Dear Friends,
It has been two weeks since I moved from Save the Sound’s program head to become its president, and I wanted to let you know about some of the exciting and inspiring projects happening here as Save the Sound sails into its next 50 years.
From my office overlooking the New Haven Green, I can see the leaves turning gold. Here at Save the Sound we’re transitioning, too, into an exciting season of growth and increased impact across the entire Long Island Sound region. We’re building on our well-established approach of uniting science-driven advocacy, legal expertise, on-the-ground construction, and community engagement to realize significant outcomes for clean waters, resilient neighborhoods, and climate action.
To share a few examples from the past two weeks alone:
- In our Larchmont, NY office, our water quality team is crunching final data for our biennial Long Island Sound Report Card, coming soon, which provides valuable information on the ecological health of the whole Sound.
- In New Haven, CT, watershed coordinator Nicole Davis and 136 elementary school students just finished planting nearly 300 native plants to filter stormwater and beautify a new neighborhood pocket park we built on the banks of the Mill River.
- Our campaign to preserve Plum Island, NY has powered right to the top. We’re asking President Biden to declare this ecological gem a National Monument. If you haven’t contacted the president yet yourself, you can submit your letter here.
- Speaking of Washington, DC, our environmental justice specialist, Alex Rodriguez, is there now, representing Save the Sound at the Green Latinos Federal Advocacy Days on Capitol Hill, promoting climate justice and environmental justice for Latinx communities.
- On the legal front, we’ve just reached another Clean Water Act settlement with a New York town that was discharging raw sewage from its sanitary sewers, bringing the final resolutions we’ve reached with Westchester County municipalities to six. That will mean systems in a state of good repair going forward. You’ll be hearing more details soon!
- We’re already planning for the 2023 legislative sessions in Hartford and Albany, helping to craft new environmental legislation and getting ready to advocate for bills that will move our goals forward.
- And we’re hiring! First up: a new Regional Director of Land and Community Resilience. You can check out all our job postings here. Check back regularly, as more are coming soon.
That’s a lot to tackle, and there’s even more in our portfolio, but our amazing staff at Save the Sound’s offices in Connecticut and New York is up to the task! I’m privileged to lead them into this new season.
All this work around the watershed we call home means lots of opportunities to connect. For those of you who haven’t gotten to know me yet, I look forward to meeting you at a future rally, meeting, party, or planting and learning more about what matters to you. During more than 20 years at Save the Sound—first as staff attorney and then growing into the head of programs in 2018—I’ve seen our organization become a catalyst for lasting change across the Long Island Sound region. I look forward to all the amazing things we’re going to accomplish together in the future.
Yours,
Leah Lopez Schmalz, president
Read more about Save the Sound’s presidency transition in our June press release