Tom Cleveland will talk about the Branford Land Trust’s effort to restore river herring runs in the Queach Brook and the Branford River, including the building of the Branford Supply Pond Fish Ladder, celebrating 20 years this year! The presentation will be held on Tuesday, March 24, 6:00-7:30 p.m. in the auditorium at the Blackstone Memorial Library, and is free and open to the public.
In 2002, Tom volunteered to lead the project of building a fish ladder over the Supply Ponds dam. It took about four years to raise the money, design, and build the fish ladder with a coalition of state and federal government agencies as well as private non-profits – over ten organizations gave time, money and expertise to get it done.
The fish ladder was built to support the recovery of alewife and blueback herring—collectively known as river herring—whose annual spring migrations are a defining ecological event in southern Connecticut. They are vital forage fish, feeding striped bass, bluefish, ospreys, herons, whales, sharks and seals. Just as importantly, by running up our creeks and rivers in the spring, they transport ocean nutrients into freshwater systems, enriching ponds and streams and strengthening food webs from plankton to top predators.
The fresh-water habitat of the Supply Ponds and the Queach Brook is a perfect place for river herring to lay their eggs and for the baby fish to grow up until they head back to the salt water of Long Island Sound. In 2025, more alewives and blueback herring went through the fish ladder than had been counted in the last 20 years – over 23,000!
Tom Cleveland grew up in two Native villages on the Yukon River in Alaska and experienced the abundance of the legendary salmon and other migratory fish runs there. People generally caught enough fish during the summer to feed their families and their dog teams all year. Later, he became a commercial banker and financial executive before finding his niche as the Director of Sustainability with the Stony Creek Quarry. He has been an active member of the Branford Land Trust for more than 30 years, and well-known for the annual Animal Tracking series he hosts with fellow naturalist Chris Woerner.
Watch for details on the upcoming Fish Ladder 20th Anniversary Celebration!
Saturday, April 25·10:00am – 12:00pm
The Branford Land Trust Winter 2026 Speaker Series is sponsored by the Branford Community Foundation/Ascend Bank, and includes these upcoming events: Two Coyotes Wilderness School, “Raising Our Future Ancestors” on April 28; and our Annual Meeting on May 11 featuring “Access to the Outdoors: Disability, Grit, and Belonging in Nature” with Justin Brownell.
