Groton Open Space Association- GOSA

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Groton Open Space Association- GOSA

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GOSA: Advocating for land, water, and wildlife in Southeastern CT since 1967. And there are fabulous hiking trails on all our properties!

GOSA and Land Conservation

GOSA, first organized in the late 1960's as the “Save the Haley Farm Committee,” successfully opposed a 250-unit duplex housing project proposed for the site. GOSA raised matching funds and encouraged the state to establish the 200-acre Haley Farm State Park in 1970 and to later add 57 additional acres in 2002. Haley Farm is beloved by all with its many trails and spectacular views of Palmer Cove and Fishers Island Sound. The interior fields and forest provide a wonderful habitat with magnificent transverse stone walls. GOSA serves as a Friend of the State Parks, providing stewardship activities, an annual Earth Day clean-up, and, since 1985, funding for the annual field mowing. GOSA Education and Outreach

GOSA hosts community hikes on its properties during events like CT Trails Day and works with local schools, scout troops, church groups and other associations to educate the public on the importance of open space, wildlife and habitat restoration, and other topics that can be customized to your curriculum. Students and teachers interested in educational activities utilizing GOSA open space
(including hikes, research projects, student internships and service learning opportunities) are encouraged to contact us. GOSA and Environmental Advocacy

GOSA has a long history of environmental advocacy. We work with developers and
land use commissions to promote better project designs and advocate for the protection of natural resources, habitat, and drinking water, as well as protection of the vital waterways and estuaries of Long Island Sound. GOSA and Water Protection

GOSA encourages best management practices for stormwater runoff, and has provided expert testimony during land-use proceedings and regulatory hearings. All of the undisturbed land protected by GOSA’s efforts helps to preserve the quality of Long Island Sound water, key to our regional recreational use and fishing
and shell-fishing industries. GOSA participated in the Groton Utilities Drinking Water Quality Management Plan (DWQMP) whose motto is Ben Franklin’s “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” One of the group’s key findings—that drinking water quality can be affected by runoff from themost distant reaches of a watershed—prompted both DWQMP and GOSA to support low impact development practices in lieu of providing no treatment or highly engineered management systems. GOSA and Habitat Restoration

GOSA received two United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program (WHIP) grants. Our team of volunteers works tirelessly following both the WHIP and UConn Department of Forestry work plans to restore meadows, encourage shrubby habitat, improve streamside corridors, and remove countless invasive species. The Merritt Family Forest WHIP, a three-year plan to restore a former meadow area, was completed in 2011. The fields are now alive with birds and other key species. The Sheep Farm WHIP is a demanding and detailed restoration of 21 acres scheduled over five years through 2015. Eight dilapidated structures were removed and the ground planted with native grasses, shrubs and flowers. Old fields were cleared of invasive species and seeded with native grasses and flowers. The Fort Hill Brook corridor and five acres of a new forest is undergoing selective tree cutting to allow light to encourage shrubby habitat. GOSA volunteers, in cooperation with experts from the USDA and UConn, deserve credit for “WHIPing” the land into shape. GOSA and Community Collaboration: Cross-Town Trail

GOSA, the CT Dept of Energy and Environmental Protection, the Town of Groton, and Avalonia Land Conservancy have collaborated to create a cross-town trail that traverses approximately 1,700 acres of state, town, and privately-owned land from Bluff Point to the Mystic River. This new trail starts at Bluff Point State Park, crosses the railroad bridge to Haley Farm State Park, passes through Mortimer Wright Preserve, The Merritt Family Forest, Beebe Pond Park, Moore Woodlands, and ends, appropriately, at Town's End. The trail is approximately six miles long from start to finish. A map of this trail is available on GOSA’s website.

09/14/2026

Walt's Walls and Woods continues to impress! Brown-eyed Susan, obedient plant, tickseed, bugle w**d keep the blooms going as we near the first day of autumn.

09/04/2026

🏆 GOSA Receives International Hermes Creative Award

The Groton Open Space Association (GOSA) is honored to receive a Hermes Creative Award in the 20th Annual Hermes Creative Awards competition for our video series documenting GOSA's history and highlighting the volunteers, advocates, and community partners who continue to advance our mission today.

Named after the ancient Greek messenger Hermes, the award recognizes excellence in creativity, storytelling, design, and communication. The distinctive Hermes statuette symbolizes innovation and craftsmanship and is produced by Society Awards, creators of some of the world's most prestigious entertainment and media awards.

This recognition celebrates not only the quality of our video series, but also the dedication of the many individuals who have helped protect Groton's open spaces over the past decades. We are proud to share GOSA's story and inspire future generations to support land conservation, stewardship, and community engagement.

A huge thank you to Alec Asten at Firesite Films and everyone who has been part of GOSA's journey! 🌿

09/03/2026

It is with great sadness that we at Groton Open Space Association report the death of our dear friend, neighbor and benefactor Judy (Julia) Weber on August 31, 2026.

She was 90 years old, and had lived a good life on Avery Farm. Judy’s father, Latham Avery, purchased his first parcel at age 19 in 1928 or ’29, intending to create a nature preserve. He and a neighbor, Jim Lamb, built a dam and spillway with boards to regulate the height of the water, eventually forming a 38-acre marsh wildlife habitat. The town helped by raising the roadway and strengthening the bank.

The scenic dirt Lambtown Road Extension, now closed to traffic, is wheelchair-accessible and is a favorite destination for recreation and birdwatching. The road is surrounded by diverse habitats: the marsh, Ed Lamb Brook, several fields, a rare white cedar swamp, forests and hedgerows. The marsh features wading birds, wood ducks, migrating ducks and geese, beavers, basking turtles, small fish, rare carnivorous plants and floating plant islands.

Judy attended a one room schoolroom nearby on Ledyard’s Lambtown Road, and she fondly remembered children skating on the frozen marsh during recess.

Over the years, Latham acquired more parcels, adding up to a full 305 acres. He developed a small dairy farm, with a herd of 30 or so Jersey milk cows, hand milking and haying. Judy’s sister, Katherine, later raised regional and national champion Morgan horses. The family now provides the fields as a home for rescue horses.

Throughout her life, Judy appreciated the quiet beauty of the land and the diversity of its wildlife. When we at GOSA thanked her for asking us to save the land, she returned our thank-you, saying she felt relief and that she had been losing sleep worrying about the fate of her property once she was gone.

With the help of her lawyer Deborah Tedford, Judy arranged a generous bargain sale to GOSA of the 305 acres; she donated approximately 150+ acres located in Groton, and accepted a market price for the remaining 150+ acres in Ledyard. The family continues ownership of the 1.39 acres surrounding the historic 1775 farmhouse and barn. A lease agreement with GOSA provides for the family’s use of the fields, forest, sheds, and composting area for agricultural purposes and for firewood gathering. A conservation easement favoring the State provides for public access and for an additional layer of protection, as part of its Open Space and Watershed Land Acquisition grant program agreement.

We at GOSA are forever grateful to Judy for her generosity and foresight in wanting to save this beautiful land forever.

Condolences may be sent through the Byles Funeral Home website, or may be sent by mail to PO Box 436, Ledyard, CT 06339.

There will be a graveside service in the Lambtown Cemetery on Lambtown Road in Ledyard, on September 5, 2026, at 10 am.

08/31/2026

Sailors from the USS Arizona once again came out in force to help us recently, with 23 members of the crew joining a work party at Avery Farm Nature Preserve on Friday.

This group helped clear vines and invasive vegetation around trees in the area we started rehabilitating this spring. Our goal is to restore the space to a healthy mix of forest and meadow.

The sailors attacked the project with enthusiasm and energy, and the result is amazing. We appreciate the guys from Navy Submarine Base New London and enjoy working with them. They hail from all over the country and have a great sense of community, and we're lucky to have them to help with projects like this.

08/28/2026

Have you seen our pollinator garden at Beebe Cove Vista this year?

Recently we've spotted goldenrod, obedient plant, Joe Pye w**d, and mountain mint.

08/13/2026

Charter Oak Federal Credit Union has once again launched its Matching Gifts Program, and it's an excellent opportunity to double your gift to the Groton Open Space Association.

Donations between $25 and $500 will be matched dollar-for-dollar, now through November 19th or until $300,000 in donations are made. We're thankful to Charter Oak for once again offering this opportunity to support local organizations!

Visit the Charter Oak website to learn more:

We’re committed to giving back to charitable entities within our field of membership, as well as charities elsewhere that are meaningful to our members. Looking for a Non-Profit to support? Use our database to find an organization to support: Non-Profit Locator > We’ll match all qualified*

07/31/2026

The Groton Open Space Association offers its condolences to the family of Tim Jackson, whose tireless volunteer efforts helped so many organizations in Groton. Tim was especially active in our stewardship efforts, suggesting ways we could improve our properties and showing up with his truck and a smile at our clean-up efforts and work parties.

A celebration of Tim's life will be held at the Bill Library on August 12th. His full obituary is available at the following link: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/wfsb/name/timothy-jackson-obituary

07/26/2026

GOSA (Groton Open Space Association, Inc) is currently seeking a volunteer treasurer to join our organization.

We are a land trust with eight preserves across Groton and into Ledyard with about 16 miles of trails across 732 acres. All properties are open to the public at no charge.

This position involves about 15 hours a month to oversee GOSA’s financial health, manage GOSA’s contract bookkeeper, and ensure records are in compliance with non-profit accounting standards.

The Treasurer plays a key role in supporting GOSA’s mission of preserving open space in our community by providing stewardship of the organization’s finances.

For more information about the position, please contact us at [email protected]. For more information about GOSA, please visit our website at gosaonline.org.

07/17/2026

Marie and Tom Olson, along with Joan Smith, represented GOSA at the ribbon cutting hosted by Groton Public Works Department celebrating completion of the Quaker Farm Road Bridge. The bridge spans Haley Brook and connects Lambtown Road to Haley Road, forming a popular walking and biking route.

Construction of this bridge has been eleven years in the making, and involved complex permitting and easement processes. There are now improvements to water flow, flood attenuation and native plantings on both sides of the bridge.

We can now see native species as the purple pickerel w**d flowers and fluffy cat o’ nine tails. Even cookies served for the event featured a picture of the bridge.

Kudos to the Public Works Department for a job well done. GOSA thanks you.

07/12/2026

The Fourth of July thunderstorm and subsequent heavy rains took down trees and limbs across the region, including in GOSA properties. Our stewardship crew has been hard at work clearing them out to ensure that our trails are safe and accessible.

If you encounter a blocked trail or hazard, please let us know by sending us a message via social media or emailing [email protected].

Address

Mystic, CT

Website

http://gosaonline.org/

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