department and University run for local youth.
Plans were proposed in the mid-1990s and early 2000s to cut down forest in A. W. Stanley Park to make a driving range for the golf course. These plans were abandoned after major opposition by residents and park users. An environmental review of the park's significant natural and cultural assets was conducted in 1995 by the King's Mark Environmental Review Team for the New Britain Department of Parks and Recreation and the Friends of A.W. Stanley Park (a local group formed to protect the park). Peter Picone, Urban Wildlife Biologist at the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, planned the park’s nature trail and wrote the trail guide, working with the Friends of A. W. Stanley Park and the city. The trail was constructed with $20,000 of funding from the Department of Environmental Protection, in-kind services from the city, and other contributions. The trail received White House Millennium Trail Designation, with a ceremony and dedication in June 2000 led by Representative Nancy Johnson.
Friends of A. W. Stanley Park is now resurrected to fight the proposed destruction of forest in the park. If in addition to signing the petition, you wish to join Friends of A. W. Stanley Park, please send your name and email address to Thomas Mione at thomasmione@gmail.com There is no fee to join. Members of Friends will be kept informed about dates, locations and times of public hearings at which we will speak in opposition to destroying the forest in A.W. Stanley Park.
To preserve the wooded areas of A. W. Stanley Park, New Britain Connecticut, in their natural state, and to reject any proposals to cut down any portion of the woods in the park for any reason, including for the partial moving or expansion of Stanley Golf Course.
You can further help this campaign by sponsoring it
The Save the A.W. Stanley Park Woods petition to The City of New Britain, Connecticut (USA) was written by Thomas Mione and is in the category Environment at GoPetition.