 |
||||||||
| This week in conservation April 28 - May 4, 2008 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
| Calendar | ||||||||
| Roots and Shoots Meeting | ||||||||
|
||||||||
| Chilmark Annual Town Meeting | ||||||||
| Mon, April 28, Chilmark Annual Town Meeting, 7:30 PM Chilmark Community Center. | ||||||||
| Menu for the Future | ||||||||
 Wed, April 30, Menu for the Future. Vineyard Haven Library, to coincide with Earth Day, we will begin a discussion group exploring the connection between food and sustainability. The group will run for 6 weeks ending on Wednesday June 4th. The cost for the workbook is $20. You can sign up on line or at the desk. The workbooks will be available at the desk about 1 week before the class begins. The size of the class will be limited so we can truly have a discussion group. Please join us for this new program and have the chance to explore with your neighbors Menu for the future.Questions? Betty Burton 508-696-4211X16 burtonsundman@hotmail.com NWEI http://www.nwei.org |
||||||||
| Nature Walk | ||||||||
 Wed, April 30, Nature Walk 7:30-8:30 pm, Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary, Edgartown. "Pinkletink Prowl." Bring flashlight. $5; free for members. Also May 1. 508-627-4850. |
||||||||
| Mytoi Spring Planting and Garden Cleanup | ||||||||
 Sat, May 3, Mytoi Spring Planting and Garden Cleanup, The Trustees of Reservatons, 9 a.m.–12 noon. A great way to celebrate Spring! The Trustees provide lunch as a thank-you for spending a spring morning caring for the Island’s only public Japanese-style garden. Bring your own work gloves, rakes, and shovels. Join us at Mytoi on Chappaquiddick anytime throughout the morning. Please let us know if you plan to attend; call (508) 693-7662. |
||||||||
| Garden Lecture | ||||||||
 Sat, May 3, Garden Lecture 11 am, Vineyard Gardens, West Tisbury. Lawns. Weekly themes through July 19. 508-693-8511. |
||||||||
| Alpaca Farm Open House | ||||||||
 Sun, May 4 Alpaca Farm Open House: 11 am-5 pm, Island Alpaca Company, 1 Head of the Pond Rd., Oak Bluffs. Visit and learn about alpaca. Alpaca Baby Sweater Class and demonstrations. Refreshments; donations welcome. 508-693-5554. |
||||||||
| Alpaca Baby Sweater | ||||||||
| Sun, May 4, Alpaca Baby Sweater. 11 am to 4 pm, Knit an beautiful heirloom sweater. Island Alpaca Co., 1 Head of the Pond Rd, OB. Good first sweater project for beginner knitters. $45 plus supplies. Also August 3. |
||||||||
| Announcement | ||||||||
| Calling All Volunteers! | ||||||||
 Spring is here and Andrew and his crew are working hard to get the Farm ready for our first harvest, expected in mid-June. We invite you to join us for the pre-season preparations.Installation of a New Deer Fence Saturday, May 17th, 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Contact: Deanna Ahearn dlamvrn@hotmail.com In addition to the fields at the former Thimble Farm, for many years Andrew has leased additional acreage nearby, off of State Road in West Tisbury. In the past this field was not fenced adequately and animals diminished the harvest. We want to make an investment in protecting this year’s crops by installing a much-needed fence. Volunteers will help with tamping posts, filling holes, and spreading and affixing the fence. Bring a shovel and join us in helping to protect your vegetables at this additional field. Please contact our project coordinator, Deanna Ahearn, with questions, or to sign up and get directions. Spruce Up the Farm Stand Saturday, June 7th 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Contact: Joy Ganapol jganapol@comcast.net Now that the CSA’s future is secure at the former Thimble Farm, we want to spruce up the farm-stand in an effort to make your pick-ups more comfortable and inviting. We need help with painting, planting and light carpentry. Everyone has something to offer! Please contact our project coordinator, Joy Ganapol, with questions or to sign up. |
||||||||
| back to top | ||||||||
| Save The Date | ||||||||
| Topics in Oceanography: A Workshop for Educators |
||||||||
| "Suspended in Ice: Profiling the Arctic Ocean with New Technology" presented by Mary-Louise Timmermans, WHOI Physical Oceanography Department Friday, May 9, 2008 — 9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. at WHOI's Ocean Science Exhibit Center For more information and to register, visit www.whoi.edu/info/workshop. Registration: $40. Checks payable to WHOI. Sorry, no purchase orders. Mail to: Kathy Patterson, WHOI, MS #16, Woods Hole, MA 02543. Registration deadline: May 5, 2008. Workshop is limited to 30. Contact: Kathy Patterson, kpatterson@whoi.edu, 508-289-2700. Sponsored by the WHOI Information Office, Woods Hole Sea Grant Program, and WHOI Academic Programs Office. |
||||||||
| back to top | ||||||||
| Sustainable Update | ||||||||
| Price Volatility Adds to Worry on U.S. Farms |
||||||||
|
||||||||
| back to top | ||||||||
| Health Update | ||||||||
| Puzzle, precaution over plastic |
||||||||
Last week, hard plastic baby and water bottles were not considered harmful. |
||||||||
| Mercury in Canned Tuna |
||||||||
 Last month’s New York Times report on high mercury levels in tuna sushi was certainly cause for concern for serious sushi lovers. (See my previous post Plenty of Safe, Eco-Friendly Fish in the Sea.)The report might have also made many parents uneasy about the ubiquitous tuna sandwich in their kids’ lunch boxes. Many of us rely on canned tuna for a wholesome, high-protein meal. Once considered a “nuisance food” or “pauper’s food,” today almost half of all American households serve canned tuna monthly. Only shrimp surpasses canned tuna as Americans’ favorite seafood. But does this beloved fish in a can deliver a helping of toxic mercury, too? http://www.edf.org/article.cfm?contentID=7682 SEAFOOD SELECTOR: Best and Worst Choices http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=1521 |
||||||||
| back to top | ||||||||
| Wind Update | ||||||||
| Wind farm generates more than 40,000 comments |
||||||||
|
||||||||
| back to top | ||||||||
| Climate Change Update | ||||||||
| Pine beetle outbreaks turn forests into carbon source |
||||||||
DENVER (AP) — An outbreak of mountain pine beetles in British Columbia is doing more than destroying millions of trees: By 2020, the beetles will have done so much damage that the forest is expected to release more carbon dioxide than it absorbs, according to new research. |
||||||||
| back to top | ||||||||
 Email Subscription InformationThe Almanac is provided as a public service by the Vineyard Conservation Society with the intent of providing quick and easy access to the Island's government process and environmental community. You are recieving this free email service because you have subscribed to the Vineyard Conservation Almanac. More information about island conservation issues, meetings and events can be viewed at http://almanac.vcsmv.org. If you do not wish to continue receiving these emails please click here to unsubscribe. Thank you for subscribing to the Almanac! |
||||||||
Have ideas for content for the Almanac? Please send them along to: |
||||||||
The attendant at the Phalaborwa gate of Kruger National Park in South Africa greeted us with the words: “Are you going to look for the big five?”
An official with the independent group that conducted the survey says it indicates the widespread nature of the problem. 
Mon, April 28, Roots and Shoots Meeting 5:30 pm, Featherstone Center for the Arts. Call for details. 508-693-1850.
Fred Grieder has been farming for 30 years on 1,500 acres near Bloomington, in central Illinois. That has meant 30 years of long days plowing, planting, fertilizing and hoping that nothing happens to damage his crop.
More than 40,000 individuals and organizations have submitted comments on an environmental review of the wind farm proposed for Nantucket Sound, according to federal officials.