Dennis Conservation Trust to Hold Annual Auction on July 20th

The Dennis Conservation Trust (DCT) will hold its annual auction on Sunday, July 20, 2008, at the Dennis village green. The event “marks the seventh year for the DCT auction and will focus on the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Trust. The event has become not only a summer tradition bringing together a wonderful gathering of people to support land preservation and open space, but also an enjoyable evening of festivities.” Guests will enjoy food, beverages, and the auction.

More information and the Auctions Item List is available on the Dennis Conservation Trust’s website.

Sweet Water Trust: Recent Grants

Established in 1992, Sweet Water Trust is a foundation whose mission is to support land conservation by awarding grants, owning land, and holding conservation restrictions. In recent years, the Trust has “focused on large, landscape-scale conservation projects, often supported with major, multi-year grants. While we still expect to make a few smaller grants each year, all projects must meet the criteria set out in our grant guidelines. One particularly important requirement is that the land's wilderness qualities be protected by a conservation easement or equivalent permanent legal instrument.”

With assets of more than $25 million, Sweet Water Trust has awarded more than 600 grants, including distributions to:

•  Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions, $5,000 in 2001, for support of training program for commissioners

•  Orenda Wildlife Land Trust, $5,000 in 2001, toward acquisition of 50-acre Mercy Lowe Property in Mashpee

•  The Nature Conservancy (Massachusetts Chapter), $2,000 in 2002, for support of Massachusetts poll to assess citizen attitudes toward conservation and their willingness to pay for increased land protection.

•  Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies, $10,000 in 2003, for support of a study to develop protocols for ecological restoration of salt marshes on the Lower Cape

•  Massachusetts Audubon Society, $5,000 in 2003, for support of an intern to assist in comprehensive invasive plant survey of Mass Audubon sanctuaries

•  Orenda Wildlife Land Trust, $3,100 in 2003, for support of stewardship and management of the trust's properties

•  Barnstable Land Trust, $15,000 in 2004, toward purchase of 42-acre Furman Property

•  Massachusetts Audubon Society, $5,000 in 2004, for support of a conservation easement training manual

Keeping the Community Preservation Act Promise

“Editorial: Keeping the CPA Promise”
The MetroWest Daily News, July 12, 2008

An editorial in The MetroWest Daily News reflects on Massachusetts’ decrease in matching local Community Preservation Act funds. For the last seven years, local funds were matched by the state on a dollar-for-dollar basis. Now, in fiscal year 2009, the state match will fall to about 70 cents per local dollar and the Community Preservation Coalition estimates the state match could fall to about 36 cents per local dollar in 2010. A legislative bill has been introduced to ensure that the state match will be at least 70 cents per local dollar.

Since its inception in 2000, the Community Preservation Act has generated more than $100 million for open space aquisitions in Massachusetts.

The Cost of Buying Conservation Heaven on Nantucket? $15 Million Dollars

“Property Profile: Rare and Oh, So Special”
The Nantucket Independent, July 9, 2008

NANTUCKET -- Large pieces of vacant land with water views are becoming scarcer and scarcer on Nantucket. So are properties which offer multiple choices for locating a house. So are properties which abut Conservation Foundation land on two sides. So are properties with 1,000 feet of waterfront on one of the island's most beautiful tributaries. And so are properties with a boat house and a grandfathered fixed and floating dock.

The 31-acre tract at 16 Medouie Creek combines the best of Nantucket heath land, tupelo and oak forests and shorefront. ... ©

Read the full property profile.

North Beach Erosion in Chatham Washes 'Town Hall' Camp Away

“North Beach Erosion Continues, ‘Town Hall’ Camp Succumbs”
The Cape Cod Chronicle, July 10, 2008
By Alan Pollock

Allan Pollock reports that continued erosion at North Beach in Chatham has claimed another victim: ‘Town Hall’ camp. Owner John Kelley was unable to move his camp structure before it floated out into Pleasant Bay because the beach had been closed to protect nesting Piping Plover birds. The buildings of several other camp onwers are being stored temporarily on the Hammatt property thanks to a recent conservation district zoning change.

Related articles:

•  “Catch-22 at North Beach,”
     Cape Cod Times, July 9, 2008

Massachusetts Will Decrease Matching Funds for Open Space

“State Will Decrease Matching Funds Open Space Funds”
The Stoughton Journal, July 10, 2008
By Christine Steele

Christine Steele reports that Massachusetts will decrease state Community Preservation Act matching funds to local communities starting with fiscal year 2009, which began this month. The decrease in matching funding was forecast a year ago and a further decrease is predicted for 2010. The Community Preservation Act seeks to preserve open space, historic buildings and create affordable housing for communities by allowing them to levy a 1% to 3% surcharge on property taxes.

Ramp in Harwich Helps Eels Journey from Bank Street Bogs to the Sea

“New Ramp Helps Eels In Journey From Bog To Sea”
The Cape Cod Chronicle, July 10, 2008
By Mary J. Metzger

Mary Metzger reports that the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife installed an eel ramp in the Bank Street Bogs in Harwich this spring to help eels find their way to the sea. Purchased by the Harwich Conservation Trust in 2001, the 60-acre Bank Street Bogs is a connecting waterway between Grass Pond and Saquatucket Harbor.

Podcast: Robert Finch's A Cape Cod Notebook

"Outer Beach Overnights,” the most recent audio essay in naturalist Robert Finch’s A Cape Cod Notebook, broadcast on WCAI radio, is available for listening or reading online.

Mr. Finch has lived on and written about Cape Cod for over thirty years. He is the author of several books, including Common Ground: A Naturalist’s Cape Cod (1981), Outlands: Journeys to the Outer Edges of Cape Cod (1986), and Special Places on Cape Cod and the Islands (2003).

His writings are featured in A Sense of Place: the Works of Beston, Hay & Finch, a new exhibit at the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History in Brewster.

Barnstable Officials Eye Property at Freezer Point

“Barnstable Officials Eye Property”
Cape Cod Times, July 9, 2008
By Jake Berry

Jake Berry reports that the Town of Barnstable is considering purchasing a 7-acre parcel at Freezer Point that overlooks Barnstable Harbor from a local developer. The town has leased the parcel for six months while it contemplates a purchase, possibly for recreational use. The parcel is assessed at more than $2.5 million and sale estimates have been as high as $5 million.

Related articles:

•  “Town Leases Freezer Point, Set to Negotiate,”
     The Barnstable Patriot, July 9, 2008

•  “Town of Barnstable and Developer Stuart Bornstein Talking,”
     CapeCodToday.com, July 7, 2008

Truro Conservation Commission Seeks Details on Ryder Beach Plan

“ConCom Seeks Details on Ryder Beach Plan”
The Provincetown Banner, July 10, 2008
By Kevin Mullaney

Kevin Mullaney reports that the Truro Conservation Commission is awaiting a formal proposal about how best to address concerns about erosion and access to Ryder Beach. There has been some discussion about an elevated walkway, as Ryder Beach is a barrier beach with a wetland behind it.

Related article:

•  “Elevated Walkway Proposed at Ryder Beach,”
     The Provincetown Banner, June 6, 2008

Coalition for Buzzards Bay to Take the Plunge

Swim Buzzards Bay, a 1.2-mile open water swim and fundraising event for the Coalition for Buzzards Bay, will take place next Saturday, July 19, 2008. The swim, from Davy’s Locker Beach in New Bedford to Fort Phoenix in Fairhaven, affirms the importance of clean water and a healthy environment and raises money for the Coalition’s education, conservation, research and advocacy programs.

To register to swim, sponsor a swimmer, or view photos from the 2007 swim, please visit the Coalition for Buzzards Bay’s website.

Cool Conservation Quotes, Vol. 4

The most prosperous nation of to-day is the United States. Our unexampled wealth and well-being are directly due to the superb natural resources of our country, and to the use which has been made of them by our citizens, both in the present and in the past. We are prosperous because our forefathers bequeathed to us a land of marvellous resources still unexhausted. Shall we conserve those resources, and in turn transmit them, still unexhausted, to our descendants?

Unless we do, those who come after us will have to pay the price of misery, degradation, and failure for the progress and prosperity of our day. When the natural resources of any nation become exhausted, disaster and decay in every department of national life follow as a matter of course. Therefore the conservation of natural resources is the basis, and the only permanent basis, of national success. There are other conditions, but this one lies at the foundation.

--- Gifford Pinchot, The Fight for Conservation (1910)

Sale of Historic Murchison Property in Provincetown Pending, Land to be Subdivided

“Murchison Property Sale Pending”
The Provincetown Banner, July 10, 2008
By Pru Sowers

Pru Sowers reports that the sale of the historic Murchison House property in Provincetown is pending and that the land will be subdivided into nine single-family residential lots. The 3.5-acre wooded property has a view of the harbor and had been listed for sale at about $10 million. In September 2007, the trustees of the property were fined $200 for clear-cutting a piece of the property without notifying the Provincetown Conservation Commission.

Residents, Nantucket Land Bank Consider Removing Dead Trees to Reduce Risk of Fire

"Residents, Land Bank Working on Dead Pine Tree Removal Plan"
The Nantucket Independent, July 9, 2008
By Peter B. Brace

Peter Brace reports that a Nantucket resident's association will work with the Nantucket Islands Land Bank and the Nantucket Conservation Commission to remove 70 to 100 acres of dead pines along Hummock Pond Road. With less than two inches of rain in June and the island’s fire danger rating high, concern is the dead trees could fuel a forest fire.

Volunteers to Help Police Piping Plover Bird Nests in Sandwich

“Volunteers to Help Police Plover Nests on Sandwich Beach”
Cape Cod Times, July 3, 2008
By George Brennan

George Brennan reports that the town of Sandwich will host a training session on July 15, 2008, for volunteers interested in helping to protect piping plover and least tern birds at Town Neck Beach. The volunteers will educate beachgoers about the bird habitats and report infractions to natural resources officers and the police. The move comes after the town received a public scolding by state and federal environmental officials last month for failing to protect the endangered plover birds.

Related articles:

•  “Sandwich Set to Deploy Plover Police,”
     Cape Cod Times, June 14, 2008

•  “Selectmen Will Improve Protection of Endangered Species,”
     The Sandwich Broadsider, June 9, 2008

•  “Sandwich Faces Piping Plover Pressure,”
     Cape Cod Times, June 6, 2008

Bourne Conservation Commission to Take Closer Look at Sailing Program on Mashnee Island

“Sailing Program Will Get a Closer Look”
The Bourne Courier, July 8, 2008
By Paul Gately

Paul Gately reports that the Bourne Conservation Commission will review Bourne Community Boating’s plan to enhance its sailing program on Mashnee Island. The proposed enhancements, which involve a small parcel of open space, have sparked fierce debate over whether wetlands are involved.

Related articles:

•  “Islanders Unite Around Opposition to Sail Program Expansion,”
     The Bourne Courier, June 25, 2008

Dispute Settled Over Strong Island in Pleasant Bay

“Agreement Settles Legal Dispute Over Strong Island”
The Cape Cod Chronicle, July 10, 2008
By Tim Wood

Tim Wood reports that an agreement settling a legal dispute over Strong Island, a 55-acre island in Pleasant Bay, has been reached between the Chatham Conservation Foundation and the heirs of the island’s former owner. The island, which is open to the public, was sold to the foundation in 1974 for $700,000. The heirs were granted exclusive use of a three-acre “reserve” through the year 2073. The two parties have disagreed over replacement of an underwater electrical cable and development on the island.

Association to Preserve Cape Cod Seeks Volunteers for Salt Marsh Monitoring Program

“Plant Surveying Workshop in Brewster”
GateHouse News Service, July 2, 2008

GateHouse News Service reports that the Association to Preserve Cape Cod is seeking volunteers for the sixth year of its salt marsh monitoring program. Volunteers will learn about salt marshes and monitor birds, fish, plants, and salinity at six sites from Sandwich to Orleans. Data “will be used to support state and regional programs that evaluate salt marsh conditions, identify restoration opportunities and assess restoration success.”

A training workshop on plant surveying is scheduled for July 15, 2008, at Stony Brook in Brewster. For more information, please check the Association to Preserve Cape Cod’s webpage about salt marsh monitoring.

Author David Gessner to Speak and Sign Books in Brewster on July 17th

Nature writer David Gessner will speak at the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History on Thursday, July 17, 2008, to mark the paperback publication of his most recent book, Soaring with Fidel. A wine & cheese reception and booksigning will follow.

An assistant professor of creative writing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and seasonal resident of Cape Cod, Mr. Gessner is the author of several books about the Cape: A Wild, Rank Place: One Year on Cape Cod (1997), Return of the Osprey: a Season of Flight and Wonder (2002), Sick of Nature (2004), The Prophet of Dry Hill: Lessons from a Life in Nature (2005), and Soaring with Fidel (2007).

David Gessner was interviewed recently by Sarah Burke.

Massachusetts Restores Funding for Endangered Species Program

“After Six Years, Massachusetts Restores Funding for Endangered Species”
The Nature Conservancy, Press Release
July 3, 2008

BOSTON, MA -- July 3, 2008 -- The Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program (NHESP) has more reason to celebrate its 30th anniversary; an effort led by Senator Stephen Brewer (D-Barre), Vice-Chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, was successful in restoring funding to the state program responsible for protecting our state’s rare animals and plants. ... ©

Read the entire press release.

Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation Welcomes New Executive Director

“Sheriff's Meadow Welcomes New Exec Director”
The Martha’s Vineyard Times, July 3, 2008
By Nelson Sigelman

Nelson Sigelman reports that the Board of Directors of the Sheriff's Meadow Foundation on Martha’s Vineyard officially welcomed the new executive director, Adam Moore. Mr. Moore began his tenure in May but has already had the unfortunate task of addressing the “strip mining” of plants from the Foundation’s properties for the benefit of a wealthy West Tisbury landowner.

Ironically, Richard J. Lazarus, a professor and environmental lawyer, is scheduled to speak about "Environmental Law, Climate Change and the New Administration," at the Foundation's Summer Gathering & Dinner on July 21, 2008.

Related articles:

•  “Sheriff's Meadow Foundation Responds to Critics, Supporters,
     The Martha's Vineyard Times, June 5, 2008

•  “An Apology and Response,” Letter to the Editor,
     The Martha’s Vineyard Times, May 29, 2008

•  “Sheriff's Meadow Thumped Over Land Management Actions,”
     The Martha’s Vineyard Times, May 29, 2008

•  "Sheriff’s Meadow Halts All Native Plant Removal On
     Foundation Property,”
     Vineyard Gazette, May 23, 2008

•  “Native Plant Stripping Violates State Law,”
     Vineyard Gazette, May 16, 2008

Friends of Pleasant Bay to Hold Annual Meeting in Harwich on July 17th

The 22nd Annual Meeting of the Friends of Pleasant Bay will be held on Thursday, July 17, 2008, at the Wequassett Inn on Route 28 in East Harwich. Keynote speaker Ted Keon, Director of the Coastal Resources Department in Chatham, will speak about recent barrier beach breaches and the formation of the new Chatham Inlet. The meeting is open to the public free of charge.