Editing Eastern Prickly Pear (section)

==== Background Information ====

[[File:Preserve-map-rt153-area.jpg|thumb|Detailed map of proposed development area showing location of ''O. humifusa'' colony]]The first document I discovered attesting to the existence of an ''Opuntia humifusa'' in Old Saybrook came in the form of a newspaper article published in the ''Shoreline Times'' on December 28, 2010.  The article discussed an on-going controversy over the development of a golf course and residential homes within a coastal forest of nearly 1,000 acres (the only unbroken forest of that size left along Connecticut's coast), describing a recent walkthrough of the proposed areas of development.  During the walkthrough, a "large patch of prickly pear cactus, indigenous to the area and listed as a plant of Special Concern...was found on the Westbrook site".<ref name="shorelinetimes">Gamble, Ann. "Another go-round for Preserve." ''Shoreline Times'' n.d., n. pag. Web. 27 May. 2012. <http://www.shorelinetimes.com/articles/2010/12/28/news/doc4d1a676bbefcd804749323.txt?viewmode=fullstory>.</ref>

Because the ''Shoreline Times'' article did not provide very specific location information, more research was in order.  Initially, I was only able to turn up the minutes of an Old Saybrook Planning Commission meeting (January 5, 2011) which, despite referencing the presence of ''O. humifusa'' somewhere in the planned development area, still failed to provide specific location information.<ref name="os-minutes">Town of Old Saybrook. Old Saybrook Planning Commission. ''Planning Commission Minutes 1/5/2011''. Old Saybrook: 2011. Web. <http://oldsaybrookct.virtualtownhall.net/pages/oldsaybrookct_pc/OldSaybrookCT_PCMinutes/2011/S02E0A808>.</ref>

Research for this site continued sporadically over the course of three weeks, with other documents surfacing that made mention of ''O. humifusa'' without citing a specific location.

Finally, I discovered the website of the Alliance for Sound Area Planning (ASAP), an organization dedicated to the protection of the aforementioned 1,000-acre forest.  As part of its mission to educate concerned citizens about the development project, ASAP offers a full compilation of all of the documentation related to the proposed development in Old Saybrook.  Within the site plans for the development, the location of the ''O. humifusa'' colony is marked for the purpose of ensuring that the species is responsibly addressed during the proposed construction.<ref name="asap-ct-docs">"Documents Relating To The Preserve". ''Alliance for Sound Area Planning''. Alliance for Sound Area Planning, n.d. Web. 28 May 2012. <http://asap-ct.org/documents-relating-to-the-preserve/>.</ref>  According to the map, the colony could be found about 0.5 miles west of Essex Road (Rt 153) within approximately 200 to 300 feet from a powerline cut in the forest.