In this very spot visited by 85,000 people annually, the State of Connecticut has chosen to impose an outdoor, four lane Gun Range with a 55,000 square foot facility. They expect to fire 4,000-6,000 rounds daily. Construction would require knocking out historic stone walls, paving and widening dirt forest roads for year-round use. And that is only the beginning.

 

“Connecticut’s backyard” was created to preserve the natural world, and it is under attack. So many will lose so much because of an ill-conceived plan favored by the state, in a place that should be protected by our laws.

 

There are numerous issues of toxicity. Sound pollution has been established as dangerous to our health by the American Medical Association. Animals for miles will be forced out of their life sustaining ecosystems due to simultaneous explosive blasts. The elevation makes it likely that lead leachate can find its way to Mount Misery Brook, which Connecticut DEEP has identified as critical habitat, less than a mile away. Light towers will have harmful impacts on the nocturnal animals, as well as disrupting the fly-zone for birds, particularly during migration. Animals traverse Lee Road for a vital source of water at Crooked Brook.

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The forest would become a dead-zone instead of a living ecosystem. A vital piece of Connecticut’s history could be destroyed forever. The land endowed to the people would be ripped away from us in this irresponsible plan that is being forced upon the forest.