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| This week in conservation September 21-27, 2009 |
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| KAYAK QUEST | |||||||||||||||
 Mon – Fri, Sept 21 – Oct 16, KAYAK QUEST, Enjoy Sengekontacket Pond at your own pace on this self-guided tour. The Quest clues will help you uncover the story of the pond’s people, places and wildlife. Your Quest ends after you find the hidden Quest box. Kayaks, paddles, lifejackets and Quest materials are all included. Fee: $30M, $40NM per boat (all equipment included) FELIX NECK WILDLIFE SANCTUARY Call for availability 508.627.4850 |
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| Tuesday After School at the Farm Institute | |||||||||||||||
 Tues, Sept 22, Tuesday After School at the Farm Institute: Hands-on learning about our food systems, sustainable agriculture and taking care of the land for ages six and up is from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Farm Institute in Katama. Cost is $15 per session, $120 for the season. Register on-line at farminstitute.org or call 508-627-7007, extension 104. |
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| The draft Ocean Management Plan | |||||||||||||||
 Wed, Sept 23, The draft Ocean Management Plan, public hearing at Katharine Cornell Theater, at 6:00 PM Public comments on the draft ocean management plan are currently being accepted and, pursuant to the Oceans Act of 2008, must be received by 5:00 pm on Monday, November 23, 2009. Submit written comments on the draft plan to: Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management Re: Draft Ocean Management Plan 251 Causeway Street, Suite 800 Boston, MA 02114 For more information about the MA Ocean Management Plan >CLICK HERE. |
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| Farmers-in-Training at the Farm Institute | |||||||||||||||
| Thurs, Sept 24, Farmers-in-Training at the Farm Institute, for young people ages 11 and up with prior experience at the Farm is from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Farm Institute in Katama. Cost is $15 per session, $120 for the season. Register on-line at farminstitute.org or call 508-627-7007, extension 104. |
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| Living in Harmony with Nature with Nancy Gilfoy | |||||||||||||||
 Thurs, Sept 24, Living in Harmony with Nature with Nancy Gilfoy: Late Summer/Earth Cycle is at the West Tisbury library at 4:30 p.m. For details, call 508-693-3366. |
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| Wampanoag Cultural Craft | |||||||||||||||
 Fri, Sept 25, Wampanoag Cultural Craft, 11 am–3 pm, Aquinnah Cultural Center. Painting on skins with Linda Coombs. 508-645-7900. |
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| Beach Clean-Up | |||||||||||||||
 Sat, Sept 26, Beach Clean-Up 8:30–10:30 am, Oak Bluffs Town Beach. Annual event: from Steamship Authority to O.B. Bathhouse. Free coffee/donut from M.V. Gourmet Café and Bakery. Rain date: Sept. 27. |
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| Electronics Disposal Day | |||||||||||||||
 Sat, Sept 26, Electronics Disposal Day 9 am–2 pm, M.V. Community Services, Oak Bluffs. 6th Biannual event benefits MVCS. Fees $1–$30. 508-693-7900 ext. 267. |
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| Slow Food Potluck | |||||||||||||||
 Sat, Sept 26, Slow Food Potluck 6:30 pm, Ag Hall, West Tisbury. With New England wild foods forager Russ Cohen. Bring dish to serve 6 with local/wild food. BYOB, place settings. $5 donation; Slow Food members free. 774-521-8406; 508-693-9426. |
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| Save The Date | The 3rd Annual Living Local Harvest Fest | ||||||||||||||
 The 3rd Annual Living Local Harvest Fest (LLHF) will be held October 2nd and 3rd on Martha’s Vineyard, presenting a rich program of free community events that aim to increase awareness and accelerate the uptake of sustainable living on Martha’s Vineyard. The festival is presented by - MV Agricultural Society, Vineyard Energy Project, Island Grown Initiative and the Vineyard Conservation Society. LLHF will open Friday evening, October 2nd at 7:30PM with a discussion on ‘The Next Generation of Martha’s Vineyard”, at the Grange Hall in West Tisbury. On Saturday, October 3rd, the festival will be in full bloom, with a packed day of events from 9:00am-3pm at the Agricultural Hall in West Tisbury. These include: LEARN - forums on leading-edge visions of sustainability: ENERGY: Wind (em)powering Martha's Vineyard, FOOD: The Now and Tomorrow of Small Scale Meat Production in Massachusetts, WASTE: Wither Waste on MV?!, NATURAL RESOURCES: Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head’s environmental education program. Program is sponsored by the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) (http://www.wampanoagtribe.net) FUN - interactive demonstrations such as: beekeeping/honey extraction, composting, organic gardening basics, Hook & Line, Pot and Net Fishing for Your Dinner and Preserving Food. Program is sponsored by South Mountain (http://www.somoco.com). KIDS – fun educational activities for kids of all ages on the culture and history of Martha’s Vineyard, farming, pumpkin carving, worm box building, felt making and more! Program is sponsored by the Farm Institute (http://www.farminstitute.org). |
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| Announcement | Third regional Ocean Policy Task Force Public Meeting | ||||||||||||||
Obama Administration officials will hold their third regional Ocean Policy Task Force Public Meeting in Providence, Rhode Island on September 24, 2009. Rhode Island Convention Center, Ballrooms D & E, One Sabin Street, Providence, RI 02903 4:00-7:00 p.m The Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force, led by White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley, The Task Force is charged with developing a recommendation for a national policy that ensures protection, maintenance, and restoration of oceans, our coasts and the Great Lakes. It will also recommend a framework for improved stewardship, and effective coastal and marine spatial planning. The public is encouraged to attend and an opportunity for public comment will be provided. Public comment can also be submitted online at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/oceans |
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| MVTV | All-Island Selectmen meeting | ||||||||||||||
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| Island Plan Update | Draft Island Plan Outlines a Vision for a Sustainable Vineyard | ||||||||||||||
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| Wind Update | Company asks permit for offshore turbine |
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Blue H USA, a Dutch-owned company that wants to anchor floating wind turbines some 20 miles southwest of Martha's Vineyard to harness offshore ocean winds, has applied for a permit from the U.S. Army Corps. A prototype of the floating offshore wind turbine Blue H proposes to build. Photo courtesy Blue H The company wants to anchor a demonstration unit on the outer continental shelf approximately 23 miles off Squibnocket Point in Chilmark and about 32 miles southeast of Block Island, R.I. according to the Army Corps. http://www.mvtimes.com/marthas-vineyard/ news/2009/09/17/offshore-turbine-permit.php Following is a letter sent by Sue Whiting to the Gazette in response to a story written about the Draft Ocean Management Plan and the various migrating and wintering bird populations. Letter to the Editor The Gazette called me to seek information about the affects of wind turbines on migratory bird population for an article Selectmen, County Commission Hope to Slow State Wind Plan in the September 11, 2009 issue. Unfortunately there was a missing synapse along the line as a good portion of the information printed had no bearing whatsoever to what I said. Yes, I am indeed concerned about the lack of data presented on bird migration and wintering grounds for the areas around the Vineyard and in particular Noman’s Land and Cuttyhunk in the Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan. Go to the Wind section for the rest of the letter |
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| Water Update | Obama Seeks National Oversight of Waters |
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 The Obama administration called Thursday for a comprehensive national system for regulating the use of federal waters along the nation’s marine and Great Lakes shores, now administered by a hodgepodge of federal, state or other agencies with often-conflicting goals. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/18/ science/earth/18oceans.html?hpw |
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| Climate Change Update | Ocean Acidification: The Other CO2 Problem |
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 Increased carbon dioxide is changing the chemistry of the earth’s oceans, threatening marine life Earth’s atmosphere isn’t the only victim of burning fossil fuels. About a quarter of all carbon dioxide emissions are absorbed by the earth’s oceans, where they’re having an impact that’s just starting to be understood. Over the last decade, scientists have discovered that this excess CO2 is actually changing the chemistry of the sea and proving harmful for many forms of marine life. This process is known as ocean acidification. http://www.nrdc.org/oceans/acidification/default.asp |
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| Failing to Curb Global Warming Could Cost the Nation Hundreds of Billions by the End of the Century, New Report Finds | |||||||||||||||
| WASHINGTON (September 10, 2009) — Unchecked climate change could saddle taxpayers, businesses, and state and local governments across the country with hundreds of billions of dollars in damages, according to a new report released today by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). The report, "Climate Change in the United States: The Prohibitive Costs of Inaction," is an overview of more than 60 studies analyzing the potential financial toll of global warming if we fail to dramatically curb emissions. The costs are largely due to rising sea levels, more intense hurricanes, flooding, declining public health, strained energy and water resources, and impaired transportation infrastructure. UCS has assembled separate summaries of findings for the East Coast, Midwest and Western states. http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/failing-to-curb-global-0275.html |
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| Waste Update | Following Trash and Recyclables on Their Journey |
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 Where does all the trash go?Karin Landsberg, 42, a self-described “eco-geek” in Seattle, was so curious that she invited researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology into her home last month to fish 12 items out of her garbage and recycling bins — a can of beans, a compact fluorescent light bulb — and tag them with small electronic tracking devices. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/17/ science/earth/17trash.html |
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| Wildlife Update | DNA 'Barcode' To Help Nab Illegal Wildlife Traders |
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 DNA barcoding endangered species (not only marine), is a project initiated by Dr. Jesse Ausubel, a board member at VCS A new tool has emerged that could give investigators around the world a way to stop the illegal trade in threatened and endangered species. The idea is that customs agents can send samples of items made from animal products — like crocodile skin boots or antelope hide bags — to a DNA analysis lab where researchers can determine exactly what species the product or meat is from. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112819451 |
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| Beekeepers wary of pesticides to fight beetle infestation |
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| Tomorrow, federal officials will begin injecting hundreds of beetle-threatened trees and nearby soil with imidacloprid, a widely used agricultural pesticide that is known to be toxic to bees and has been linked to a worldwide die-off of honeybees. Federal and state scientists are trying to eradicate the invasive Asian longhorned beetle from the Worcester area before it can spread to the beloved hardwood forests of northern New England. http://www.boston.com/news/local/ massachusetts/articles/2009/09/16/ beekeepers_wary_of_pesticides_in_worcesters_war_on_invasive_beetle/ |
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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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Have ideas for content for the Almanac? Please send them along to: |
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The Vineyard Conservation Society is a local, non-profit environmental organization working to protect land and natural resources on Martha’s Vineyard. For more than 40 years, we have worked to promote the broadest possible definition of conservation, including conservation of habitat and materials and community character and energy. For VCS, conservation of energy means not just replacing light bulbs and making personal decisions to drive less or use less electricity. It also means improving efficiency in our buildings and appliances and transportation. The draft Oceans Act management plan offers an opportunity to do that, if the Vineyard can speak in unison at this critical juncture in time. 
In an extraordinary display of unity, the Vineyard’s six towns, the Dukes County Commission and Martha’s Vineyard Commission have formed an unbroken front to oppose state plans to permit huge commercial wind-farming operations in Vineyard waters. 
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Small island nations gained North America's powerful backing Tuesday for a plan to convert the U.N. ozone treaty into a tool for phasing out some of the globe's most powerful climate-warming gases. The Obama administration announced the United States, Canada and Mexico now support using the treaty to require cuts in powerful greenhouse gases known as hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs. 
The All-Island Selectmen meeting will be shown on Channel 15 on Monday, Sept 21 at 8 PM. Check MVTV program listing for other times. The draft Oceans Management Plan and the Island Plan, as well as alternative ways for the Island to benefit from wind turbines were extensively reviewed at that meeting. 
James A. Athearn, Chair, Island Plan Steering Committee and Mark London, Executive Director, Martha's Vineyard Commission