By a wide margin attendees at a Conservation Planning Workshop in Bremen January 27 picked access to the water as the greatest conservation concern in Bremen.
Bremen Conservation Commission Chairman Dennis Prior said the commission organized the workshop as one way of learning what residents see conservation priorities for the town. Prior said he was pleased with the wide cross section of residents who attended the workshop. He thanked everyone for coming on a cold winter night and said he was happy to see families bring their young children.
After viewing the latest version of the Beautiful Bremen slide show, participants heard a brief explanation of how the meeting would work, and then gathered in small groups to suggest what they feel town conservation priorities should be. They were asked to asked to consider what natural resources that are important to Bremen residents are currently limited or in danger of being lost. The suggestions from the small groups were merged and discussed by all participants who were then asked to each select the five ideas they considered the most important and rate them as to priority.
Following the workshop, the Conservation Commission compiled all the prioritized suggestions, assigning a weighted score to each. Workshop participants selected public access to the town's saltwater and freshwater resources as the highest priorities by more than twice as much as that of any other. Access to saltwater included access to the working waterfront and for recreational boating. Freshwater access included opportunities for non-motorized boating and swimming, including suggestions for a town park, picnic area and future public water supply.
Other top priorities were hiking trails; access to the town's high elevation areas; maintaining unfragmented blocks of land, open space and farmland; recreational facilities and programs, especially for children; and better access to Bremen Long Island and town alewife runs.
In addition, there were suggestions from workshop participants to develop revenue streams from town recreation opportunities, consider the financial aspects of public properties, map vernal pools, and make better use of existing town properties including the town landing. It was also suggested that funds in the town's Conservation Account might go further if spent for rights-of-way and easements rather than large land purchases.
Prior said the Conservation Commission will use all the prioritized suggestions to develop a strategic plan for acquiring and maintaining the town's natural resources that residents see as important to Bremen's future.
