You may have been reading the Connecticut Post's series called "Breaking the Sound Barrier".  Ash Creek was mentioned in one article in the series in the Friday, June 26 edition of the Connecticut Post.  The article said that the creek has seen a resurgence of wildlife in recent years.  The Ash Creek Conservation Association was formed six years ago to preserve and protect the Ash Creek tidal estuary.  It has been involved in education and advocacy from grassroots level through the highest levels of state government, resulting most recently in a ruling by the DEP that has given the DEP authority to regulate the use of docks in tidal wetlands.

Excerpt from the article:

After eating a plate of fish and chips at Captain's Cove Seaport ---- on the other side of Cedar Creek ---- we set off for another one of the city's premier parks, St. Mary's-by-the-Sea.

The park is named after a tiny chapel that used to be on the spit of sand that marks the park's western end. It's not a beach, but rather a tree-lined drive and walkway along a seawall.

"Passive recreation," Carroll said.

Visitors might notice the odd-looking spring-loaded guardrail supports along part of the drive. "Those were high-tech things back when the park was built during the Depression," Witkowski said. "The springs were supposed to push the car back onto the street."

We walked the length of the park, stopping at the tongue of sand where the chapel once stood to chat with Christine Cook, who has led a team of volunteers ---- the Ash Creek Conservation Association ---- in planting beach grass.

"This is a wonderful little barrier beach that protects Ash Creek," said Cook, an ecological landscape designer by profession. The grass is planted in "plugs" ---- about 60,000 thus far ---- not unlike a chrome-dome's hair transplant job.

Cook was with ACCA Chairman Roger Ludwig, who said that other plants being introduced include a species of salt-tolerant goldenrod, a source of nutrition for migrating Monarch butterflies.

"We had an ecologist come in to make plant recommendations," Ludwig said.

To read the full article check out Day 6: Bridgeport on http://blog.ctnews.com/thesound/wrapup

Correction:  Roger Ludwig is on the Ash Creek Conservation Association Board of Directors, the organization does not have a Chairman of the Board

For more information on the Ash Creek Conservation Association, please click on the category "Ash Creek Conservation Association" on the left sidebar or visit www.ashcreekassoc.org    If you would like to join, a membership application is attached for your convenience.   Membership dues are $10 for an individual, $20 for a family, and $5 for seniors.

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