Candlewood Valley Regional Land Trust

Danbury and New Fairfield, CT

  • ABOUT
    • Mission
    • Board of Directors
      • Become a Board Member
  • PROPERTIES
  • VOLUNTEER
  • DONATE
    • Donate
    • Land Preservation
    • Amazon SMILE
    • Vehicle Donation Program
    • Leadership Donors
  • CALENDAR
  • BLOG

December 2, 2021 by Jaclyn Gartner Leave a Comment

Donate to CVRLT this Holiday Season

As an accredited land trust, we protect the land, water, vegetation, and wildlife on our preserves, and maintain trails and educational kiosks to help visitors safely enjoy nature’s many beautiful moments. 

This holiday season, choose the gift of nature with a Membership, Friend, or Leadership donation to CVRLT’s Holiday Appeal. All our donors enjoy membership benefits, including a discount on all CVRLT paid events. Leadership donors are posted annually on our website and in our newsletter too. Help support our mission and make a donation at candlewoodvalleyrlt.org/donate-now. Online giving is also convenient, secure, and helps to conserve paper and our woodland habitats.

From all of us at CVRLT, enjoy a happy and healthy holiday season, and all the best in the new year! ♥️

Filed Under: Featured, News

November 4, 2021 by Jaclyn Gartner Leave a Comment

2021 Fund the Land Appeal Honors Our Land Management Chair & Team

Each year, our Fund the Land Appeal celebrates leadership in preserving nature in our community. Our 2020 appeal honored the memory of Danbury conservationists, Philip and Monique Weidel. In 2021, we honor the decades of land and trail stewardship by our Land Management Chair, Mike Cunningham, and his team. Mike (shown hiking here) moved to Danbury in 1974. After years of running, hiking and exploring our local trails, he joined the Land Trust of Danbury, was invited to join its board, and has served on it for about 10 years in various roles.

Mike served on the team that completed the merger of the Danbury and New Fairfield Land Trusts to form CVRLT, and currently chairs our Land Management (LM) Committee. The LM team maintains and monitors CVRLT’s properties. They clear and blaze trails, clean up storm damage, beautify and protect preserves from invasive species, and work with our local Boy Scouts to build informational kiosks. Our thanks to Mike and LM team members Rich Hlavenka, Shane Cosentino, Gary Mummert, David Campbell, and Cheryl Russ for all they do! We are very grateful!

Mike is also Chairman of the Ives Trail & Greenway Regional Association, which built and now maintains the 20-mile-long Ives Trail that begins in Ridgefield, runs through Danbury and Bethel, and ends in Redding. The Association worked with town officials, conservation commissions, and land trusts to grow from a concept in 2002, to a 20-mile trail linking four towns in 2018.

The Ives Trail passes through five CVRLT preserves, including Weidel Preserve (shown here being enjoyed by our LM team member, David Campbell). Our thanks to Mike and the Association for a trail offering access to our preserves, ponds, mountains, views, and our connection to nature!

Support the stewardship of our preserves with your Fund the Land gift! Your support makes all our work possible. We are a 501(c)(3) organization so all donations are tax deductible, and we acknowledge leadership gifts on our website, too! Donate now at: https://candlewoodvalleyrlt.org/donate-now.

Filed Under: Featured, News

October 24, 2021 by Jaclyn Gartner Leave a Comment

Loving our Lands Photo Contest Results

Our second Annual Loving our Lands Photo Contest Fundraiser was a HUGE success! We gratefully thank all our 2021 photo contest participants! Thanks to your support, we raised more than $2,300 for CVRLT! These funds will help us maintain our preserves for years to come!

We were blown away by the talent this year and appreciate all those who participated and voted for their favorite entries! Special thanks to our contest judge, photographer & art show curator, Linda Hubbard, as well as our prize donors: Barn Gallery & Frame Shop in New Fairfield and Visual Impact LLC in Danbury.

After receiving nearly 50 submissions in this years Loving Our Lands photo contest fundraiser, our judge, Linda Hubbard, had quite the task deciding on a winner since there were so many beautiful and deserving entries! “Under the Loving Watch of Mom” was selected as BEST IN SHOW! Linda says, “I chose this photo based on the mother and pup’s expressions that it captured, along with its composition, lighting, and clarity.” Photographer, Gregory Bernard, photographed the scene in Middlebury, CT. The Best in Show winner will receive a $200 gift certificate for custom printing and framing from Visual Impact LLC.

Check out the other winners in our four photo categories:

    Filed Under: Featured, News

    September 26, 2021 by Jaclyn Gartner Leave a Comment

    Foraging Hike @ Hidden Valley Nature Center

    Thank you to all those who attended our sold out mushroom foraging hike this weekend at Hidden Valley Nature Center in New Fairfield. Everyone had a wonderful time searching for mushrooms and other foraged foods! Special thanks to our professional forager, Karen Monger of The Three Foragers, for another wonderful and insightful program. 🍄

    Check out some photos from the hike here:

    Filed Under: Events, News

    September 19, 2021 by Jaclyn Gartner Leave a Comment

    CVRLT “Loving our Lands” Photo Contest Fundraiser – ENTER NOW!

    The Candlewood Valley Regional Land Trust’s second annual “Loving our Lands” photo contest fundraiser is OPEN!! Visit www.gogophotocontest.com/candlewoodvalleyregionallandtrust to enter for your chance to WIN! Submissions will be accepted now until October 5th and voting will end on October 10th. 📸

    We are continuing our commitment to preserving open spaces by welcoming ALL levels of photographers to submit a photo featuring the lands we all love, in one of four categories:

    ▪️Sunrise, Sunset 🌞: At daybreak and nightfall, the sky transforms into a majestic canvas. Show us your favorite shots from sunrise and sunset – the ones that are worth getting up early or staying up late for

    ▪️Wildlife 🐿: Whether feathers, fur, scales, or something entirely different, we enjoy seeing a glimpse of the creatures living around us – show us your wildlife friends

    ▪️Took a Hike 👣: Loved the view? Took the path less traveled? Traversed an amazing landscape? Found a cool rock? Show us wherever your travels led you

    ▪️Going Green 🌎: From acorns to oaks, fungi to flowers, and all plants in between, vegetation is the sustenance of life. Let’s see your favorite foliage

    There is a donation fee of $15.00 per photo submission and votes will cost $1.00. Viewers can vote as many times as they’d like for their favorite photograph(s) in each of the four categories. Please note, this is a fundraiser so all donations will help support CVRLT. 🌿

    One winner for each category will be selected through online voting, so be sure to invite your friends and family to vote for your photos! A professional photographer will select one additional photograph for the grand prize of “Best in Show.” Good luck! 🙂

    Filed Under: Featured, News

    • « Previous Page
    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • …
    • 15
    • Next Page »

    Latest News

    • Everyday is Earth Day at CVRLT
    • Retiring Board Member Bill McCann’s Many Roles at CVRLT
    • 2022 CVRLT Events
    • Happy 2022 – Nature Lover’s Resolutions
    • Support CVRLT on Amazon Smile
    • Donate to CVRLT this Holiday Season
    • 2021 Fund the Land Appeal Honors Our Land Management Chair & Team
    • Loving our Lands Photo Contest Results
    • Foraging Hike @ Hidden Valley Nature Center
    • CVRLT “Loving our Lands” Photo Contest Fundraiser – ENTER NOW!

    JOIN OUR MAILING LIST!

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest

    Recent Posts

    • Everyday is Earth Day at CVRLT
    • Retiring Board Member Bill McCann’s Many Roles at CVRLT
    • 2022 CVRLT Events
    • Happy 2022 – Nature Lover’s Resolutions
    • Support CVRLT on Amazon Smile
    Candlewood Valley Regional Land Trust
    Candlewood Valley Regional Land Trust
    PO Box 32
    Danbury, CT 06810

    Danbury, Connecticut • New Fairfield, Connecticut
    info@candlewoodvalleyrlt.org

    © 2005–2022, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization