Connecticut River Estuary & Tidal Wetlands Complex. 14/10/94; Connecticut; 6,484 ha; 41°15'N 072°18'W. State Wildlife Management Areas, State Parks. The longest and largest river system in New England. Shifting sandbars have preserved the river's extraordinary assemblage of natural and undisturbed plant and animal communities. The site includes open water; fresh, salt and brackish tidal wetlands; floodplains, river islands, beaches, and dunes. The system serves as essential habitat for numerous regionally, nationally, and globally rare or otherwise significant species and forms an extensive biological corridor that links marine and estuarine waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Many migratory and Neotropical bird species nest or winter in the marshes, which regularly support over 10,000 individuals, consisting of 18 species of waterfowl. Two million people live in the river basin that supports active commercial and recreational fisheries, various tourist facilities and activities. Hunting and trapping represent considerable revenues to the state. Ramsar site no. 710. Most recent RIS information: 1995.