The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) and the Connecticut Greenways Council today announced they are now soliciting nominations for official state greenway designations. Residents of Hartford CC can nominate their favorite greenway by downloading this form and emailing it to laurie.giannotti@ct.gov.
A “Greenway” is a corridor of open space which meets the criteria defined here.
“Greenways are an integral part of any community, offering recreational opportunities, providing alternative transportation options, helping to preserve the environment, and supporting economic development. Greenways make a community a more attractive place to live by connecting living spaces with the environment, and they preserve history while cultivating town pride,” said DEEP Commissioner-designee Katie Dykes. “The Connecticut Greenways Council encourages municipalities to embrace the designation process to facilitate sustainable development, enhancement, and preservation of these special places.”
As an example, here are the CT Greenways within 20 miles of Hartford CC:
| Greenway |
|---|
| Air Line State Park Trail, East Hampton |
| Blackledge River Greenway, Marlborough |
| Blue Blazed Trail System |
| Captain John Bissell Trail, South Windsor |
| Charter Oak Greenway |
| Crosstown Trail, South Windsor |
| Ellington's Hockanum River Linear Park |
| Farmington Canal HeritageTrail |
| Farmington River Trail |
| Hanover Pond Linear Trail in Meriden |
| Hockanum River Linear Park |
| Hop River State Park Trail |
| Lower Farmington River in Windsor and Bloomfield |
| Newington Greenway System |
| North and South Branches of the Park River |
| Pope Park Greenway, Hartford |
| Riverfront Parks in Hartford and East Hartford, an Extension of the CT River Greenway |
| Salmon Brook, Granby |
| Scantic River Greenway (extension), South Windsor |
| Scantic River Park, Enfield |
| Scantic River, East Windsor Extension |
| Shade Swamp Sanctuary |
| South Meadows Greenway at Goodwin College |
| Tankerhoosen Greenway, Vernon |
| The Mad River Greenway, Wolcott |
| Upper Connecticut River in Windsor |
| Upper Farmington River in Canton |
| West Mountain Trails, Simsbury |
For a map of all the greenways in CT, please click here. For more details about the above greenways, click here.
An official designation by the Greenways Council recognizes a greenway as an open space that not only meets the definition of a greenway, but also enhances the community and is supported by local government initiatives. Designated greenways, both for recreation and resource protection, will be listed in a subsequent revision of the State Plan of Conservation and Development and may receive increased consideration for a variety of grants. There are currently approximately 75 designated greenways in Connecticut.
The Greenways Council will evaluate all nominated greenways for consistency with designation criteria. Those selected for designation will be announced by the Greenways Council in conjunction with their National Trails Day event in June.
The nomination form is available as a word document or a PDF. The preferred method for submission of completed nomination forms is by e-mail to Laurie.Giannotti@ct.gov, and digital photos and maps are preferred (digital photos of hard copy maps are acceptable). Nominations may also be submitted on CD or other electronic storage device and can be mailed to Laurie Giannotti, CT DEEP, 79 Elm Street, Hartford, CT 06106-5127. The deadline for submission of nominations is April 26, 2019.
For more information please visit www.ct.gov/deep/greenways