Mon Oct 6, 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.

Thurs Oct 9, Workshop Series for Decision-Makers: Workshop # 4 Modifying Tidal Inlets to Mitigate Nitrogen Loading in Coastal Systems Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve- 9:00 am – 12:15 pm As towns seek to reduce watershed nitrogen loads to coastal bays and ponds, modifying tidal inlets to improve water quality may be considered in certain scenarios as a potential management approach. Drawing on available science and regional examples, this workshop will examine whether or not this non-traditional approach can offer real solutions and how it compares with other nitrogen management alternatives. Key issues to be covered include:

• technical aspects of modifying tidal inlets and factors that control flushing
• state regulations
• determining the viability and appropriateness of this approach at different sites
• potential environmental impacts
• advantages and disadvantages
• economic costs Come and learn more about this subject and participate in a rich discussion with engineering experts and regulators on the implications for towns.

Registration: Please register online at www.waquoitbayreserve.org by clicking on the workshop in the list of upcoming events. If you have a question about registration, please contact Laurie Tompkins at laurie.tompkins@state.ma.us or 508-457-0495 ext. 108.

Cost: There is no charge to attend, but registration is required. For more information on the program, contact Tonna-Marie Rogers, at 508-457-0495 ext. 110 or tonna-marie.surgeon-rogers@state.ma.us.

The first of the Living Local Harvest Fest 2008 videos are now up and running on MVTV Channel 13. The following videos are of the demonstration workshops that took place on Saturday. They are: Living Local Poultry demo, Living Local Composting demo, Living Local Seed demo, Living Local Bee Keeping demo, and Living Local Food Preserving demo. Dates and times are as follows:

Mon Oct 6, Poultry- 9AM, Seeds- 5PM
Tues, Oct 7, Composting- 2PM, Bee Keeping-5PM
Wed, Oct 8, Preserving Food- 3PM Seed- 12PM

Check MVTV listings online for future airings.

The Tisbury Community Preservation Committee is looking for applications for funding for private, public and non-governmental agency projects that include historic preservation, land conservation or affordable housing resources of Tisbury. A joint project with an abutting town is also eligible. If you have a worthy cause, come to the meeting to see if you qualify. A Public Information Hearing will be held Monday, Oct. 6, 2008 at 5 pm at the Tisbury Senior Center on Pine Tree Lane.

The CPC seeks comments from the public on the needs, possibilities and resources of the town for using Community Preservation Funds. It is anticipated that the town may have as much as $500,000 available in Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds to be voted on for various projects at Town Meeting next spring. The CPC now seeks voter input on new projects that may be eligible for these funds.

Land conservation projects include beaches, dunes and other coastal lands, scenic vistas, land for wildlife habitat or bio-diversity or nature preserves, agricultural land, fields, woodlands, fresh and salt water marshes and other wetlands, as well as ocean, lake and pond frontage.

The tentative timeline is:
October 20, 2008: Applications for Determination of Eligibility are due
November 17, 2008: Applications for Funding are due
Early January 2009: Final Proposals for Warrant Articles will be completed by the CPC

The Island Plan has launched a public opinion survey about how the Vineyard community should manage future development.

Everyone is invited to take the Development and Growth Survey, to say what you think about the amount, location, and rate of growth. It also asks about various tools that could be used to make sure that new construction, renovation, and rebuilding better respect the natural environment, fit into neighborhoods, and deal with affordability.

You can take the ten-minute survey online by going to www.islandplan.org. Alternatively, you can get a paper copy at your library or from the MVC (508-693-3453).

Three Island Plan forum proceedings are available for review in the Island Plan section.

The proceedings from the three 2008 Island Plan forums, Built Environment, Development and Growth, and Transportation are now posted in the Island Plan section.

MIAMI — The eight-year-old, multibillion-dollar effort to rescue the Everglades has failed to halt the wetlands’ decline because of bureaucratic delays, a lack of financing from Congress and overdevelopment, according to a new report.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/
us/30everglades.html?_r=1&bl
&ex=1222920000&en=040eb2e949d5b4ff
&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin

Department of Public Works (DPW) director Fred LaPiana provided an explanation of the lease/purchase agreement. The agreement offers Tisbury and Oak Bluffs, which are joined in a solid waste municipal partnership, the opportunity to buy land critical to consolidating refuse and recycling operations Island-wide and to negotiating the terms of reentry into a regional refuse district with the other four towns.

http://www.mvtimes.com/marthas-vineyard/
news/2008/10/02/tisbury-vote.php

Brasilia - The Brazilian government tops the list of the 100 largest illegal loggers in the Amazon rain forest and will face criminal charges, the Environment Ministry said on Monday.

The six largest deforested areas since 2005 all belong to the government Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform, or Incra, which distributes land to the poor. Together 223 000 hectares of the world's largest rain forest were destroyed on those six properties, as settlers chopped down trees to sell and plant crops.

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php
?set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=nw20080930082104253C481389

It was the Vineyard’s wettest weekend with gutters overflowing, but the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Hall in West Tisbury was overflowing with people for Saturday’s Living Local Harvest Festival.

http://www.mvgazette.com/article.php?18627

SustainLane.com Study Cites Mayor’s Executive Order and Other Environmental Initiatives as Key to Boston’s Success

In a study released this week by SustainLane.com, Boston is ranked sixth in the nation for sustainability, moving up one spot from last year. The study cites Mayor Thomas Menino’s executive order in April 2007 calling for the city’s first community-wide greenhouse gas inventory and a 10-percent increase in recycling by 2012. The study also took into consideration new zoning laws requiring LEED certification for certain developments, a requirement that all taxicabs go hybrid by 2015, and a mandate to assess all city buildings for alternative energy potential.

http://www.cityofboston.gov/news/default.aspx?id=3991

All Martha’s Vineyard ponds have been closed to most shellfishing and could remain so for a week or more, as a result of the heavy rainfalls of the past few days.

A mandatory statewide closure was ordered on Sunday by the Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), out of concern that oysters, quahaugs and softshell clams could be contaminated by dangerous bacteria.

http://www.mvgazette.com/article.php?18626