A Brief History of the Natural Resources Council of Connecticut

by Claire Bennitt and Adam Moore

Connecticut's industrial engine was barreling along in the post World War II years. Citizens, however, grew concerned that the way in which our natural resources were being used was unsustainable. One particular citizen, William Shepard, the Secretary-Forester of the Connecticut Forest and Park Association, was concerned enough to do something about it.

According to Connecticut Woodlands: A Century's Story of the Connecticut Forest and Park Association, by the Rev. George Milne, in 1950 Mr. Shepard arranged a meeting in the office of Governor Chester Bowles. Attending the meeting were Governor Bowles, Mr. Shepard, Anne Conover, president of the Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut, and Sidney Edwards, director of the State Development Commission. At this meeting the Natural Resources Council of Connecticut was founded. The Council's basic mission was to educate Connecticut's citizens on the best way to formulate sound public policy concerning the use and ownership of our natural heritage.

The Natural Resources Council got to work at once. Its first conference was held on November 16, 1950, at the Hotel Bond in Hartford. Over 350 people attended, and this meeting set the standard for decades worth of conferences that the Council has since held. Conferences bore such titles as: "Conservation -  Dynamic Concept" in 1961, "Outdoor Recreation for Three Million People" in 1958, "Water Crises - Real or Imaginary?" in 1966, "The Future of Long Island Sound and its Shoreline" in 1968 and "Man's Polluted Environment: Air - Land - Water" in 1967.

These conferences produced results. If there is one standard-bearing conference, perhaps it was that of 1961. This conference featured a keynote address on open space by William Holly Whyte, author of the "Whyte Report, " The Exploding Metropolis and The Organization Man. Mr. Whyte's report is credited with launching the modern environmental movement in Connecticut. Another conference that bore fruit was the 1960 conference. At this conference, Dr. Charles H.W. "Hank" Foster, then Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Natural Resources, spoke on the new Massachusetts invention of local Conservation Commissions. Listening intently in the audience were Mrs. Marion Richardson and Mrs. Deborah Eddy. The Conference was held in December of 1960. By the adjournment of the 1961 legislative session - just months later - the combined efforts fo Mmes. Richardson and Eddy resulted in the passage of P.A. 310 - "An Act Enabling Municipalities to Establish Conservation Commissions." Mmes. Richardson and Eddy became known as the "mothers of the Conservation Commissions." Other notable speakers included Governor John Dempsey, Governor John Chafee of Rhode Island, who spoke on the state's "Green Acres" program, and Governor Abraham Ribicoff.

In the mid-seventies, the Council sponsored a conference on water company lands and perhaps this program had the most far-reaching consquences. Subjects raised included the multiple uses of water company lands as well as a multiple-barrier approach to protection of the drinking water supply. As a direct result of the conference in 1975, a moratorium was placed on the sale of water company lands until a study could be completed on the amount of land that water companies held and the value of those lands to the water supply. From the study, the current water company land classification system was devised and the legislation to establish this system was enacted. This became landmark legislation, and the legislation is still the law that protects both the land and water quality. The creation of the South Central Connecticut Regional Water District was an indirect result of the conference, too. The inability to sell land brought organizers and the parent company, the New Haven Water Company, to the table to negotiate the sale.

In the mid eighties, the Council tackled global warming with a conference featuring notable protagonists. Perhaps the first organization in Connecticut to raise the alarm about global warming, the conference gave the subject high visibility at a time when global warming was not considered very important or even very interesting.

Conferences on recycling (which took place prior to Connecticut assembling a program), clean air and urban sprawl have brought people together in an environment dedicated to learning about evolving issues. A recent conference highlighted the lack of a state water policy and the need for stream flow regulations that will ensure the availability of water for public safety and the viability of our aquatic habitats. The Council has worked extremely hard to be sure that competing interests are represented on every subject.

The Council has always sought a membership that represents the spectrum of business and environmental interests in Connecticut. On its Board, the Council has sought, and enjoyed, the participation of leaders of these various interests. In early years John Hibbard of the Connecticut Forest and Park Association, Attorney Russell Brenneman, Paul Waggoner of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, Chuck Wrinn of Northeast Utilities, Professor Barry Wulff and Robert Josephy from the agricultural community provided distinguished Board leadership to the Council. Board members have included representatives from the Women's Clubs of Connecticut and the Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut, utilities, the private business sector and Connecticut's universities as well as people from state and local governments.

Incidentally, John Hibbard was introduced formally to the Council even before his introduction to the Forest and Park Association which employed him for 37 years. The Proceedings of the Council's Fifth Annual Conservation Conference reveal that Mr. Hibbard, then a freshman at the University of Connecticut and eighteen years old, attended the conference. Moreover, he was awarded the Young Outdoor American Award from Governor John Lodge, who had delegated the selection of the award winner to the Council.

The Natural Resources Council celebrated its 50th anniversary with an evening at the Mystic Aquarium learning about how a major tourist attraction educates its visitors about marine life and Long Island Sound. We were joined by many representatives of environmental organizations and state government agencies established long after NRCC but who are contributing to the protection of our environment.

The council has not generally entered the public policy arena itself with a stated position on issues. Rather, it provided - and provides - a critical, needed, unbiased forum for the presentation and discussion of key natural resource issues. For its conferences, the Council has been able to find speakers that inspire action. What's more, for its conferences the Council has found attendees that will be inspired and take action. The reason for the success of the Council is it has remained true to its mission - the formulation of sound public policy based on educated citizens.