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| This week in conservation March 5 - 11, 2007 |
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| Calendar | ||||||||
| After-School at the FARM | ||||||||
 Tues. March 6, 2007, 3 - 5 pmFARM Institute, Katama Farm, 14 Aero Ave., Edgartown. For grades 1-6. Winter chores. Last of the season. $20. 508-627-7007. |
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| Healthy Children - Healthy Planet | ||||||||
 Wed. March 7, 2007A course offered by Harriet Bernstein, at the West Tisbury Library at 4 PM. This is an eight week study course from the Northwest Earth Institute. This course is especially intended for parents trying to understand how they can get their family on the right track. You will discover ways to create meaningful family times and healthful environments for children and to explore ways to develop a child’s connection to nature, and to foster creativity. SESSION THEMES: Cultural Pressures: Family Rituals and Celebrations: Advertising: Food and Health: Time and Creativity: and Exploring Nature: The course is free but there is a small charge for the workbook. Please call in and sign up for the course at the West Tisbury Library 693-3366. |
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| Martha’s Vineyard Water Alliance meeting | ||||||||
 Wed. March 7, 2007, 12:30 PM At the MV Commission, Oak Bluffs |
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| Affordable Housing and Open Space: Creative Partnerships for Success | ||||||||
| Thurs. March 8, 2007, 10:00 am Mass DEP Wilmington Office, Main Conference Room, 205B Lowell Street, Wilmington, MA. Protecting important conservation land and providing affordable housing are often among the most pressing priorities for communities in Massachusetts. This workshop provides examples of how communities in Massachusetts have been successful in combining these two priorities. Techniques include Open Space Residential Development and the innovative use of Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds. Info/RSVP 978.694.3253 Three other dates & locations to chose from - Thursday, March 15, 6:00 pm, DCR Field Office, 180 Beaman Street, West Boylston, MA; Info/RSVP 508.767.2725 - Thursday, March 22, 9:00 am, Westwood Municipal Bldg, 50 Carby Street, Westwood, MA; Info/RSVP 617.292.5854 - Thursday, March 29, 9:00 am, Mass DEP Lakeville Office, Main Conference Room, 20 Riverside Drive, Lakeville, MA; Info/RSVP 508.946.2735 FOR MORE INFO: Kathy Robertson, MA Department of Environmental Protection Circuit Rider; kathy.robertson@state.ma.us 508.767.2725. |
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| Global Warming Series | ||||||||
 Thurs. March 8, 2007, 6:30 pmVineyard Haven library, Main St. 4-week study course from Northwest Earth Institute, "Global Warming: Changing Co2urse." Class size limited. $17 workbook fee. Pre-registration required: 508-696-4211, ext. 16. |
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| Bundle Up Baby Toddler Program | ||||||||
 Thurs. March 8, 2007, 3 to 3:45 pmBundle Up Baby Toddler Program with the Trustees of Reservations at the Parker property at 860 State Road in Vineyard Haven. Indoor story time and craft plus outdoor walk for children aged 2.5 to 4 years and their caregivers. Free to Trustees members; $5 per child for non-members. For details, call 508-693-7662. |
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| Wee Farmer Discovery Morning | ||||||||
 Fri. March 9, 2007, 10:30 to 11:45 amFARM Institute's Katama Farm on Aero avenue in Edgartown. For three and four-year-olds and their carers. Cost is $15 per session. For details or to register, call 508-627-7007. |
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| The Great Marsh Symposium: Discover a Coastal Treasure in Our Backyard | ||||||||
| Sat. March 10, 2007, 8:30 am - 2:30 pm Parker River National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters, Newbury, MA. The North Shore's Great Marsh is the largest continuous stretch of Salt Marsh in New England, extending from Cape Ann to New Hampshire. Join an outstanding roster of experts for short presentations on a variety of Great Marsh topics ranging from Sea Level Rise to Bird Banding on Plum Island to Poets and Painters of the Marsh, circa 1900. Hosted by the Great Marsh Coalition with support from EBSCO; $12 registration fee; pre-registration required. FOR MORE INFO: www.greatmarsh.org; Kathy Leahy, 978.927.1122 x2700, kleahy@massaudubon.org |
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| VCS Winter Walks Program Explores Cranberry Lands | ||||||||
 Sun. March 11, 2007The Vineyard Conservation Society continues its Winter Walks Program with a guided walk of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) Cranberry Lands and Common Lands on Menemsha Pond. The walk leader will be Bret Sterns, Natural Resources Director for the Tribe. Please meet at 1:30 PM. From Down-Island, turn right onto Lobsterville Road. Continue towards the West Basin and park at VCS signs. The Lobsterville lands are part of approximately 235 acres of Common Lands managed by the Tribe for countless generations prior to formal federal recognition in 1987.The Vineyard Conservation Society has been sponsoring free, guided off-season walks for nearly 40 years. VCS is a local, member-supported environmental organization dedicated to protecting the Vineyard through land preservation, education and advocacy. For more information on Sunday’s walk, call VCS at 508 693-9588. |
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| Save The Date | ||||||||
| Martha’s Vineyard Museum and Slow Food Martha’s Vineyard Dinner at The Coach House | ||||||||
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| Massachusetts Land Conservation Conference | ||||||||
| Sat, March 24, 2007 Bancroft School, Worcester, MA Come to a full day of informative workshops and inspiring conversations with conservationists from across the Commonwealth. Some of the 32 workshops offered include: Land Conservation 101: The Tools, Programs & Jargon Demystified… Insights from Foundation Funders…Building Relationships with Landowners…Land Conservation, Agriculture & Massachusetts’ Immigrant & Refuge Communities… Protecting Trail Lands…Effective Citizen Participation in Issues Related to ATV Use on Conservation Lands. Co-sponsored by The Trustees of Reservation-Putnam Conservation Institute & the Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition. Pre-registration is required; $35 registration fee if you sign up by March 9, $50 afterwards. FOR MORE INFO: www.thetrustees.org/PutnamConservationInstitute.cfm; Angel Vega; 978.840.4446 x1934; avega@ttor.org |
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| Island Plan Update | ||||||||
See the rest of the news in the Island Plan section. Energy/Waste Work Group Core Meeting notes of Feb.21, at the MVC in OB. Next scheduled meeting is Wed. March 7 (check changed time and place). |
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| Climate Change Update | ||||||||
| A Green Deal on Coal |
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| Wastewater Update | ||||||||
| Orleans is talking wastewater |
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| Wind Update | ||||||||
| Tribe gets say on wind farm |
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| Two oil giants plunge into the wind business |
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| Shell, BP intend to play major role WASHINGTON -- Two of the world's leading oil producers have almost overnight joined some of the biggest players in wind power in the United States, accelerating a trend of large corporations investing in the rapidly growing alternative-energy field. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/ washington/articles/2007/03/02/ two_oil_giants_plunge_into_the_wind_business/ |
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| Expedition News | ||||||||
| Mushing with Simon | ||||||||
Simon lets out a loud 'Aieeee!' and his dogs stand at the ready. I feel a bit like a dead weight sitting on top of the sled but his dogs don't seem to notice. We are off and away across the wide snowy expanse. I pull my hood tighter around my face to block the wind. As we settle into a good pace for the dogs, Simon starts to tell me about his team. |
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Property owners wanting to put houses on undersized lots in Ocean Heights and Arbutus Park may have to pay for the cost of bringing town water to their neighbors, under a plan to avert a public health threat that will be considered next week.
VISALIA, Calif., Feb. 23 — David Bradshaw has endured countless stings during his life as a beekeeper, but he got the shock of his career when he opened his boxes last month and found half of his 100 million bees missing. 
Wed, March 14, 2007
Island Plan News 
People who worry about global warming and want the United States to do more to reduce greenhouse gas emissions received some very good news over the weekend from a very unlikely source. As part of an ambitious buyout deal, TXU, a Texas utility that has long been a target of environmentalists, will abandon plans to build eight old-style coal-burning power plants, which would have dumped huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. 
ORLEANS - Something close to a gasp went through the standing-room-only crowd at Snow Library last night as consultant Michael Giggey said more than half the town's developed lots will probably need something besides a septic system to treat their wastewater to protect the town's bays and ponds. 
Along with federal recognition comes a seat at the table for members of the Mashpee Wampanoag, who will have a voice in determining the future of a proposed wind farm in Nantucket Sound.