Will get 20% of the sales price of any of Anna Edey’s Collection of Exquisite, Hand-Knotted, Semi-Antique Persian Tribal Rugs Through February 14
Mon – Sat, 3 - 6 pm at the former Belushi-Pisano Gallery, VH

Further info: call Anna (508) 693-3341, (774) 563-0898

Discussion Thursday, Feb. 26, 7 p.m.
Vineyard Conservation Society
Wakeman Center in Vineyard Haven

Please join this island-wide book group, reading and discussing books that examine our relationship with nature. The group is sponsored by all six island libraries, Felix Neck Sanctuary, Bunch of Grapes Bookstore, The Island Grown Initiative and The Vineyard Conservation Society. Newcomers always welcome.

Enclosed please find the minutes of December's Steering Committee meeting at which we reviewed the draft recommendations of the Built Environment and Transportation Work Groups. We also continued to work on Development & Growth, focusing on how to analyze the impacts of different development scenarios.

In the appendices are draft notes of working sessions with three planning boards on Development & Growth.

Go to the Island Plan section for the minutes

On a bright day last spring, I hiked at dawn into the foothills behind our house in Colorado. Snow still lay in the shadows beneath boulders and pine trees, but the morning was warm — so warm the honeybees I keep up there would soon awaken, emerge from their wooden boxes and begin searching out their first nectar of the new year.

http://judson.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/
guest-column-a-low-tech-treatment-for-bee-plague/

In a HUGE success for land protection in Massachusetts, Governor Patrick has signed into law the "Land Conservation Incentives" Act (House 5080), which provides a tax credit for donations of certain land to land trusts or public conservation agencies. The New Law

Eligible donations of land or Conservation Restrictions to land trusts, state or Federal conservation agencies or municipal Conservation Commissions, MAY receive a credit equal to 50% of the appraised fair market value of the land, up to $50,000 per gift. The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) will first determine whether any given property proposed for donation (CR or fee) meets the public interest standards for natural resource protection. These tax credits will apply to land donations that result in the permanent protection of drinking water supplies, or wildlife habitat and biological diversity, scenic and cultural values, and agricultural and forestry production and the program is capped at $2 million per year.

IMPORTANT! This tax credit does not take effect until January 1, 2011 and it is NOT automatic for all donations of land or CR! EEA must come up with eligibility guidelines.

The law further requires that:

• Gifts of land must be permanently protected
• Tax Credit is valued at 50% of the appraised fair market value of the land
• Tax Credit is limited to $50,000 per gift
• Tax Credit cannot exceed the donor’s annual state income tax liability, but may be carried forward for 10 consecutive years

Please read the full bill http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/seslaw08/sl080509.htm for more information.

Compliments of MassLand E-News
01/26/09

WASHINGTON - Many damaging effects of climate change are already largely irreversible, researchers declared yesterday, warning that even if carbon emissions could somehow be halted, temperatures around the globe will remain high until at least the year 3000.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/
2009/01/27/some_climate_damage_irreversible_study_says/

Cape Wind Associates LLC has received another important state approval in its bid to build the country's first offshore wind farm.

The Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management issued two determinations Friday that the proposal to build 130 turbines in Nantucket Sound is consistent with its policies.

The findings by the agency responsible for balancing the impact of human activities with protection of the state's coastal and marine resources came exactly a week after the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) issued a crucial environmental report that found few negative impacts from the project.

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/20090127/NEWS/901270310

The stakes for Island efforts to improve water quality have increased dramatically, state legislators warned at a meeting of the All Island selectmen last week.

Senator Rob O'Leary (D-Cape and Islands) and newly elected state Rep. Tim Madden met at the Katharine Cornell Theatre Wednesday with officials and members of the public to deliver the news that Vineyard towns must clean up their water resources soon or face expensive environmental legal challenges. Mr. O'Leary said the money is there to do the work, including $300 million in state funds already set aside and potential funding from the federal stimulus packages now being debated in Congress.

http://www.mvtimes.com/marthas-vineyard/
news/2009/01/29/solons-water-cleanup.php