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Summer 2006 UPDATE Text-Only Edition [Return
to Publications]
LISS celebrates 20 years.
In 1985 the Long Island Sound Study (LISS) was initiated by
Congress to investigate water pollution degrading Long Island
Sound. Two years later, Congress authorized the National Estuary
Program, and LISS became a charter member. This issue of UPDATE
celebrates these 20th anniversaries by looking at our “top 20”
topics of the past two decades.
Long Island Sound Study Priorities 1986-2006: Then and Now
by Paul Stacey and Karen Chytalo
According to the 1986 Long Island Sound Study (LISS) Annual
Report, we were into our second year of “a five-year project”
focusing on three major problems: 1) toxic contamination, 2) low
dissolved oxygen concentrations, and 3) the health of fish and
shellfish. There was some certainty that toxic contamination
would be the predominant water quality issue in the Sound, and
much of the funded “staff” (including the article authors and
Howard Golub at the Interstate Sanitation Commission) effort was
directed towards reviewing data. Hypoxia was breaking news based
on early surveys by Dr. Don Rhoads of Yale University and Dr.
Barbara Welsh of the University of Connecticut and soon elbowed
toxic contamination to the sidelines.
The FY 1985 Work Plan was an ambitious one, given the half
million dollars or so that LISS partners had to share. We simply
had to create a comprehensive database; report on water,
sediment, and biota toxic contamination problems in the Sound;
supplement data by monitoring and field surveys (fortunately
NOAA chipped in $300,000 of effort in that area); develop
pollutant loadings; identify trends; assess risks to consumers
and the resource; and relate problems to sources, both point and
nonpoint. In our spare time, we were to complete parallel tasks
to flesh out the hypoxia problem while an energetic Eric Smith
was leading the effort to compile fisheries catch statistics for
the “Principal Fisheries of Long Island Sound, 1961-1985”,
without LISS funding we might add. This fisheries report was a
critical starting off point for the Living Marine Resource
Committee, which was formed to assess how the resources were
being affected by the identified problems, especially hypoxia.
The work of that committee laid the groundwork for the new
marine dissolved oxygen criteria.
Not surprisingly, despite good progress, there were many tasks
left undone from that initial work plan. As the focus shifted
from toxic contamination to hypoxia, modeling, public
involvement and stewardship, many other newly identified tasks
have been completed, carrying us well beyond the five-year
Congressional intent. Much of that initial data-gathering effort
was fraught with difficulties – analytical tools were much
poorer and computer technology was still fairly young. Thousands
of observations were placed in the Ocean Data Evaluation System
(ODES) after painstaking entry onto 5-inch floppies, only to
have been deleted from the system along the way. The floppies
may still be around, if anyone is interested.
Today’s work plan is much more sophisticated, of course, as our
evaluation and management tools, have improved. Both the LISS,
through the passage of the Long Island Sound Restoration Act and
creation of the Long Island Sound Program Office, and our
understanding of the ecosystem have grown exponentially. While
there is still the necessary emphasis on monitoring and research
in the 2005 work plan, we’ve moved from evaluating crusty data
to reviewing modern, quality assured data. Up-to-date data keeps
us informed on how well the chemistry and biology of Long Island
Sound are responding to our multi-million dollar management
efforts. Efforts of a much broader LISS partnership are aimed
squarely at improving the comprehensive “health” of the Sound,
as articulated in each annual work plan. This improved direction
is reflected in the flavor of the 2003-2004 LISS Biennial
Report, which reports on the relatively new efforts to restore
habitat, promote stewardship, conduct state of the art
monitoring and research, and involve the entire LIS community in
the process. These efforts nicely complement the longstanding
concerns of hypoxia, toxic contamination, and ecosystem health
that have been central to the LISS process.
Paul Stacey is Supervising Environmental Analyst in the Planning
and Standards Divsion of the Bureau of Water Protection and Land
Reuse at the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection
and Karen Chytalo is Section Chief of Marine Habitat Protection
for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
Message From the Director
In 1987 Cher won the Academy Award for best actress for her
role in Moonstruck. Ray Bolger, better know as the scarecrow in
the 1939 film classic the Wizard of Oz, passed away at the age
of 83. But 1987 was also the birth of a new program to protect
and restore estuaries – the National Estuary Program. Created by
Congress through amendments to the Clean Water Act, the National
Estuary Program, or NEP, was based upon the experiences and
lessons from the already decade-old Chesapeake Bay Program.
What were those experiences and lessons? First, that national
pollution control requirements were not adequate to protect and
restore coastal water and living resources in the face of
increased population and use of our coastal areas. Second,
cooperative partnerships were needed to analyze data, assess
trends, characterize issues, and develop comprehensive
restoration plans. Because each estuary has its own unique
geography and ecology, the restoration plans for each would need
to be crafted locally, involve all stakeholders, and be based on
a thorough scientific characterization.
The Governor of any state could nominate an estuary as
nationally significant and request that a management conference
be convened to develop a comprehensive restoration plan for that
estuary. The Long Island Sound Study, created two years earlier
through a direct congressional appropriation, was required by
the legislation to be given priority consideration by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for acceptance into the
program. A nomination package was quickly prepared by
Connecticut and New York and a ceremony to formally designate
Long Island Sound into the National Estuary Program was held at
the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York on
March 28, 1987.
With 27 other estuaries around the country now designated along
with Long Island Sound, the National Estuary Program has grown
from its modest beginning. The program has served as a testing
ground for new, innovative management techniques and approaches
that have been applied to other areas. But perhaps the most
important lesson learned is that, in many ways, developing a
management plan to restore our estuaries is the easy part. The
difficult part is making the hard choices and long-term
commitment necessary to implement it.
The past 20 years have seen an information revolution, a stock
market bubble (and crash), global trade, and international
terrorism. On a more local and modest scale, this issue of the
UPDATE highlights 20 events in the past 20 years that have
shaped our understanding of and connection to Long Island Sound.
Mark Tedesco
1. The Early Years of LISS
In 1985, Congress, prompted by a U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) study detailing poor water quality in
Chesapeake Bay, provided funds to investigate environmental
conditions at four other estuaries, including Long Island
Sound.. That same year, the Long Island Sound Study (LISS) began
as a partnership that included the EPA, New York State,
Connecticut, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, the Interstate Environmental Commission, the
State University of New York, and the University of Connecticut.
Researchers investigated the Sound for toxic contamination,
pathogens, hypoxia (the condition of low levels of oxygen in
waters that impair underwater habitats and harm aquatic life),
and floatable debris. They quickly focused on hypoxia after
three consecutive summers of severely hypoxic waters were
observed in the western Sound from 1987 to 1989. In 1987
Congress amended the Clean Water Act, formally creating the
National Estuary Program (NEP). Unlike traditional regulatory
approaches to environmental protection, NEP partnerships such as
the LISS target a broad range of issues and encourage
communities to develop coordinated solutions. The issues LISS
identified in its early years led to the creation in 1994 of a
Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan with a goal to
restore and protect the Sound.
2. The $5 Billion Sound
The importance of cleaning up the Sound is rarely questioned
- but the costs have been. The Comprehensive Conservation and
Management Plan identifies significant capital projects, such as
upgrading sewage treatment plants that can cost communities tens
of millions of dollars. Does the return on that investment
justify the costs? In 1990, Dr. Marilyn A. Altobello, a
University of Connecticut professor of economics, developed
estimates of the economic value of the important water quality
dependent uses of the Sound, such as fishing, boating, and
beachgoing. The conclusion - the Sound’s water quality dependant
uses alone generated $4.9 billion per year in direct and
indirect economic value. The study demonstrated the value of
Long Island Sound in economic terms and the importance of
investments to preserve and restore Long Island Sound.
3. The Long Island Sound Office
The Long Island Sound Improvement Act of 1990 directed the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to continue the Long
Island Sound Study (LISS) Management Conference and establish an
office to provide support and monitor implementation of the
Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP). The
legislation codified EPA’s role in coordinating and funding the
implementation efforts of state, federal and local governments.
The initial federal authorization was $3 million per year. EPA
established the office in Stamford, CT in 1991 and a satellite
office in Stony Brook, NY in 1992. The Long Island Sound Office
continues today to coordinate implementation of the CCMP and
provide the public with access to staff and information.
4. Medical Waste on Long Island Sound Beaches!
The 1988 medical waste scare brought floatable debris to the
public’s attention and escalated concern for water pollution.
The floatable debris washing up on area beaches contained a
small number of syringes, which alarmed people into believing
the Sound was awash with dangerous medical waste. Attendance at
Long Island Sound beaches plummeted and seafood consumption
dropped, resulting in an estimated loss to the Tri-State
regional economy of $1-$2 billion. The medical waste, which in
total filled about two shopping bags, was believed to have
washed into the Sound from city streets or combined sewers.
Today, filtration systems help to capture floatable debris
before they enter the Sound and in most areas combined sewers
are separated so items flushed down toilets are captured at
treatment plants. Legislation also increased oversight of
medical waste disposal, including syringes. During the 80s and
90s, beach cleanups collected high numbers of plastic items like
plastic bags and six pack rings. Today the number one item
collected is cigarette filters, which are now made of plastic or
a slowly degrading cellulose.
5. The Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan
The Long Island Sound Study Management Conference was
charged with developing a Comprehensive Conservation and
Management Plan (CCMP) for protecting and improving the health
of the Sound while ensuring compatible human uses within the
ecosystem. The plan identifies 232 specific actions to improve
water quality, protect habitat and living resources, educate and
involve the public, improve understanding of the Sound,
coordinate management efforts, and to monitor progress. The CCMP
was signed on September 26, 1994 in a ceremony attended by then
Governor Mario Cuomo of New York, Lieutenant Governor Eunice
Groark of Connecticut and the U.S. EPA Administrator Carol
Browner.
6. Sound Health and Environmental Indicators
How do you determine the health of a waterbody? Resource
managers focus on specific environmental conditions, such as
dissolved oxygen levels of the water or the populations of key
bird and fish species, to act as indicators of the broad health
of the entire ecosystem. These environmental indicators measure
progress and challenges ahead in restoring the Sound in much the
same way economists use indicators, such as the unemployment
rate or housing costs, to measure the progress of the economy.
Resource managers and scientists have developed more than 40
specific indicators to track the Sound’s health. The Study seeks
ways to make this information public so citizens are aware of
how the Sound is doing. Since 2001, many of these indicators are
included in the Study’s Sound Health report, a 16-page insert in
Sunday newspapers. In 2006, copies of Sound Health 2006 reached
more than 450,000 homes throughout the Sound.
7. Research Surveys Document Severity and Extent of Hypoxia
In the summer of 1987, scientists from the University of
Connecticut found that summertime hypoxia in western Long Island
Sound was more severe and widespread than anticipated. While
hypoxic conditions were slightly less severe in 1988, waters
west of Bridgeport and Port Jefferson had oxygen concentrations
well below acceptable levels. In1989, the LISS sponsored the
most widespread and comprehensive survey ever undertaken to
determine the health of Long Island Sound waters. University of
Connecticut’s Marine Sciences Institute sampled the eastern half
of Long Island Sound, while Stony Brook University’s Marine
Sciences Research Center worked the western half and the
Interstate Environmental Commission and New York City Department
of Environmental Protection supplemented studies in the East
River and the Narrows. These efforts provided essential data for
hydrodynamic and water quality modeling that has provided
insights to understand the severity and causes of hypoxia, and
implement management programs to address the problem.
8. Finding NEMO?
Did you know that the Long Island Sound Study (LISS) helped
give birth to NEMO? No, not the fish of recent animated movie
fame, but the Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials
program. It all started in 1990 when the LISS funded development
of a comprehensive land cover map of Connecticut using remote
sensing and GIS technology. The mapping was a recommendation of
the LISS Nonpoint Source Work Group to better understand the
link between pollution and how we develop the land. In 1991, the
LISS helped fund a pilot project focusing on three coastal
communities in Connecticut to help them reduce nonpoint source
pollution from land development. In 1992 the NEMO Program was
created at the University of Connecticut as collaboration among
the Cooperative Extension System, Connecticut Sea Grant, and the
Natural Resources Management and Engineering Department. By 1995
NEMO staff was conducting workshops in other states to initiate
NEMO programs there. The LISS provided additional funding in
1997 for a targeted NEMO program in support of the Norwalk River
Watershed Initiative and in 2000 to help establish a New York
NEMO program. Today NEMO has expanded into a national network of
31 NEMO programs in 24 coastal states and 6 inland states.
9. LIS Water Quality Monitoring Program
In January 1991 the Connecticut Department of Environmental
Protection (CTDEP) initiated a water quality and hydrographic
survey, continuing the monitoring begun in 1988 by Long Island
Sound Study (LISS) university partners. These data are essential
to understanding the status and trends in the Sound’s water
quality. In 1994, the program expanded from 12 to today’s 17
stations, sampled monthly. In summer up to 30 additional
stations are sampled during six to seven additional cruises to
accurately assess summertime hypoxia. The survey has continued
to expand using U.S. Environmental Protection Agency support
from both LISS and the National Coastal Assessment, forming the
core of CTDEP’s Long Island Sound Ambient Water Quality
Monitoring Program.
10. Stamford’s Denitrifying Plant
In the early 1990s, Stamford developed an inexpensive way to
reduce nitrogen in sewage treatment plants that became a model
for other communities, demonstrating that nitrogen pollution
could be reduced. Stamford’s innovation, developed by Jeanette
Brown, executive director of the Stamford Water Pollution
Control Authority, involved a method to optimize the existing
plant to improve a commonly used process to break down nitrogen
with bacteria. The process requires the biochemical conversion
of ammonia to nitrate, and then to a harmless nitrogen gas, in
the plant’s biological tanks. The process only cost a few
thousand dollars, but it helped remove 65-80 percent of the
nitrogen that would otherwise have discharged into the Sound,
contributing to poor water quality.
In 2004, the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy praised Stamford’s
innovative process to remove nitrogen, but by then Stamford,
concerned about an expanding population that would increase the
demands on the plant, decided it wanted to do more. The city
undertook an upgrade and expansion of the plant and the plant is
now in start-up. Once the plant achieves steady state it will be
able to remove 90 percent of nitrogen entering the plant daily.
11. Phased Plan for Nitrogen Reduction
In 1990, Connecticut and New York agreed to the first steps
in controlling nitrogen loads to Long Island Sound. A phased
approach was adopted by the Long Island Sound Study (LISS) that
froze sewage treatment plant (STP) discharges of nitrogen (Phase
I) and committed to reduce STP discharges (Phase II) using
low-cost upgrades and process modifications. By 1997 a reduction
of 3,900 tons of nitrogen per year had been reached. In 1998,
agreement was reached on Phase III, including a commitment to
reduce nitrogen from New York and Connecticut by 58.5% from
baseline levels by 2014. On April 3, 2001 the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) approved the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)
for nitrogen discharges to Long Island Sound that was developed
by Connecticut and New York. The TMDL formalized the agreement
and made the reductions enforceable under the Clean Water Act.
The phased nitrogen goals included a Phase IV to review
out-of-state air and watershed sources of nitrogen and
management actions coordinated by EPA. Phase V actions include
several non-treatment technologies, such as aeration and tide
gates on the East River.
12. Clean Water Jobs Coalition
On January 18, 1992, fear that the no-net-increase policy
for nitrogen discharges might potentially lead to a moratorium
on development brought more than 1,500 construction workers to
the Long Island Sound Citizens Summit conference to stage a
demonstration. But from that conflict, a unique coalition arose
between environmental groups and construction trade
organizations. The construction workers realized they have a
common interest with environmental groups - major investments in
clean water create large construction projects, produce jobs and
strengthen long term economic growth leading ultimately to a
cleaner Sound. The Clean Water/Jobs Coalition was formed to
advocate for legislation, funding, and policies that improve the
health of Long Island Sound while providing for construction
jobs.
13. The Nitrogen Trading Program
To meet Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) commitments for
nitrogen control, Connecticut, New York, and the Long Island
Sound Study (LISS) investigated “effluent trading” as an
innovative, market-based way to meet water quality standards.
Connecticut, with 79 Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTWs)
within the Long Island Sound drainage basin was ideally-suited
to implement an innovative nitrogen effluent trading program. In
June 2001 Connecticut Public Act 01-180 established a Nitrogen
Credit Exchange Program and in 2002 Connecticut Department of
Environmental Protection issued a General Permit for Nitrogen to
include all 79 POTWs under that single authority. The first year
of nitrogen trading was completed by 2003 in what is today a
nationally recognized and cost effective tool to improve water
quality. In New York, innovative “bubble” permits that
aggregated loading limits into tradable units were established.
The bubble permits provided flexibility to dischargers to
identify the most cost-effective mix of actions to achieve
nitrogen reduction requirements.
14. The Lobster Die-off of 1999
During the fall of 1999, the lobster population in Long
Island Sound suffered a significant die-off, particularly in the
western and central Sound. The bi-state commercial lobster
landings west of Norwalk showed declines by as much as 99
percent. While the reductions in ports east of Norwalk in the
central Sound ranged from 64 to 91 percent. In addition,
lobsters in the central and eastern Sound were succumbing to a
non-fatal shell disease. As a result of the ecological and
economic impacts of the die-off, Congress, at the requests of
the governors of New York and Connecticut, provided funds to
investigate the potential causes of the disaster, and to provide
economic relief to lobstermen losing their livelihood. The
states also contributed to the efforts. The Lobster Research
Initiative subsequently identified a variety of factors
contributing to the deaths and disease, including above normal
water temperatures, crowded conditions, low dissolved oxygen,
and stress from pollutants. Warm temperatures were believed to
be the driving factor. The threshold for lobsters is 20° C (or
68° F), but in the summer of 1999 bottom water temperatures were
1-2° C higher. It became likely that at the higher temperatures,
the lobsters’ immune systems were unable to mount a sufficient
response to diseases, including paramoebiasis, a deadly
parasitic disease. Today, resource managers are looking at
regulations to help manage and sustain the fishery that
survived.
15. The Norwalk River Initiative
In 1995 the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
and the Long Island Sound Office began to develop a model
watershed management approach. By March 1996 the Long Island
Sound Study (LISS), Connecticut Department of Environmental
Protection, and NRCS mutually identified the Norwalk River
watershed as a key area to test the watershed management
approach. A Technical Advisory Group added municipal
representatives in October 1996 and the next year the Norwalk
River Watershed Initiative (NRWI) Committee was formed. To equip
municipal officials with tools for land use decision-making,
LISS funded a series of 12 Nonpoint Education for Municipal
Officials (NEMO) workshops in six of the seven NRWI communities.
The workshops were attended by more than 200 stakeholders. A
Watershed Action Plan was successfully developed and, by 1999, a
NRWI Coordinator was funded by LISS. The chief elected officials
of the seven watershed towns signed an updated Action Plan,
published in 2005. Today the NRWI is an active program building
on the success of the Action Plan.
16. Polluted runoff
As municipalities upgrade sewage treatment plants to reduce
nitrogen, more attention is being focused on other ways nitrogen
enters Long Island Sound. Resource managers, for example, are
interested in controlling animal waste and excess fertilizer
that are carried away by stormwater during precipitation events
into catch basins, and eventually the Sound. The stormwater
runoff may contain nitrogen, pathogens from dog waste, motor
oil, and sediments, thereby impairing water quality. In 2000,
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency required small
municipalities to come up with management programs to control
polluted stormwater runoff. Communities around the Sound are
developing control measures. In 2005, the Long Island Sound
Study (LISS) office published a new brochure, Step by Step: A
citizen’s guide to curbing polluted runoff, to help
municipalities inform their residents about the dangers of
polluted runoff. LISS printed and distributed about 10,000
brochures to municipalities and community groups to provide to
the public. In addition, several municipalities and
organizations have requested an electronic copy of the brochure
design template for their own printing. So far, an additional
40,000 copies have been printed by municipalities with at least
another 20,000 copies anticipated.
17. Seals, Striped Bass, and Ospreys
Improved environmental conditions, fostered by environmental
laws and conservation measures, have resulted in increased
populations of species that were barely seen in and around Long
Island Sound 20 years ago.
Seals, for example, are making a recovery as a result of cleaner
waters and the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act that restricts
the killing of seals and other marine mammals. Seals are now
commonly seen wintering in rock outcrops off the shore of Long
Island Sound harbors and embayments.
Ospreys are another success story. Over a generation ago, their
numbers had dwindled throughout the U.S. as a result of the
birds ingesting DDT, a pesticide that caused the thinning of
their eggshells. The birds of prey recovered gradually as a
result of the ban of DDT in 1972. In Long Island Sound, its
recovery has been helped by the efforts of volunteer birding
groups who have erected wooden platforms along the shoreline.
These platforms are used by ospreys for nesting sites, and have
taken the place of tall trees that had been lost as a result of
development along the coast.
Another important recovery story is striped bass. Their
populations in the Sound and throughout the Atlantic coast were
severely low in the 1980s. Fishery management measures,
including catch limits and minimum size restrictions, have
helped the species recover, and make it a popular sport fish
once again. In 2004, an estimated 1.5 million striped bass were
caught (and mostly released) by recreational anglers in the
Sound, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service. While
the population has recovered, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
in the fish tissue of striped bass remain a threat to human
health, and as a result public health advisories in New York and
Connecticut recommend limits on the amount of striped bass to
eat. PCBs, once used in industry as an insulator, are a known
animal carcinogen and possible human carcinogen. They do not
break down easily and as a result they still persist in the
Sound even though their use was banned in 1977.
18. Tidal Wetland Loss?!
In 1999 New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation (NYSDEC) staff noticed that some protected
intertidal marsh habitats seemed to be shrinking in size. The
Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection also found
evidence of tidal wetland loss around portions of the rivers
that drain to the Sound. No clear causes were identified in
either case. To try to address the problem, the Long Island
Sound Study (LISS) sponsored a tidal wetlands loss workshop
administered by NYSDEC. Invited experts from around the country
attended the two day workshop. The workshop participants
concluded that the causative factors in marsh loss were unknown
but that multiple factors were likely at work. The participants
agreed to regional collaboration and coordination of research,
monitoring, restoration, and management activities. The LISS has
supported research and plans to hold a follow up workshop to
review the results.
19. Long Island Sound Habitat Restoration Initiative
In 1996, the Long Island Sound Study (LISS) Management
Committee funded habitat restoration coordinators in the New
York State Department of Environmental Conservation and
Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection to develop a
habitat restoration plan for the Sound. An interagency work
group was formed to guide the effort and by 1997 the LISS
Habitat Restoration Initiative held public meetings to solicit
information on possible restoration opportunities. In 1998, the
LISS adopted specific goals to restore at least 2000 acres of
coastal habitats and 100 miles of riverine migratory corridors
for fish passage within ten years. The interagency Habitat
Restoration Team has identified and ranked 373 sites for
potential habitat restoration, with 111 ranked as ‘high
priority’. A poster of sites was printed and distributed and
updated in 2002. By the end of 2005, the Habitat Restoration
Initiative had restored 573 acres of habitat and opened up 90
miles of streams for fish passage.
20. “Listen to the Sound” Hearings
In the late 1980s, as the Long Island Sound Study (LISS)
Management Conference was planning for the environmental cleanup
of Long Island Sound, individuals and citizens wanted to make
sure their voice was heard. In 1990, the National Audubon
Society launched Listen to the Sound, a series of 15 citizen
hearings, attended by 1,500 individuals, which gave a voice to
the public’s yearning for clean, clear water for swimming,
litter-free beaches, harbors accessible to the boating public,
and the protection of abundant and diverse wildlife. The Listen
to the Sound hearings became the impetus for a Long Island Sound
network of citizen groups to work together to make
recommendations and influence the LISS’s Comprehensive
Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP). Ten years later, in
2000, the Audubon chapters of New York and Connecticut convened
a second set of Listen to the Sound hearings. The focus that
year was on restoring and protecting coastal habitats, and
ensuring public access to the recreational and natural areas of
the shoreline. At the hearings, citizens made recommendations on
what special places should be protected as part of a Long Island
Sound “reserve system.” Some of these recommended sites have
since been identified as inaugural areas in the LISS Stewardship
Initiative. By identifying places with significant biological,
scientific, or recreational value throughout Long Island Sound,
and developing a strategy to protect and enhance those special
places, the Stewardship Initiative is implementing CCMP
recommendations related to Living Resources & Habitat
Management.
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Long Island Sound Study
EPA Long
Island Sound Office
888 Washington Boulevard
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Phone: (203) 977-1541 Fax: (203) 977-1546
Last Update on:
11/30/07
URL:
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