Our mission: "To promote the development, conservation, supervision, and regulation of natural resources, including water resources within the Town of Killingly and provide the methodology for protection and maintenance of these resources."

The Conservation Commission is working hard to protect the natural resources in town and to promote the parks and open space that are open for residents of the region to enjoy. Here are a few of the activities we are involved in:

Waltober 2009

Boots and Boats

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Join the Killingly Conservation Commission in exploring the Quinebaug River on Killingly’s new River Trail and Water Trail, located off Rt. 12, south of Danielson.

This year's two-part Walktober event on Sunday October 11 offers two choices:

1) Walk along the newly completed Quinebaug River Trail: 

Easy three-to-four hour walk on handicapped accessible paved surface.  Learn about the old trolley line, industrial use of the river, Native American fishing weirs and East Coast Greenways and connecting trails through Connecticut.

2)  Paddle  While walkers are heading down the walking trail, boaters will set off on the Quinebaug River.  Boaters will paddle to Manship Park in Canterbury with a short break at the Plainfield Fish Hatchery. Registration is necessary for the paddle: contact Eric Rumsey 860-779-5310 or 234-0196 or email erumsey@killinglyct.org.   

Both events start at 1 pm at the little league fields behind the water treatment plant on Rt. 12 south of Danielson. 

Directions: From I-395, exit 91W go west on Route 6.  At the traffic light, turn left on Route 12.  Take first right (across from Friendly Spirits).  Look for Canoe Launch signs.  Follow signs “44” and “45”.

For questions about the Walktober event phone 860 234-0196

Protecting town-owned properties

The Killingly Conservation Commission recently identified 10 town-owned properties that they felt ought to be protected from future development through a conservation easment. The commission determined that the properties had either environmental or historical value and should be protected for future generations to enjoy. The properties were already owned by the town, and there was no cost to the town to protect them. The State of Connecticut has a goal of protecting 21% of the state in protected open-space. The 10 properties identified by the commission will increase Killingly's open space from 6% to 8%.

In thePowerpoint presentationthat the commission gave to the Town Council on January 13, 2009, a map of each parcel is shown. After a public hearing in February, the council approved the conservation easements.”

Geocaching. Geocaching is a great way to get out and enjoy the natural resouces in town. Geocaching is an entertaining adventure game for GPS users. The basic idea is to have individuals and organizations set up caches all over the world and share the locations of these caches on the internet. GPS users can then use the location coordinates to find the caches. There are several geocache sites in Killingly. The best place to start is theofficial geocache web site.