Thursday, August 13, 2009

Save The Bay Takes to the Air


Thanks to the generosity of the non-profit LightHawk and volunteer pilot Tom LeCompte, we recently had the privilege to fly in a small Piper Cherokee over the Taunton watershed and Narragansett Bay to document the landscape and fragile ecosystems from the air. Viewing the watershed from above gives a new perspective on the connected habitat corridors that rivers and streams provide, and the large forested areas that we still have intact. The human imprint on the land is also visible in new ways from above.

We were able to get beautiful photographs of several of our habitat restoration sites as well as overviews of areas that are important to our advocacy work. Seeing the expanse of upper Mount Hope Bay reminds us of the danger and massive impact that a LNG facility would have there. Above Aquidneck Island one is very aware of the multiple land and water uses and the need to protect fragile ecosystems and human infrastructure by looking at the island as a whole. From the air, political boundaries dissapear and the concept of a watershed is apparent. We will use these photographs in our publications so that we can share that perspective with all of you.