Vineyard Conservation Almanac

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In This Issue:

Local News:
Cape Wind Offshore Energy Project

Feature:
Big Science Role Is Seen in Global Warming Cure

Calendar:
Garden Club Meeting;
Book Discussion: Menu for the Future from the North West Earth Institute;
Alpaca Farm Open House/ Workshop

Save The Date:
PLAN TO PROTECT: How Communities Can Prepare for Climate Change

Announcement:
FLAT POINT POULTRY: Island Raised Grass Fed Chicken

Biodiesel Update:
Turning Cooking Oil Into Fuel for the County;
Turning Cooking Oil Into Fuel for the County

Climate Change Update:
Cape Cod without oysters and lobsters?

Waste Update:
Nantucket buried by trash-removal costs

Energy Update:
Oil Industry Ready to Work on Global Warming;
Interior Dept. delays leasing for offshore oil

Wildlife Update:
Happy Penguin;
Koala saved from Australia's wildfires doing well

The Frances Newhall Woods Preserve Walk

On Sunday February 9, approximately 40 people met in a field off of North Road for the Vineyard Conservation Society's monthly winter walk. It was unseasonably warm, with temperatures reaching 49 degrees. This month's walk was led by VCS Executive Director Brendan O'Neill, who led walkers along the perimeter of the Frances Newhall Woods Preserve, a 500 acre wildlife refuge. The Woods family, with help of VCS and the Nature Conservancy, permanently protected this beautiful land through a conservation restriction placed on the property in 1991 (one of the largest CRs on the Island).

The preserve includes several very different and equally beautiful terrains. The walkers hiked through woods bordered by ancient stone walls and beech trees that opened up to a savanna like setting leading to a picture perfect pond with an old ice house where the group witnessed a pair of playful otters. Those among the group feeling adventurous continued up the ridge and over to the southern boundary of the property bordering Panhandle Road near the Agricultural Hall (land protected with an agricultural restriction donated by the Woods family before it was conveyed to the Agricultural Society).

The two hour trek finished in the parking lot where well deserved homemade cookies and desserts were served!

The next and final VCS winter walk of the season will take place on Sunday March 8, at 1:00 pm. We will walk to the opening at Katama Bay. Please call VCS for details 508-693-9588

LOCAL NEWS

Cape Wind Offshore Energy Project
By Tad Crawford, VCS Board member

Royalty Payments

Senator Rob O’Leary, Representative Tim Madden, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission and the Dukes County Commission all strongly support a proposal made by the Vineyard Energy Project and the Vineyard Conservation Society to secure for the benefit of the Cape and Islands a share of the royalty payments that will be made to the Federal government if the Cape Wind Offshore Energy Project becomes a reality.

Go to the Wind section for the rest of the proposal

Feature

Big Science Role Is Seen in Global Warming Cure
By JOHN M. BRODER and MATTHEW L. WALD
Published: February 11, 2009
NY Times

WASHINGTON — Steven Chu, the new secretary of energy, said Wednesday that solving the world’s energy and environment problems would require Nobel-level breakthroughs in three areas: electric batteries, solar power and the development of new crops that can be turned into fuel.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/
us/politics/12chu.html

Replace old windows with double-glazing to cut the average home’s heat loss by up to 20% and to reduce CO2 emissions by about 1,500 lb. every year. Alternatively, try “low-E” (low-emissivity) glass, which allows the same amount of visible sunlight to pass through the window as normal glass but has a special transparent coating that restricts the conduction of thermal energy. This minimizes heat loss during cold weather and heat gain during hot weather. If you’re on a budget, opt for storm windows, which are a less permanent, but reasonably effective, alternative to new windows.

Courtesy of How To Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Calendar

Garden Club Meeting

Tues, Feb 17, Garden Club Meeting 1 pm, Wakeman Center, Lambert's Cove Rd., Tisbury. The seasons at Polly Hill with Tom Clark. $5 non-member fee. 508-693-5334.

Book Discussion: Menu for the Future from the North West Earth Institute

Wed, Feb 18, Book Discussion: Menu for the Future from the North West Earth Institute, dealing with issues of food, agriculture, and global warming, is at the Vineyard Haven library at 7 p.m. Sign up at the front desk to order a workbook, or call 508-696-4211.

Alpaca Farm Open House/Workshop

Sat, Feb 21, Alpaca Farm Open House/ Workshop 12 noon-4 pm, Island Alpaca Company, Oak Bluffs. Meet newest babies; refreshments; intermediate knitter's workshop. $45. Pre-register for class: 508-693-5554.

Save The Date

PLAN TO PROTECT
How Communities Can Prepare for Climate Change

Tuesday, March 3, 2009
9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Terrace Room, Hyannis Golf Club
Route 132, Hyannis

Workshop Description: Much effort is being expended in the scientific community to better understand our climate system and how people and ecosystems influence and may be affected by climatic shifts. The Plan to Protect workshop will showcase examples of communities within and outside the state that are engaging in adaptation planning. These case studies can serve as models to other communities and will help local decision-makers learn about how to begin this process. Topics to be addressed include sea level rise, storms, stormwater, wastewater and fires. Participants will spend time extracting transferable lessons and practices relevant to their context. The workshop will also kick-off an opportunity for towns on Cape Cod to receive technical assistance to develop climate adaptation plans. Target Audience: Selectmen, town administrators, planners, planning boards, engineers, DPW Directors, conservation commissions, coastal managers, emergency managers, natural resource managers, wastewater committees and environmental organizations. Registration: Please see the attached brochure for details or click on the event in the calendar at www.waquoitbayreserve.org.

Announcement

FLAT POINT POULTRY:
Island Raised Grass Fed Chicken

At FPP, we raise Cornish Rock Cross chickens in movable A-Frame 'chicken tractors' which are moved daily to fresh grass. In addition to our pastures' grasses and the occasional bucket of vegetable compost, the birds are fed a conventional corn and soy feed. A bit of whey is occasionally added to their water as well. But they consume no meat or bone/blood meal. Nor are they administered any antibiotics or medications at the hatchery or while here at the farm in West Tisbury. Once the birds have grown to an approximate weight of 4 lbs (dressed-weight) they are processed here on farm with the help of the Island Grown Initiative's Mobile Poultry Processing Trailer (MPPT) The very day the birds are processed, bagged and ice-chilled you come to the farm and take away your order...along with some livers, hearts and vegetables from our garden if you so desire. Our birds cost $5 per pound.

We ask for five dollar deposit per bird to help us defray the costs associated with grain purchases and upkeep of our equipment. You pay the balance when you pick up your chickens. Remember, these deposits are guaranteed: If you don't get your chicken you will get your deposit back.

Please find our mail in order form at: www.flatpointpoultry.blogspot.com
Don't hesitate to write or call: flatpointpoultry@gmail.com

Biodiesel Update

Turning Cooking Oil Into Fuel for the County
By DIANA MARSZALEK
Published: February 5, 2009

VATS of grease may make health advocates cringe, but Westchester County officials see excess cooking oil from the county’s 3,500 restaurants as a means of cleaner, cheaper fuel.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/
nyregion/westchester/08greasewe.html?_r=1

Climate Change Update

Cape Cod without oysters and lobsters?
By Doug Fraser
dfraser@capecodonline.com
February 06, 2009

BOSTON — Imagine the Cape with no lobster huts, clam shacks or scallop rolls.Want a seaside meal? Think jellyfish, the ultimate survivor in a sea that, by the year 2050, will more closely resemble the pre-Cambrian acidic stew at the dawn of time.

The ocean is absorbing carbon from the atmosphere, which combines with sea water to form an acid. With the world pumping carbon into the air faster than at any point in history, scientists warned that the ocean is quickly becoming inhospitable to shell-building animals including lobsters, scallops, clams, corals, and even some types of plankton.

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/20090206/NEWS/902060314/-1/NEWS01

Waste Update

Nantucket buried by trash-removal costs
By JASON GRAZIADEI
THE INQUIRER AND MIRROR
February 09, 2009

NANTUCKET — Skyrocketing operating costs at the Madaket landfill have led to a $4.7 million deficit, straining the municipal budget more so than any other town department.

A combination of lost revenue from declining construction and demolition waste, sales of recycled material and compost, and the mounting cost of new regulatory requirements has pushed the annual deficit to new heights.

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/20090209/NEWS/902090310/-1/NEWS01

Energy Update

Oil Industry Ready to Work on Global Warming
By CLIFFORD KRAUSS and JAD MOUAWAD
Published: February 11, 2009

HOUSTON — Confronted with a sharp change of priorities in Washington, international oil executives are expressing an eagerness to work with President Obama to fashion new policies to tackle global warming.

At an industry conference here this week, the executives struck a conciliatory tone on how to limit the emissions that are contributing to climate change, with many of them sounding like budding conservationists as they stressed energy efficiency and the need to develop renewable fuels.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/
science/earth/12oil.html?_r=1

Interior Dept. delays leasing for offshore oil
By H. Josef Hebert
Associated Press / February 11, 2009

WASHINGTON - Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has rejected a Bush administration plan to open vast waters off the Pacific and Atlantic coasts to oil and gas drilling, promising "a new way forward" in offshore energy development including new wind projects.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said that he hoped to 'restore an orderly process to our offshore energy planning program.'

NEW LIMITS ON DEVELOPMENT
Salazar, at a news conference yesterday, criticized "the midnight timetable" for new oil and gas development on the country's Outer Continental Shelf proposed by the Bush administration four days before President Obama took office Jan. 20.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/
articles/2009/02/11/interior_dept_delays_leasing_for_offshore_oil/

Wildlife Update

Happy Penguin
Youtube

This gives creative survival new meaning!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1Hh5-VzbRI

Koala saved from Australia's wildfires doing well
By KRISTEN GELINEAU
Associated Press Writer

SYDNEY (AP) -- "Sam" the koala, the most famous furry survivor of Australia's worst-ever wildfires, is healing well thanks to the efforts of caretakers at a rescue shelter - and she even has a new boyfriend, "Bob."

Sam, who captured hearts around the world after she was photographed drinking from a firefighter's water bottle, has also won the affection of "Bob," another koala whose paws were scorched in the weekend's inferno, caretaker Lynn Raymond said Thursday.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/
AS_AUSTRALIA_WILDFIRES_KOALA_RESCUED?
SITE=MAHYC&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
&CTIME=2009-02-12-05-18-15

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