The Madison Land Conservation Trust received a generous donation of $25,000 from Ford Schumann in memory of his brother Robert F. Schumann, who passed away on December 8^th. Robert was an active supporter of open space and environmental organizations. He spent every summer of his life in Madison and retired here ten years ago.

Robert Schumann’s avid interest in birds began in childhood. His involvement expanded over his lifetime, leading to service on the boards of the National Audubon Society and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. He combined his media expertise and love of birds in designing and setting up the Audubon Society’s film and television programs. The Schumann Foundation, begun by Robert and Ford’s parents in 1962 and now called the Schumann Media Center headed by Bill Moyers, established a Chair in his honor at Wesleyan University named the Robert Schumann Professor of Environmental Studies.

One of his most notable local accomplishments will be preserved at the former Griswold Airport. Mr. Schumann was an early supporter and member of the citizens group formed in 2001 to protect that environmentally sensitive component of the migratory flyway. The outcome of those efforts was the establishment of a new 42-acre town park, most of which will be kept as open space.

The donation will be used for future open space acquisitions. The MLCT is grateful to Ford Schumann and his family for their generosity, and to Robert Schumann for the legacy of environmental action and passion for nature that he has left us.

Land Trust Welcomes New Board President Mike Maloney

In January 2012 Mike Maloney took over the position of president of the MLCT Board of Directors from Diana Insolio, who led the board for four years. Mike has been an active board member for nine years. As a child Mike developed his love for the outdoors as a member of the National Campers and Hikers Association and of the Boy Scouts. When Mike moved to Madison in 2000, he wasted no time getting out on Land Trust properties and soon was invited to become a member of the board. His favorite hikes are in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and in the Catskill Mountains of New York. For the past few years he has managed to get in several hikes (or snowshoe trips) in these places. This winter Mike and his wife, Macdara MacColl, plan to do their first Hut-to-Hut cross-country ski trip in Maine’s 100-Mile Wilderness. Mike, Macdara, and their three children, Tara, Sawyer and Craigin, are all active hikers, boaters and campers.

Cedar Island seen from the Ox Pasture platform

The MLCT is poised to acquire Cedar Island, a lovely one-acre parcel located in the East River between the state boat launch at Neck Road/Circle Beach Road and Friends & Company on Route 1.  For generations the island has been owned by the Ives family, whose members have generously agreed to donate the land to the MLCT.  Thanks to the generosity of the Ives family, canoeists, kayakers and other boaters who have for years traveled past Cedar Island will soon be able to stop and enjoy its unique setting, its cedar woods, and the plaque that will be erected in honor of its donors.

The Madison Land Conservation Trust (MLCT) recently took ownership of 77 acres of open space located at the intersection Route 80 and Summer Hill Road. The land, within a large watershed, is a gateway to north Madison’s rural beauty, connecting  thousands of acres of open space owned by public and private entities along Summer Hill Road. The land was owned for many years by Jane Bauermeister, who passed the property on to her children at her death several  years ago. The Bauermeister children retained and sold the 6.4-acre parcel on the east side of Summer Hill Road, which was the site of the Bauermeister homestead, as well as art and music festivals organized by Mrs. Bauermeister during her lifetime. Development is restricted on the retained parcel, thereby preserving the scenic value of the area.

The MLCT partnered with the Trust for Public Land (TPL) in a campaign to raise funds for the purchase. The purchase could not have gone forward without the generosity of an anonymous donor, whose appreciation for the beauty and ecology of north Madison motivated all who worked on the project.  The MLCT’s anonymous donor gave the MLCT $600,000 to the campaign and then provided another $300,000 loan at closing. The State of Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection granted another $500,000 for the acquisition. These funds, along with the many generous donations by private donors, met the campaign’s goal of $1.6 million.

The MLCT is now reaching out to our supporters and members to help us retire our $300,000 debt. Please consider mailing a donation to the Madison Land Conservation Trust, P.O. Box 561, Madison, CT 06443, and note on the check that your gift is for the Summer Hill campaign.

Find the Summer Hill Property on the map below.
Click the flag for directions.