Remington Woods is threatened with destruction for development, when existing empty buildings could be used instead. We need the Woods saved, for the health of the city and all the life giving benefits it provides locally and to the living planet.

 

How is the Woods Threatened?

Remington Woods is threatened with destruction. Dupont / Dow currently own the woods, which is not open to the public. Parts of the woods were used for munitions manufacture and testing.  An environmental clean-up is due to be completed in late 2020 and the fate of the Woods will be decided. Dupont / Dow plans to destroy the woods to construct unneeded industrial buildings. 

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Harm Caused by Destroying the Woods

We need a healthy city. Destroying the forest would greatly increase illness in Bridgeport and surrounding areas. There would be a huge loss of needed services that the Woods freely provide to the people and the ecosystem, also wildlife would lose their homes, food and lives and it would contribute to global climate breakdown.

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Developing by destroying the Woods would entail cost and pollution. There would need to be infrastructure: roads built, electricity, sewage, water pipes, communication lines, heating, etc. All this would have to be paid for, and maintained by the city of Bridgeport.

An expressway to the Woods for the creation of an industrial complex, the Seaview Avenue Corridor would run through Stratford and Bridgeport neighborhoods, carrying the additional pollution of thousands of trucks and cars.

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Studies by Yale University (School of Public Health, 1998) and by the Urban Land Institute (2005) indicate that the City of Bridgeport would reap negative net returns on investment and incur environmental harm through the development of Remington Woods.  

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Win Win Solution

This does not have to be a development vs Environment / Health issue at all. It should be a Win Win for Bridgeport, Stratford.

Destructive development would destroy the Woods and harm the city. 

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Constructive development would reclaim and use some of the many existing, empty, industrial and office buildings, in Bridgeport and surrounding areas, for development and commerce. It would reduce the glut those buildings, clean up the blight they cause, make the city more attractive, and at the same time save the entire Woods and all the benefits it supplies. 

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Saving the Woods would also add a tourist destination, wildlife refuge, a healthy oasis for the people of the city, and would not unnecessarily contribute to global heating. Protecting the Woods protects us. 

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Why We Need to Protect the Woods

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Services Trees Provide

We need forested areas. Fairfield County has the least amount of forests in the state. New forests are not being planted, so any forest destroyed is a tragic loss. Saving this forest community would be a great asset to the communities of Bridgeport and Stratford and to Fairfield County.  

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Saving the Woods is in keeping with the Master plan of Bridgeport for 2020.

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“...Planting new trees and maintaining urban forests is an important component of Bridgeport’s efforts to improve air quality, micro-climate, image and property values.”

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Some of the needed services, life support systems, this living forest would freely provide 24/7.

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•  Cleans air, binds toxic substances, improving health.
•  Holds carbon, absorbs CO2, helps control Global heating.
•  Gives off oxygen, which we need to breathe.
•  Cools air and shades, protects from summer time heat, reduces

    ultraviolet radiation  UV-B by 50%, protects from cancer.
•  Calms winds, reduces severity of storms. 
•  Lowers Energy use, saves money
•  Reduces Global Heating 
•  Cleans water
•  Protects from floods, absorbs flood causing runoff.
•  Mitigates drought
•  Aids soil fertility and erosion control
•  Habitat and food for wildlife, even non endangered are in severe need.
•  Aids physical healing of people. 
•  Aids mental well being.
•  Offers profound experience of living Nature.
 • Reduces violence
•  Encourages physical activity, walking, jogging.
•  Enhances the view
•  Reduces noise
•  Raises property values

Health, Safety and Well-Being

Research shows that urban forests contribute to the overall health and well-being of residents in a number of ways. Many are listed above. In some countries doctors prescribe being in Nature for healing.

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In Bridgeport, asthma hospitalizations among children under the age of 14 are more than twice the state rate. Doing whatever we can to clean up our air is important for the health of those of us living in Bridgeport and surrounding towns. Trees clean the air 24/7.

Trees improve physical and mental health, have calming effects, increase physical activity, help with respiratory disease, and crime rates.

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“Keen observers of human-nature interactions have noted the beauty and restorative qualities of trees for centuries.” Our health is inextricably tied to the health of the environment, the natural world.

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Future 

Friends of Remington Woods is an organization of citizens, individual activists, and a coalition of representatives from wide-ranging neighborhood organizations.

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Our objective is to preserve Remington Woods as a living community of plants and animals, which provides many needed benefits to the larger urban community, to be preserved and conserved in perpetuity as a living forest, and oasis for wildlife and humans alike, with walking trails, and protected habitat.

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It could be an oasis, for wildlife and for us. The very soul of Bridgeport and the area. 

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We are facing climate destruction and our lives, as well as the very life of the planet are threatened, because we have not valued environmental concerns. Our approach needs to change in order to make a livable future. 

 

The Northeast especially urban coastal areas, will be very hard hit by global heating in the near future. Along with it’s other benefits, the Woods provides both flooding control and cooling, lessening the heat and the need for air conditioners. 

 

A severe problem to the urban population will be depression and mental illness caused by the heat and stress of climate heating. This forest community, could be of immeasurable help in improving not only physical but mental well being.  Alleviating not only the stresses of every day urban living, but the additional ones caused by global heating.

 

To destroy this invaluable living / giving community, to make tomorrow’s brownfields, is continuing the thinking that creates wrecked cities and global climate breakdown. 

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Connecticut’s culture of rampant development hasn’t made the state fiscally solvent. This rare, surviving, urban, forest, should not be sacrificed for the sake of corporate profit.  Time has run out. We must make the enlightened choice for healthy life.

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We need to turn away from the habit of giving short term profits for a few, at the expense of the many, and the expense of the greater good. 

We are connected to the natural world. What is good for Nature is good for us. 

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We need to save Remington Woods, and take the realistic, enlightened approach, to leave a Legacy of Life. 
 

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