Vineyard Conservation Almanac

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In This Issue:

Local News:
Meet the President

Feature:
A letter to Michelle and Barack Obama, from Dr. James Hanson and his wife Anniek

Calendar:
The Noble Horseshoe Crab;
Moonrise Meander;
VCS WINTER WALK, Squibnocket Pond

Announcement:
Adult & Community Education of Martha’s Vineyard

Energy Update:
Commission Adopts Green Energy Policy for All New Building and Development;
No Furnaces but Heat Aplenty in ‘Passive Houses’

Coal Update:
At Plant in Coal Ash Spill, Toxic Deposits by the Ton

Transportation Update:
A Surge in Bicyclists Appears to Be Waiting

Wildlife Update:
Ocean acidity level means trouble for sea life;
Dissolution mortality of juvenile bivalves in coastal marine deposits

VCS Winter Walks

Save the Date

Sunday, January 11th starting at 1:00pm The Vineyard Conservation Society (VCS) is celebrating 25 years of leading FREE winter walks for the community. As a part of VCS's Clean Water Initiative in partnership with the Massachusetts Environmental Trust, this season's program will focus on the health of Vineyard waters. On Sunday January 11 at 1:00, Islanders are invited to join VCS and explore Squibnocket Pond in Chilmark. Property Manager Jay Walsh will lead the walk starting at the Squibnocket beach parking lot.

Cider and cookies will be served. This walk is limited to 25 people, so please RSVP.

Call VCS at 508-693-9588 for more information.

LOCAL NEWS

M E E T T H E P R E S I D E N T
Interviewed by Kaysea Cole, VCS Communications Coordinator

From Ohio to East Africa, from Boston to Martha’s Vineyard, new VCS president Phil Henderson has traveled many converging roads to Vineyard Conservation.

Go to the Environmental Education section for the rest of this interview as well as interviews with Geraldine Brooks and Virginia Crowell Jones, our other two new board members.

Feature

A letter to Michelle and Barack Obama, from Dr. James Hanson and his wife Anniek

29 December 2008

Michelle and Barack Obama
Chicago and Washington, D.C.
United States of America

Dear Michelle and Barack, We write to you as fellow parents concerned about the Earth that will be inherited by our children, grandchildren, and those yet to be born.

Barack has spoken of ‘a planet in peril’ and noted that actions needed to stem climate change have other merits. However, the nature of the chosen actions will be of crucial importance.

http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/
mailings/20081229_DearMichelleAndBarack.pdf

What lesson's just as important as readin', 'ritin', and 'rithmetic?
Recyclin', of course. Teach littl'uns greener ways - just as important as the traditional fundamentals - with a regular trip to the recycling center.

Dropping off bottles and cans for recycling means the planet gets a breather and the kids get a little extra cash. Making recycling a regular part of their lives is great practice for a lifelong environmentality - and saves landfill space and resources (using recycled aluminum, for example, uses 95% less energy than making cans from new ore). If 10,000 Biter kids each recycle one aluminum can, we'll save enough energy to power up a 100-watt bulb for 23 years, 24 hours a day.

Calendar

The Noble Horseshoe Crab

Tues Jan 6, The Noble Horseshoe Crab, The Vineyard Haven Library Evening Lecture continues its series with a lecture by Paleobiologist Fred Hotchkiss, at 7 PM. Dr. Hotchkiss will speak about the horseshoe crab a Martha’s Vineyard resident. The eggs of the horseshoe crab are a vital food source to migrating shorebirds. The adults are essential in biomedical applications and to the bait fishery. Sustaining the horseshoe crab for man and nature is a recognized priority from the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of Maine.

Moonrise Meander

Sat Jan 10, Moonrise Meander 3:45 pm, Felix Neck, Edgartown. Guided sunset walk. Bring flashlight. $8; $4 for members. 508-627-4850.

VCS WINTER WALK, Squibnocket Pond

Sun, Jan 11, VCS WINTER WALK, Squibnocket Pond in Chilmark, starting at 1:00 pm, Property Manager Jay Walsh will lead the walk starting at the Squibnocket beach parking lot. Cider and cookies will be served. This walk is limited to 25 people, so please RSVP. Call VCS at 508-693-9588 for more information.

Announcement

Adult & Community Education of Martha’s Vineyard

Winter Session runs from January 12 to February 13, 2009*.

You can register for classes here or you can register in person at the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School on January 6th and 7th from 5:00 to 7:00pm, or the first night of classes with an added fee of $5. REGISTER SOON! CLASS SIZES LIMITED.

All classes are held at Martha's Vineyard Regional High School, 100 Edgartown/Vineyard Haven Road in Oak Bluffs.

*GED runs twice a week for 8 weeks, see schedule.

Introduction to the Basic Geology of Martha’s Vineyard: Pre-glacial geology and a look into the future
Dr. Charles Ratté

Birds in Peril?
Robert Culbert

The Hidden Life of Seashells: Digging Beneath the Surface of Local Shells
Susie Bowman

Preparing for a Healthy Garden, Simon Athearn Island Grown Educators: Building Lessons to Connect to Food and Agriculture
Melinda Rabbitt DeFeo
This seminar is co-sponsored by Island Grown Initiative.

Reconnecting to Nature: Indigenous Ways of Learning
Saskia Vanderhoop

Energy Update

Commission Adopts Green Energy Policy for All New Building and Development
By JIM HICKEY
Vineyard Gazette

The Martha’s Vineyard Commission early this month unanimously approved a new policy aimed at regulating and reducing the amount of nonrenewable energy used in certain new construction projects. The new policy only affects larger construction projects that qualify for review as developments of regional impact (DRIs).

http://www.mvgazette.com/article.php?19581

No Furnaces but Heat Aplenty in ‘Passive Houses’
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
Published: December 26, 2008

DARMSTADT, Germany — From the outside, there is nothing unusual about the stylish new gray and orange row houses in the Kranichstein District, with wreaths on the doors and Christmas lights twinkling through a freezing drizzle. But these houses are part of a revolution in building design: There are no drafts, no cold tile floors, no snuggling under blankets until the furnace kicks in. There is, in fact, no furnace.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/27/
world/europe/27house.html?_r=1&em

Coal Update

At Plant in Coal Ash Spill, Toxic Deposits by the Ton
By SHAILA DEWAN
Published: December 29, 2008

In a single year, a coal-fired electric plant deposited more than 2.2 million pounds of toxic materials in a holding pond that failed last week, flooding 300 acres in East Tennessee, according to a 2007 inventory filed with the Environmental Protection Agency.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/30/
us/30sludge.html?_r=1

Transportation Update

A Surge in Bicyclists Appears to Be Waiting
By JAN ELLEN SPIEGEL
Published: December 31, 2008
NY Times

After a summer of their dreams, bicycle store owners are facing a grim reality this winter.

Big increases in business this year led some shop owners to think that they were largely insulated from a slowing economy. But the economy has continued to spiral downward, taking bicycle sales and much else with it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/01/business/
smallbusiness/01sbiz.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1
&adxnnlx=1230762440-iWBpHIIFg4T9gfJuvy6gyw

Wildlife Update

Ocean acidity level means trouble for sea life
By DAVID HOLLEY, For the Observer
Chinook Observer

PACIFIC OCEAN - We all know the frightening fact that if the earth were much closer to the sun, we'd all be toast.

A similar reality holds true for many sea creatures, which depend on steady pH levels in the ocean to maintain life.

Scientists are now observing lower pH levels in the world's oceans, meaning the water is more acidic. Measured on a 1 to 10 scale, the lower the pH, the more acidic the water. A slight dip in pH - as small as .1 - can be a deadly consequence for some sea life.

http://www.chinookobserver.com/main.asp?
SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=26022

Dissolution mortality of juvenile bivalves in coastal marine deposits
Mark A. Green,1 Michael E. Jones, Carrie L. Boudreau, Richard L. Moore, and Benjamin A. Westman

Department of Marine and Environmental Science, Saint Joseph’s College of Maine, 278 Whites Bridge Road, Standish, Maine 04084

Abstract
We evaluate experimentally the effect of carbonate saturation state at the sediment–water interface (SWI) on survivorship of various size classes of the juvenile bivalve Mercenaria mercenaria. Populations of 0.2-mm, 0.3-mm, 1-mm, and 2-mm M. mercenaria were introduced to sediments realistically undersaturated (experimental, saturation state with respect to aragonite 5 Varagonite 5 IMP/Ks9p 5 ;0.3) and saturated (control, Varagonite 5 ;1.5) with respect to aragonite in order to evaluate the impact of saturation state and dissolution on survivorship.

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