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Colin Piteo

Earlier this month marked the beginning of the 2025 Connecticut Legislative session. As always, the legislative session is an exciting opportunity to accomplish some great wins for land conservation in the state and protect our beautiful natural environment and world-class biodiversity. This session provides a promising opportunity to advocate for action on conservation policy since it is a long session (about two months longer than last year) so we can really dig into the issues with our legislators. 

My first opportunity to participate in the legislative process actually came a day before the legislative session began. I attended the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters (CTCLV) 25th Environmental Summit, which was especially insightful coming at a crossroads for preservation and protection of our natural environment, which due to the changing of federal priorities on Capitol Hill may fall more to the states. This point was emphasized by the first speaker of the day Chuck Nice, co-host of the hit podcast StarTalk, who spoke to the importance of advocating the right way through endearing narratives that meet people where they are. This attitude set the tone for the rest of the day, and likely the rest of the session for myself and others who attended. 

Additional speakers, including our Executive Director Amy Blaymore Paterson, spoke to unique environmental challenges and opportunities facing the state in the coming months. Sessions focused on neonicotinoid insecticides, rodenticides, food waste, and land conservation. Other conversations included the impact of emissions on our health, solar and other renewable energies, state energy efficiency, and residential heat pumps. 

A few of the resources shared at the Environmental Summit include:

Videos of Each Session [YouTube]

CTCLV Briefs

Summit Program Resources

All of these conversations and presentations were attended by Connecticut state representatives and senators, making the exchange of information facilitated truly valuable. For example, incoming Chair of the Environment Committee, Rep. John Michael-Parker, acted as a moderator and facilitator for some of these conversations, which was refreshing to see. 

It was also great to see representatives of Connecticut land trusts in attendance, meeting with legislators and learning from leaders in environmental advocacy.  Overall, the summit marked a great preview to the session, but ultimately with all the legislators and advocates in attendance, it felt more like a kickstart.

The very next day I had the opportunity to visit the capitol for its actual first day of the session through a lobby day provided by the Sierra Club of Connecticut. Even just driving into Hartford (my usual commute), there was heightened energy and congestion on I-84. Energy was coursing through the Legislative Office Building and Capitol as legislators began to be sworn into their offices. We had the relatively simple task of finding our local representatives and talking to them about the importance of environmental protection and conservation. Because of the commotion, I, unfortunately, did not have the opportunity to find my representative or senator. But, I did have the opportunity to talk with many of the other environmental advocates there on behalf of the Sierra Club in addition to numerous other lobbyists, both professional and grassroots, advocating for their various causes. 

In all, the past weeks have been a dive head first into the legislative process, and a useful dive at that. The in-and-outs of this process are not intuitive. I went in thinking that I would know much of the major issues and processes, but instead found myself spending all of my time learning. I think the most valuable conversations I had were with fellow advocates to help map out and understand this new policy landscape. 

To me, these past weeks have clarified the need for a network of advocates and policy stakeholders to help navigate this complex terrain, and reaffirmed the need for our Advocates for Land Protection and Stewardship (ALPS) program. The ALPS program is such a network for land trust representatives interested in lobbying and advocacy. CLCC’s ALPS program aims to enlist the assistance of one or more representatives (a board member, staff person, etc.) of each Connecticut land trust to serve as CLCC’s point of contact (aka the “ CLCC ALPS Captain”) during the legislative session. The role of ALPS Captains is to ensure that CLCC’s calls to action and other policy updates are disseminated to land trust membership. ALPS Captains will also be invited to a tight knit community of other land trust advocates, with opportunities to participate in monthly policy meetings throughout the legislative session to keep up-to-date on land conservation priorities and other relevant issues under consideration at the Capitol. If you are at all interested in learning more about CLCC’s ALPS program or joining, please sign up here.