APRIL UPDATE: Thanks to the advocacy of Attorney General William Tong, the deadline for an offer has been extended to May 1, 2022. Community members and conservation partners are still actively working to protect Deer Lake.
Killingworth, CT – Save the Sound has condemned the actions of the Connecticut Yankee Council of the Boy Scouts of America, who have given land preservation advocates until March 31 to come up with an additional $2.2 million, without which they plan to sell 255 pristine acres at Deer Lake to the highest bidder. Save the Sound calls for the nonprofit CT Yankee Council to work with the Trust for Public Land, which has already made a market-value offer of $2.4 million, and to reject a $4.6 million offer from a private developer that is more than double the property’s appraised value.
David Anderson, Save the Sound land campaigns manager, said, “The actions of the Connecticut Yankee Council are counter to the Scouting mission, which is grounded in making ethical choices and being in service of others. When faced with a choice between the public good and self-interest, the leadership of the Connecticut Yankee Council seem to be choosing the latter. Save the Sound will work with local and statewide partners to explore all avenues to secure a future for the Deer Lake property in which it can continue to be enjoyed by all Connecticut residents.”
Save the Sound, an organization dedicated to protecting and improving the land, air, and water of Connecticut and Long Island Sound, stands with local residents, the Town of Killingworth, Pathfinders, local Scouts, Senator Richard Blumenthal, numerous environmental organizations, and others who have called for the CT Yankee Council to preserve Deer Lake for future generations through its sale to the Trust for Public Land.