Madison Conservation Commission Eyes September Trees Presentation for Select Board

Conservation · Meeting of July 22, 2026

CT MADISON — Madison Conservation Commission targets September 21 Select Board meeting for a presentation on urban tree benefits. Chair Heather Crawford said the commission would explore a joint appearance with the town's Tree Advisory Committee, which is already scheduled to deliver its first-year report that evening, built around a circulated article titled "Cities Can't Afford to Keep Treating Trees Like Decoration." During an extended public comment session, resident Laurian Cimino raised wildlife corridor and conservation easement possibilities; member Al Goldberg, affiliated with the Madison Conservation Land Trust, explained that minimum one- and two-acre lot zoning, multi-parcel agreement requirements, and realtor incentives against encumbering property have kept easements rare in the roughly 35,000-acre town, where the Land Trust controls approximately 2,000 acres. Members also flagged a roughly 15-acre parcel abutting Cockaponset State Forest — part of a property listed at just under $2 million — as warranting conservation attention, with a developer reportedly already engaged.

In the full story:

• The complete report — 806 words

Source: the Conservation meeting of July 22, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

MADISON — July 22, 2026 — The Madison Conservation Commission agreed Wednesday to pursue a presentation on urban tree benefits to the Board of Selectmen at its September 21 meeting, while also advancing plans for a broader "Congress of Committees" gathering of land-use agencies this fall.

No formal votes were taken on either initiative, but members aligned on a set of concrete next steps as the commission's hour-long meeting worked through a full agenda of ongoing projects, intern updates, and a spirited public comment session on conservation easements and a potentially significant land parcel abutting state forest.

The Full Story

The commission's most animated discussion came during an extended public comment period, when resident Laurian Cimino raised the possibility of residents designating portions of their properties as conservation easements to benefit wildlife corridors. Commission member Al Goldberg, who also works with the Madison Conservation Land Trust, offered a detailed assessment of why such easements remain rare in town: minimum lot sizes, the difficulty of gaining agreement among multiple neighboring property owners, and the likelihood that realtors would advise clients against encumbering their parcels.

"I think one of the complications with Madison and the realtors probably advise most homeowners against granting an easement is because of the minimum lot sizes of Madison, which is one acre zoning or two acres zoning," Goldberg said. "And then the complication on top of that is if you have to get your neighbors to agree, and building a corridor might involve, I don't know, half a dozen or a dozen parcels, and getting that number of people to agree to it, good luck." [00:00:00]

Goldberg noted that the Land Trust currently holds roughly 2,000 of Madison's approximately 35,000 acres, and that the organization has pivoted its strategy toward assembling linear trail corridors along rivers rather than acquiring scattered parcels. He also described the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority's plans to sell off small parcels in northern Madison, noting that most are not buildable and that neither the town nor the Land Trust has shown strong interest in acquiring them.

Cimino also raised a specific property she described as approximately 15 acres abutting Cockaponset State Forest, being marketed separately from a house listed at just under $2 million, with a developer reportedly interested in the land portion. Commission Chair Heather Crawford confirmed the property abuts a Cockaponset State Forest parcel. Members discussed the importance of flagging such parcels for conservation consideration without specifying a formal action.

On the tree article discussion, Crawford had circulated a piece titled "Cities Can't Afford to Keep Treating Trees Like Decoration" before the meeting. Members agreed the commission should work toward a presentation on the topic for the Board of Selectmen, potentially in coordination with the town's Tree Advisory Committee, which is itself scheduled to report to the Select Board in September on its first year of operation. Crawford said she would explore whether the commission could be placed on the September 21 Select Board agenda.

"I will know by August if it's going to be possible for us to massage this into a presentation by the end of September," Crawford said. [00:00:00]

Commission member Terry Vandendolder raised the bike path and greenway trail project, noting that the plan had already been approved by the relevant committee but that she believed the Conservation Commission and the Tree Advisory Committee should meet with Rob Russo to explore possible alternatives and ask specific questions about the route's environmental implications. Goldberg said the commission may want to weigh in formally, but that the policy debate properly belongs at the Select Board level.

On other fronts, Crawford reported she is behind on the Natural Resources Inventory Request for Qualifications and that Vandendolder will follow up. Commission member Jane Constable presented her summer intern work on light pollution and its effects on human health and wildlife. Crawford and intern Caroline are scheduled to install protective roping around sand dunes at the Surf Club on July 25.

Why It Matters

The proposed September presentation on trees as infrastructure would mark the Conservation Commission's most direct engagement with the Select Board in recent memory and would coincide with the Tree Advisory Committee's own first-year report — creating a potential joint opportunity to influence town policy on canopy preservation and development review. The commission's separate push to participate in a fall "Congress of Committees" could reshape how conservation priorities feed into Planning and Zoning's ongoing comprehensive regulation update, which members noted covers the entire town and not just the middle-housing provisions recently required by state statute. Both efforts hinge on action items due before the August 26 commission meeting.

Key Motions & Votes

- Vote: Approval of minutes from the June 24, 2026 meeting Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Adjournment Tally: Approved unanimously

Source

Madison's community access TV: Conservation Commission meeting, July 22, 2026