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09/02/2020 08:30 AMCatherine Zamecnik has always been interested in the outdoors. Growing up in West Haven, Catherine has fond memories of her childhood running around on the beach with her friends. That love of the outdoors continues in her current role as the chair of Clinton’s Conservation Commission.
Catherine got her start in serving on conservation-related boards in Clinton several years ago. She remembers that she was first advised by a former selectman to join the town’s Inland Wetland Commission.
Catherine says at the time, the board dealt more with regulatory issues, however, she wanted to take a more active role when it came to advising and informing.
Thus, out of the wetlands commission the Conservation Commission was formed, where Catherine has served for more than a decade.
To Catherine, conservation efforts are important because everything is connected to the environment.
“We have to have a complete and balanced environment around us,” she says.
For example, marshes that serve as buffers and trees that provide air filtration, or open spaces that are home to food providers and pollinators are all so immensely important to protect, she says.
“In the long run, not having those things is creating problems that affect our health and our economy,” says Catherine. “You have to get the word out that these things are important.”
Catherine credits her father, whom she described as an outdoorsman, with sparking her interest in nature.
“I’ve always been an animal lover,” Catherine says, but notes she began to really enjoy spending time in the woods in her early 20s. “I grew to appreciate the peace and tranquility. The more time I spent out in nature the more I saw and understood the connectedness.”
Her current service is an extension of that.
“I feel it’s something I can do to make the world a stable place for people younger than me,” Catherine says.
Over the years the commission and Catherine have been a part of many interesting efforts to preserve Clinton’s open spaces. One such initiative is the recent official opening of the Weiss-Loveday Watershed Property. The nearly 40-acre property contains trails that can be accessed off of River Road and off of Watrous Road.
“That was an effort from my neighbors and I,” Catherine says.
Making the trails a reality is something that took nearly 20 years. Catherine, her husband Tom, and others began presenting to the town’s Board of Selectmen on the property around the year 2000, and continued with the project until 2014 when a town meeting unanimously approved using an appropriation of town funds to help purchase the property.
The Clinton Land Trust officially purchased the property in 2015 and since then Catherine and Tom have worked to blaze out a trail on the property.
Catherine says that the conservation commission has been working on mapping the open space in town. This way when applicants come into town with projects, the commission is able to work with applicants to see if there are opportunities like placing conservation easements on properties.
Catherine credits the Clinton Land Conservation Trust with helping with the preservation of Clinton’s natural resources. The trust has been able to step up and assist with the maintenance and administration of some of the properties.
“Working with the land trust has helped a lot, where the land trust is able to take on responsibility,” Catherine says.
She adds that conservation efforts take team work.
“You can’t accomplish things by yourself,” she says. “You need a community to do it.”
Besides her work with conservation efforts, Catherine is an avid gardener and enjoys spending time at the Food for All garden adjacent to the Pierson School that provides food for the food pantry. Catherine was recently appointed to the town’s sustainability committee, where she hopes to connect that group with some efforts supported by the conservation committee.
She also runs the Facebook Page Positively Clinton.
“It’s a place to discuss local issues without unnecessary hostility toward our neighbors. We try to keep the discussions focused on local events and concerns. We try not to allow any comment thread to be led off track with nonproductive comments and rudeness,” she says.
Civility on social media is rarely a given, she has found.
“I started it because I wanted to communicate with my neighbors without sifting through insults, misunderstandings, accusations, etc. I wasn’t happy with the conversations in other groups. I wanted to know what was going on in town without the negative dialog,” she says. “Some people don’t want to waste their time or ruin their day with that. So there needs to be an alternative. Something for everyone. Positively Clinton is a public group, but you must request membership and answer a few questions before acceptance,” explains Catherine.
Catherine has lived in Clinton since 1985.
“I love the small-town atmosphere and how many people you know,” she says.
She also likes the blend of the neighborhoods and the beach area of town, which reminds her of her youth spend on the beach in West Haven.
“Something about me just needs to be near the beach,” Catherine says.