The final phase of the Mispillion River Greenway project has been dubbed the “Gary L. Emory Nature Trail at Goat Island,” in honor of Emory, who has been working on the Greenway project for more than three decades.

By Maddy Lauria
maddy.lauria@doverpost.com
@Milford_Maddy Posted Sep. 8, 2014 @ 12:01 am 

Read more: http://www.milfordbeacon.com/article/20140908/News/140909827#ixzz3Cxc9BYbm

Gary Emory has been dreaming about the completion of the Mispillion River Greenway for decades. And after years of hard work, Milford’s parks and recreation director unveiled the Goat Island Nature Trail during this year’s Riverwalk “Freedom” Festival.

A small group of supporters and local officials were invited to take a first-peek at the finished project, which included a small surprise in store for the mastermind behind the effort.

The final phase of the Mispillion River Greenway project has been dubbed the “Gary L. Emory Nature Trail at Goat Island,” in honor of Emory, who has been working on the Greenway project for more than three decades.

“Gary has dedicated his entire career to his hometown of Milford,” Mary Betts, Milford’s recreation superintendent, said. “His vision and guidance has made the Mispillion greenway and the City of Milford one of the most impressive urban areas in the state, as everyone can attest to.”

The last phase of the Mispillion River Greenway project will open to the public in about two weeks, when the Gary L. Emory Goat Island Nature Trail completes its final inspection.

The addition of the nature trail on Goat Island will make the Mispillion River Greenway the largest municipal park in the state, according to Bob Ehemann, outdoor recreation planner with the state’s Division of Parks and Recreation. The entire project, which runs from Silver Lake to Goat Island, consists of about three miles of walking trails and multiple bridges.

“This has been a capstone to Gary’s career it’s part of the whole vision,” Ehemann said. “It’s set a benchmark for what cities can become.”

Goat Island is especially unique because within the roughly nine-acre island, there are three separate ecosystems that house a variety of flora and fauna that are rarely found so closely together.

Goat Island includes uplands, tidal wetlands and non-tidal wetlands, lending to a variety of plants and animals found in each ecosystem. Once the project is completed, nature lovers can look forward to getting close-ups of a variety of song birds and predatory birds including golden eagles, unique plants and trees, as well as animals like gray foxes, river otters, white-tailed deer and more.

A system of elevated boardwalks and a bridge, which also will allow for fishing, made a continuous walking trail on the island possible. Overlook points and bicycle access are planned for the future, Emory said.

The origin of the island’s name may be a bit of an urban legend, Emory said, but it’s a story that he’ll share about the island, nonetheless.

In the 1920s, the Army Corps of Engineers straightened the path of the Mispillion River to flow as it now does behind the Milford Police Department. A man-made land bridge, which is slated for demolition in the future, was established at the end of Fisher Avenue, through the natural flow of the river, to force the Mispillion to flow in a straighter path to make navigation easier for clam and fishing boats.

Before that change was made, a local farmer would allow his goats to roam free on the island for grazing. Emory also plans to have William “Bill” Pike, who formerly served as the city’s arborist, serve as a nature guide for guided tours along the nature walk.

“Once [Goat Island] is opened officially for everybody and it’s open for tours, people are going to learn a lot,” Pike said. “Nothing beats seeing it first-hand rather than reading it out of a book.”