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| Volunteers needed Volunteers needed for the Living Local Harvest Fest event at the new Ag Hall on September 27th please call Signe at VCS 508-693-9588. Children’s section of Living Local Harvest Fest needs help with the Watershed teaching model, and other activities. Please contact Melinda DeFeo for more information. 508 776-8220 |
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| This week in conservation September 15-21, 2008 |
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| Calendar | |||||||||
| Nature Tours with The Trustees of Reservations | |||||||||
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| Kayak Quest of Sengekontacket | |||||||||
 Mon, Sept 15, Kayak Quest of Sengekontacket, a self-guided tour offered weekdays with Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in Edgartown. Times vary. Cost is $40, $30 for Mass Audubon members, equipment included. Call to reserve: 508-627-4850. |
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| Paddle By Moonlight with Felix Neck | |||||||||
 Mon, Sept 15, Paddle By Moonlight with Felix Neck from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in Sengekontacket pond for ages 11 and up. Fee is $38; $32 for members. Also tomorrow. To register, call 508-627-4850. |
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| Creature Feature: stories, crafts, and live creatures | |||||||||
 Tues, Sept 16, Creature Feature: stories, crafts, and live creatures from 10 to 11 a.m. at Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary for ages 3 to 5 with a parent or friend. Cost is $9; $6 for members. For details, call 508-627-4850. |
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| Paddle By Moonlight with Felix Neck | |||||||||
| Tues, Sept 16, Paddle By Moonlight with Felix Neck from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in Sengekontacket pond for ages 11 and up. Fee is $38; $32 for members. To register, call 508-627-4850. |
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| Talk: How to Keep Energy Bills Affordable | |||||||||
 Wed, Sept 17, Talk: How to Keep Energy Bills Affordable 4 pm, Tisbury Senior Center. Low-cost, energy-saving improvements with energy consultant Chris Fried. 508-696-4205. |
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| Wild Wednesday kids' nature program | |||||||||
| Wed, Sept 17, Wild Wednesday kids' nature program from 10 to 11 a.m. at Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in Edgartown. Cost is $9; $6 for members; free for ages under three. For details, call 508-627-4850. |
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| Down By The Shore | |||||||||
 Thurs, Sept 18, Down By The Shore: an outdoor nature program for adults and children is from 10 to 11:30 a.m at Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in Edgartown. Cost is $9; $6 for Mass Audubon members. Children under 3 free. For details, call 508-627-4850. |
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| Public Hearing with the Division of Marine Fisheries and the Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission | |||||||||
 Thurs, Sept 18, Public Hearing with the Division of Marine Fisheries and the Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Tisbury Town Hall on Spring street to discuss three proposals. |
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| Beach Clean-Up | |||||||||
 Sat, Sept 20, Beach Clean-Up 8:30-10:30 am, Oak Bluffs Town Beach. Annual event; from Steamship Authority to Oak Bluffs Bathhouse. Free coffee and donut, airbrush tattoo. Rain date: Sept. 21. 508-696-5737. |
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| Household Hazardous Waste Day | |||||||||
| Sat, Sept, 20, Household Hazardous Waste Day, Edgartown Transfer Station, 9:00 AM-12:00 PMHUse boxes and not black trash bags to transport; maximum of 15 gallons oil base paint. Cash or check. Call to review your inventory: 508-627-4501. | |||||||||
| Wee Farmers | |||||||||
 Sat, Sept 20, Wee Farmers 9:30-11 am, FARM Institute, Edgartown. Harvest, cook, eat, visit animals. For ages 2 to 4 (with parent) with farmer/teacher Mary Baker. $15. Also Oct. 11. Pre-register: 508-627-7007 ext. 106. |
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| Autumnal Equinox Walk | |||||||||
| Sun, Sept 21, Autumnal Equinox Walk 1-2:30 pm, Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary, Edgartown. Guided walk to celebrate changing of the season. $9; $6 for members. 508-627-4850. | |||||||||
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| Be Prepared! | |||||||||
| StormSmart Emergency Services |
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| The continued growth of Massachusetts coastal communities poses an enormous challenge to those planning emergency services in response to coastal disasters. Anyone who watched the evacuation of New Orleans before, during, and after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita knows how important proper emergency service planning is to decreasing human suffering. To best prepare for disasters, your community needs detailed emergency response plans for during and after storm events. Below is a menu of options for improving emergency services. http://www.mass.gov/czm/stormsmart/ emergency_services/emergency_services_home.htm |
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| Save The Date | |||||||||
| Living Local Harvest Fest |
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| Our Island's Future |
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| How can we foster greater self-reliance, especially in food and energy production? How can we nurture our economy, environment, and community? For the complete press release go to: http://vineyardvoice.org/writing/ editor/press-release-living-local-harvest-fest |
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| Restore America's Estuaries' |
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| 4th National Conference on Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration Providence, Rhode Island October 11 - 15, 2008 Register now for the Only National Conference on Coastal Habitat Restoration Pre-Registration Ends September 30 Restore America's Estuaries invites you to participate in the 4th National Conference and Expo on Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration - Creating Solutions Through Collaborative Partnerships. The Conference will be held October 11-15, 2008 at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence. For more information, we invite you to view the Conference Registration brochure. For More Information about the Conference visit www.estuaries.org/conference |
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| Announcement | |||||||||
| State Match to Drop for CPA Funds |
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| In just over seven years, funds generated through the Massachusetts Community Preservation Act on the Vineyard have been used for a wide variety of projects — including the renovation of historic lighthouses and bandstands, the creation of affordable housing and the renovation and improvement of public parks. http://www.mvgazette.com/article.php?18309 |
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| Environmental Education Update | |||||||||
| Traditional almanacs ponder change in the air |
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| Water Update | |||||||||
| Bottled Water Demand May Be Declining |
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| Festival Film Calls Water the New Oil, As Profits Bottle Up a Public Resource |
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| If you had to pick the worst example of marketing defeating morality, it would be hard to go past the bottled water industry. People spend some $7 billion buying the product each year. According to the Beverage Marketing Corporation, Americans consumed some 31.2 billion liters of it in 2006, mostly packaged in plastic. http://www.mvgazette.com/article.php?18348 |
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| Wildlife Update | |||||||||
| Osprey count 2008 |
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| DMF proposal may pinch commercial crabbers |
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| The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) will hold a public hearing on Thursday September 18, at 5:30 pm, in the Tisbury Town Hall to take public comment on a proposal to establish a limit of 50 blue crabs per day for commercial fisherman. http://www.mvtimes.com/news/ 2008/09/11/crabbing-regulations.php |
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| Wind Update | |||||||||
| Cape Wind lands another permit |
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 State environmental officials have quietly issued a key permit for the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm. The state Department of Environmental Protection last month issued a water quality certificate for Cape Wind Associates' plan to install nearly eight miles of transmission cable through Lewis Bay in West Yarmouth that would connect to 130 wind turbines in the sound. http://capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ article?AID=/20080911/NEWS/809110312/-1/NEWS01 |
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| Waste Update | |||||||||
| Recycling abandoned fishing gear |
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CHATHAM — One of the common features of shipwrecks in New England waters, besides the sponges that cling to their hulls and blanket their decks, are the fishing nets that shroud their superstructures. |
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| Tisbury Takes the Lead to Rejoin District |
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| Tisbury voters will be asked to approve some $700,000 for a better place to put their garbage and another $640,000 for a better place to put their emergency services at a Sept. 30 special town meeting. The precise details on the waste disposal proposal still are being worked out, but the deal would involve Tisbury and Oak Bluffs rejoining the other four Island towns in a single waste district, and acquiring land adjacent to the current waste district site in Edgartown for some $1.4 million. http://www.mvgazette.com/article.php?18310 |
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 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! |
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Thousands of common household products contain toxic ingredients that should be kept out of our waters. If we bring hazardous products into our homes, it is our responsibility to use, store, and dispose of them safely. 
OSLO (Reuters) - A new set of United Nations laws may be needed to regulate new Arctic industries such as shipping and oil exploration as climate change melts the ice around the North Pole, legal experts said on Sunday. 
Mon, Sept 15, Nature Tours with The Trustees of Reservations on Chappaquiddick are offered daily, including Fishing Discovery tours, Cape Pogue Natural History, Lighthouse or Quest tours. For details and reservations, call 508-627-3599. 
HAGERSTOWN, Md. - They call themselves "prognosticators," people who study the phases of the moon and the height of wasp nests, then declare there will be showers on Oct. 18, 2009. 
The U.S. bottled water market is slowing down after years of steady growth, suggesting that international awareness campaigns may be curbing consumer demand. 
Osprey on Martha’s Vineyard has an almost romantic existence here. When the birds were threatened by DDT exposure, nesting poles were erected all over the island and even today, Gus Ben David, former Felix Neck Director, assists in pole relocation, in erecting new poles and in maintaining predator guards. As a result, the Island now has an extensive, well-documented and fairly prolific network of breeding Osprey. For the past few years an annual count of breeding Osprey and their young has been conducted on Martha’s Vineyard.