Most of us are thus isolated from the land by which we live and so are in danger of losing contact with a fundamental part of our humanity. In addition, this isolation breeds misunderstanding of land, which can lead to mismanagement of our resources. We are still dependent on Connecticut's land for water supply, sewage disposal, location of towns, routing of roads, siting of houses and factories, flood safety, some farm products, construction materials (sand, gravel, and crushed rock), firewood, timber, and pleasant surroundings in which to lead fulfilling lives. Many of the environmental mistakes of the 20th century - polluted wells, flood damage, farmland loss, destruction of plant and animal habitat, to name but a few - have been compounded by the distance we have placed between ourselves and the land we live on.

My aim is to explore our link to land - the connections between Connecticut's people and her bedrock, soil, water, and landscapes. With that goal, this book investigates the history of Connecticut's land, from its ancient geologic beginnings to its recent transformation at the hands of western culture. There are two main sections. The first describes Connecticut's landscapes and discusses the associated history of land use. This section is intended to give a sense of what the land looks like, to show how our forebears saw and used it, and to demonstrate how our lives are affected by land resources even today. The second part is an account of Connecticut's geologic history and how geologists have pieced together that history from the cryptic clues left in Connecticut's bedrock. The ultimate aim of this section is to relate geologic history to land use - to tie our current activities to the events of 500 million years ago. By the end, I hope the reader will be able to stand anywhere in Connecticut and know the main events of geologic and land-use history which that place has experienced. In sum, this book is about Connecticut's land.

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