On June 18, 2010, the Thames River Basin Partnership celebrated the10th anniversary of their flagship event, the annual Floating Workshop, by organizing a paddle on Poquetanuck Cove.  Click here to view a short slideshow of the event. Click here to see the workshop agenda.

Poquetanuck Cove is the location of a major Partnership habitat restoration initiative.  Beginning in 2008, an effort to control invasive Phragmites was initiated in the tidal wetlands of this cove on the west side of the Thames River.  Already, native plants are beginning to become reestablished in treated areas. Located between Preston and Ledyard, CT, Poquetanuck Cove is a State of Connecticut designated a bird sanctuary.  The plant community in the cove includes many species listed on the State of Connecticut Natural Diversity Data Base as either endangered, threatened or of special concern. 

This workshop featured a review of the exceptional natural resources in the cove and a tour of permanently preserved property with cove frontage.  While osprey flew overhead, paddlers watched as Mickey Weiss of Project Oceanology sieved through a bottom sample from the intertidal mud flat, home to a variety of benthic invertebrates.  Several species of polychaete worms, and other small animals were identified.

Are there enough protective mechanisms in place to protect the natural resources of Poquetanuck Cove?  Click here to review current protections and additional strategies suggested by Bill Haase.

An outcome of this year's workshop is a Poquetanuck Cove Canoe/Kayak Trail Guide.  Click here to download a copy.

This workshop was sponsored in part by the Eastern Connecticut Resource Conservation and Development Council, Connecticut Sea Grant and the Mohegan Sun.

Additional links

For additional photos of Floating Workshop 10 courtesy of Jerry Wylie of Connecticut Coastal Kayaking, click here.

Action Plan for Protecting the Natural Resources of Poquetanuck Cove in Preston and Ledyard, CT by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, 1997 (draft)

Phragmites Field Guide Distinguishing Native and Exotic Forms of Common Reed published by Plant Conservation Alliance

Natural Resource Inventory of the Former Norwich State Hospital Property in Preston by the CT Environmental Review Team

Tidal Wetlands Buffer Guidance Document by the CT DEP Office of Long Island Sound Program

Preston, CT Heritage Landscape and Resource Planning Report and Recommendations

CT DEP Comments to CT DOT regarding proposed Route 2a bypass project.

TRBP Watershed Restoration Project at Poquetanuck Cove

Avalonia Land Conservancy, Inc.

The Nature Conservancy Poquetanuck Cove Preserve

CT DEP Coastal Access Property - Poquetanuck Cove

Quentin R. Long Car Top Boat Launch, Ledyard, CT

Tri Town Trail vision, linking Groton, Ledyard and Preston