Cape Walk 2008: May 31st to June 8th

The seventh Cape Walk, a nine-day trek across Cape Cod with some of the region's most experienced hikers and trail walkers, starts today, May 31, 2008, at Herring Cove in Provincetown. The walk will end at Scusset Beach State Reservation in Bourne, on Sunday, June 8, 2008.

Sponsored by Cape Cod Pathways, the walk is not a fundraiser but rather a celebration of Cape Cod's many conservation areas. Participants can walk one day, join in for several days, or walk the entire distance over the nine-day event:

•  Day 1, Saturday, May 31st, Provincetown to Truro
•  Day 2, Sunday, June 1st, Truro to Wellfleet
•  Day 3, Monday, June 2nd, Wellfleet to Eastham
•  Day 4, Tuesday, June 3rd, Eastham to Brewster
•  Day 5, Wednesday, June 4th, Brewster to Dennis
•  Day 6, Thursday, June 5th, Dennis to Yarmouth
•  Day 7, Friday, June 6th, Yarmouth to Barnstable
•  Day 8, Saturday, June 7th, Barnstable to Sandwich
•  Day 9, Sunday, June 8th, Sandwich to Bourne

For more information and complete details of each day's walk, please read the six-page program booklet.

National Fish and Wildlife Foundation: The Nature of Learning Grants

Last week, Philanthropy News Digest reported that the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is seeking applications from organizations interested in initiating The Nature of Learning program in their communities:

“ The Nature of Learning is a community-based environmental education initiative of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service National Wildlife Refuge System that seeks to use National Wildlife Refuges as outdoor classrooms to promote a greater understanding of local conservation issues; encourage an interdisciplinary approach to learning that seeks to enhance student academic achievement; utilize field experiences and student-led stewardship projects to connect classroom lessons to real-world issues; and involve a partnership among local schools, community groups, natural resource professionals, and local businesses.

Programs must involve a partnership among a local school(s), community group (e.g., Refuge Support Group), and National Wildlife Refuge. Programs must promote an understanding of local conservation issues, improve scientific literacy, and conform to appropriate academic standards of learning. Preference will be given to start-up programs that can demonstrate a commitment to sustaining the program over time.

First year start-up grants are available for up to $10,000 each. Second year follow-up grants of up to $5,000 each are available to support continued implementation of The Nature of Learning program.”

The deadline for submitting an application is June 16, 2008. Visit the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation web site for more information and the complete Request for Proposals.

Note that Cape Cod and the Islands have four National Wildlife Refuges:

•  Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge
•  Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge
•  Nantucket National Wildlife Refuge
•  Nomans Land Island National Wildlife Refuge

For some background information and perspective on the state of funding for our National Wildlife Refuges, please read the following pieces:

•  “America’s 548 National Wildlife Refuges Under-Funded By 43 Percent,” a press release issued May 22, 2008, by the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement

•  Restoring America's Wildlife Refuges 2008: A Plan to Solve the Refuge System Funding Crisis, a report by the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (May 2008)

•  Restoring Our Refuges: a Plan for Massachusetts, a fact sheet prepared by the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (2008)

Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation Apologizes for Poor Land Management

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

To the Editor:

The following is an open letter we at Sheriff's Meadow are asking the local newspapers to publish, in light of the removal of trees and bushes from two properties that are under the stewardship of the Foundation. Sod was removed, or "strip-mined," using one paper's choice of words, from another Island property that is not owned or controlled by us. Unfortunately, the decision to feature the photograph highlighting the sod removal on the front page has made that image the photographic poster child of the story. ...

Let me also address one other matter that has been the topic of some discussions. We did not know where the trees and bushes removed from our properties were headed. Because they ended up on the property of a family with known means, some have implied that there had to have been a quid pro quo involved for Sheriff's Meadow, regarding this particular transaction. While the landowner has made unrelated donations to the Foundation in the past, nothing could be further from the truth. ...

Stephen Crampton
President
Sheriff's Meadow Foundation ©

Read the full letter to the editor in The Martha’s Vineyard Times.

Note: The aforementioned “family with known means” is the family of billionaire Dirk Ziff. In light of the controversy, we note that, according to the GuideStar database, the Dirk E. Ziff Foundation made the following donations to Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation: $5,000 in 2000, $15,000 in 2001, $15,000 in 2002, $10,000 in 2003, and $5,000 in 2004. The donations were acknowledged in Sheriff’s Meadow’s annual reports, which are posted online for public review.

Related articles:

•  “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

Restaurant Lot in Hyannis to Become Open Space

“Barnstable Puts Vacant Lot Out of Business”
Cape Cod Times, May 29, 2008
By Matthew M. Burke

HYANNIS -- Town workers installed metal barricades around the former Chili's restaurant property on Route 132 Saturday to curb illegal parking that has been costing the town airport about $1,000 per day in lost parking fees ...

Chili's closed in September 2005 and the building has been vacant since. The town purchased the property for $1.6 million, and the sale finally closed Friday ...

The property was purchased using $880,000 of Community Preservation Act money approved by the town council in February and another $800,000 paid for by Berkshire Development as a condition of putting a Circuit City store on the former Star City Grill property, also on Route 132. ...

... the town is working on plans to demolish the old Chili's building, which will be turned into open space. No buildings or benches are planned for the site, only landscaping ... ©

Read the full article in the Cape Cod Times.

Future of the Quashnet Bogs in Mashpee

“Quashnet Future May Be Settled”
Cape Cod Times, May 29, 2008
By Stephanie Vosk

MASHPEE -- The conservation commission has been bogged down by the issue for over a year.

But it's decision time ... Tonight, the seven-member commission is expected to vote on the future of the Quashnet cranberry bogs.

Two main options are being considered -- find a grower to repair and cultivate the bogs or forgo the berry business and restore the Quashnet River ...

From the late 1990s until 2006, the Air Force paid the town for berries from the six bogs contaminated by ethylene dibromide, or EDB, from the Otis Air National Guard Base. ...

Since then, four of the six Quashnet Bogs have tested completely free of EDB, and the last two have only minimal traces ... ©

Read the full article in the Cape Cod Times.

Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation on Vineyard Criticized Over Land Management

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

MARTHA’S VINEYARD -- The Sheriff's Meadow Foundation (SMF) found itself in violation of state environmental regulations and the subject of a front page and editorial page drubbing last week by the Vineyard Gazette. It was an unfamiliar public role for the respected private conservation organization, whose uncomfortable exposure resulted from its mismanagement of two of its Island properties. ... ©

Read the full article in The Martha’s Vineyard Times.

Related Articles:

•  "An Apology and Response,” Letter to the Editor,
     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

Poll: Should Nonprofits That Own Property Pay Property Taxes?

In the wake of a recent newspaper article, “Tax Exemptions of Charities Face New Challenges,” which appeared in the May 26, 2008, issue of The New York Times, Philanthropy News Digest (PND) is conducting a poll of online readers to gauge whether nonprofit organizations that own their own property should pay property taxes.

The last time we checked the poll, 30% of the 92 voters said “yes,” 53% said “no,” and 16% were “not sure.”

To vote or check the results of the poll, see the right hand column of PND’s website.

June is "Funding for the Environment Month"

As part of its "Funding for the Environment Month," the Foundation Center is offering events and training programs on environmental funding at its five regional centers in New York, Atlanta, Cleveland, San Francisco, and Washington.

More convenient is the Foundation Giving Trends Webinar: Focus on Environment and Animals, a free audio and visual presentation to be delivered via Microsoft Office Live Meeting at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, June 2, 2008.

Here’s a description of the webinar: ”Join us from the comfort of your own office and learn about foundation giving for the environment and animals. Gain insights about the latest funding trends from Foundation Center experts and hear about grantmaking interests and priorities from some of the nation’s top foundations.”

Check the program listing for details about how a webinar works and whether your computer is compatible with Microsoft Office Live Meeting.

Note that according to the Foundation Center’s Highlights of Foundation Giving Trends, 2008 Edition, foundation funding for the “Environment and Animals” totaled $1.1 billion in 2006.

Town of Bourne’s 2008-2012 Open Space Plan

As a follow-up to “Municipal Open Space and Recreation Plans,” our blog post of May 24, 2008, we note that the Town of Bourne also has posted online its 2008-2012 Open Space and Recreation Plan (14.2 MB, 245 pages).

The plan’s “Inventory of Parcels of Conservation and Recreation Interest” details parcels owned by various entities, including the Bourne Conservation Trust and the Wildlands Trust of Southeastern Massachusetts (formerly Plymouth County Wildlands Trust).

First Baby Osprey Born at Cape Cod Museum of Natural History

The Cape Cod Museum of Natural History in Brewster has announced that the first baby of the museum’s resident Marsh Osprey couple was born on Tuesday morning, May 27, 2008!

If you have not had an opportunity to do so, please try viewing the museum's Osprey Cam.

Cool Conservation Quotes, Vol. 1

Shady Glade was a towering sycamore and a cluster of willows and cottonwoods along the banks of a winding creek. Early every spring hundreds of birds flocked into the treetops to build their nests, raise their young, and then go their way at the end of summer.

The year round population of the glade was no more than sixteen: half a dozen rabbits, a pair of possums, a single skunk, five green frogs, one bullfrog, and an old raccoon. They lived there together in a peaceful neighborly fashion. These simple woodland creatures were content to believe that nothing could ever spoil their quiet little world. They hardly noticed the big city looming up to the sky way off in the distance.

Then one spring day there came a deep rumbling sound. ...

--- Opening lines of Farewell to Shady Glade, by Bill Peet (1966). Written to raise awareness of environmental problems, the book is dedicated “To Rachel Carson with the hope that the new generation will carry on her all-important work toward preserving what is left of our natural world."

Calendar of Events for June 2008

June offers many wonderful opportunities to enjoy and learn about the environment of Cape Cod and the Islands. Below are just a few of the dozens of local events scheduled. Some events are members-only but most are open to the general public. Please check the respective websites for details and more listings!

Sunday, June 1st, 2008
Bird Walk, Wellfleet
“The early bird gets the worm and the early birder gets the best birds. The sanctuary’s many habitats support a wide variety of birds from herons to hummingbirds, waders to warblers, and everything in between.”
Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, Mass Audubon

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008
Walk: Bell's Neck Conservation Area, Harwich
Cape Cod Natural History Museum

Saturday, June 7th, 2008
Natural History Book Sale, Brewster
“This special sale will include contributions from members, a superb collection of recent gardening books AND a huge pile of ‘Oldies But Still Goodies’ from the Clarence Hay Library.”
Cape Cod Museum of Natural History

Saturday, June 7th, 2008
Botanical Walk Coy’s Brook Woodlands, Harwich
“Botanist and journalist Rich Eldred will point out flora in a variety of wetland and upland habitats.”
Harwich Conservation Trust

Sunday, June 8th, 2008
1st Annual Nantucket Family Adventure, Nantucket
“Families will get outdoors, explore Nantucket, and participate in fun activities such as scavenger hunts, geocaching, games, letter boxing, nature walks and more.”
Hosted by Nantucket Conservation Foundation, Mass Audubon, Nantucket Land Council, Linda Loring Nature Foundation and other organizations.

Sunday, June 8th, 2008
Landscape Painting with Karen North Wells, Brewster
“A two-day workshop with noted Brewster artist Karen North Wells.”
Cape Cod Museum of Natural History

Wedneday, June 11th, 2008
Great Island Hike, Wellfleet
“This hike will traverse salt marshes, dunes, and Cape Cod Bay, and will explore the woods of the interior of the island. Scenic vistas of Wellfleet Harbor will also be seen from high cliff tops.”
Cape Cod National Seashore

Saturday, June 14th, 2008
Bridge Creek Conservation Area Walk, West Barnstable
“BLT’s own Tom Mullen will lead you on an exploration through the town-owned Bridge Creek Conservation Area and BLT’s recently preserved two-acre parcel at Bayview Farm. Learn about recent efforts to preserve Bayview Farm and restore Bridge Creek.”
Barnstable Land Trust

Saturday, June 14th, 2008
A Walk in the Hawksnest Woods with Commentary, Harwich
“Join walk leader, Irwin Schorr, as he interprets the history, folklore, geology and botany of the six ponds area.”
Harwich Conservation Trust

Saturday, June 14th, 2008
Kayaking Chase Garden Creek in Yarmouth
“This creek is a long meandering creek that is protected from the stronger winds of Barnstable Harbor. Close encounters with osprey nests and other bird life is a certainty. Kayaks, paddles and life vests provided.”
Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary, Mass Audubon

Sunday, June 15th, 2008
Family Day at Peterson Farm, Falmouth
“Join us for an afternoon of exploration and fun activities at one of Falmouth's oldest farms. Watch sheep herding, build a scarecrow, or go on a bird walk or nature scavenger hunt. You can also see live turtles in a program led by Ian Ives, sanctuary director for Mass. Audubon.”
The 300 Committee

Tuesday, June 17th, 2008
Nature Photography with Stan Godwin, Brewster
“This course will introduce the technique of fine nature photography using digital capture.”
Cape Cod Museum of Natural History

Wednesday, June 18th, 2008
Sandy Neck Plover Walk, West Barnstable
“Join Sandy Neck Park Manager and Naturalist, Nina Coleman and BLT for a one-mile hike through the dunes of Sandy Neck to the Piping Plover nests hidden along the front beach. Explore barrier beach ecology, learn about the Plover’s life-cycle and the conservation measures that are being taken to protect these endangered shorebirds.”
Barnstable Land Trust

Thursday, June 19th, 2008
Seashore Ramble, Wellfleet
“Explore the area where the land meets the sea, searching for animals and plants of the salt marsh and tidal flats. Using nets, small fish traps, and buckets, you will discover the world of crabs, shrimp, fish, and clams.”
Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, Mass Audubon

Thursday, June 19th, 2008
Campfire Sing-Along with Denya Levine and Tim Dickey
Marconi Beach, Cape Cod National Seashore, Wellfleet
Friends of the Cape Cod National Seashore

Friday, June 20th, 2008
Solstice Cruise Around Sandy Neck
Celebrate summer with a cruise aboard the Hyannis Whale Watcher. Commentary and local lore by Nina Coleman, a Sandy Neck Park Manager, Ian Ives, of Mass Audubon, and Ken Morton, the Sandy Neck Lighthouse Owner.
Barnstable Land Trust

Saturday, June 21st, 2008
Shore to Shore Hike, Wellfleet
“Walk across the Cape starting on the bay side of the Sanctuary and head to the ocean. We’ll walk through the pine woods of Bay View Trail, cross Route 6, hike along Fresh Brook swamp, then enjoy a panoramic view from the heathland above the cliffs at the Outer Beach.”
Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, Mass Audubon

Saturday, June 21st, 2008
Meadow Point Walk, Cotuit
“Join BLT member Bob Livingston for a walk through Meadow Point, BLT’s 28-acre ‘crown jewel’ at the southern-most tip of Barnstable. Enjoy the beauty and serenity of this meadow fringed by upland and bordered by Popponesset Bay. Bring a snorkel, mask, and water shoes if you’d like to participate in an optional swim.”
Barnstable Land Trust

Saturday, June 21st, 2008
Family Walk: Aquatic Creatures at Bank Street Bogs, Harwich
“Families with school age children will search the bogs with walk leader Jan Cormier.”
Harwich Conservation Trust

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
Kayaking Barnstable Harbor and the Great Marsh
“Launching from Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary, we will explore the many tidal creeks and islands of the harbor, looking for shorebirds, osprey, horseshoe crabs and other creatures of the marsh. We'll also come ashore at the Sandy Neck barrier beach lighthouse. ... Kayaks, paddles and life vests provided.”
Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary, Mass Audubon

Thursday, June 26th, 2008
Walking With Authors, Eastham
“Experience Cape Cod through the eyes of some of the area’s most beloved authors, such as Beston, Thoreau, Hay, and others. See what they saw, feel what they felt, and hear what they heard. Join local author Dana Eldridge, and stroll the edge of Nauset Marsh.”
Cape Cod National Seashore

Saturday, June 28th, 2008
Searching for Thoreau’s Cape Cod, Wellfleet
“Searching for Thoreau, a compilation of essays by Tom Slayton, transports the reader to places in New England most important to Thoreau, highlighting and reflecting on 150 years of change. Slayton was the editor-in-chief of Vermont Life Magazine from 1986–2007 and a long-time commentator for Vermont Public Radio.”
Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, Mass Audubon

Saturday, June 28th, 2008
Botanical Walk: Bank Street Bogs Conservation Lands, Harwich
“Join botanist Robert Zaremba for a look at the many wild grasses in and around this conservation area.”
Harwich Conservation Trust

Saturday, June 28th, 2008
Hike: “More Walking, Less Talking,” Provincetown
“Wake up early Saturday mornings and join us for an energetic fitness hike off the beaten path and into some of the Outer Cape’s unique and secluded places.”
Cape Cod National Seashore

Nominations for 2008 Land Trust Alliance Awards

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2008 Land Trust Alliance awards, which honor the work of member land trusts and land conservationists across the country. To be presented at the Alliance’s Rally 2008 in September, these peer-nominated awards offer an opportunity to highlight land conservation successes and recognize land trust leaders for their hard work and dedication to protecting land.

Nominations for the following awards should be submitted by July 1, 2008:

•  Kingsbury Browne Conservation Leadership Award
•  National Land Trust Excellence Award
•  National Conservation Volunteer of the Year

Last year the Coalition for Buzzards Bay was selected as the first recipient of the National Land Trust Excellence Award for the work of its Bay Lands Center, which protected more than 3,000 acres of land from 2001 to 2006. Learn more about the Coalition's ongoing campaign to preserve open space in the watershed by tuning into "Land Conservation on Buzzards Bay," an upcoming piece on WCAI radio, the Cape and Islands NPR station, on Friday, June 6, 2008. The piece is part of a series on Cape Cod's waters.

Nantucket Land Bank Outfoxed on Tuckernuck

"Land Bank Loses Out on Tuckernuck Acreage"
The Inquirer & Mirror, May 22, 2008
By Jason Graziadei

NANTUCKET -- With the Land Bank on the verge of acquiring 12 acres on Tuckernuck, the small island west of Nantucket, a private buyer has stepped in and purchased the property before the public agency could complete the deal.

Attorney Arthur Reade, who is representing a blind trust called High Meadows Trust, said ... the trust’s intention was not to develop the land on Tuckernuck. ...

Bartlett’s land is assessed at $1.9 million, and last year the Planning Board approved a plan that would allow him to subdivide the property into four lots. That decision was appealed by the Nantucket Land Council and the Tuckernuck Land Trust, and the matter is currently pending in Massachusetts Land Court. ©

Read the full article in The Inquirer & Mirror.

Related article: “Tuckernuck Owners Oppose Land Bank Buy of Bartlett Land,” The Inquirer & Mirror, May 16, 2008

Conservation Across the Commonwealth: The Spring/Summer 2008 Issue

The Spring/Summer 2008 issue of Conservation Across the Commonwealth, a newsletter of The Nature Conservancy, has been published and is available as a pdf. The feature article is “The Nature of Change: Finding Climate Solutions Through Conservation.”

The hardcopy of the newsletter is “Printed on 30% post-consumer-waste, elemental chlorine-free recycled paper, creating the following environmental benefits: 9.41 trees not cut down; 27.17 gallons of water saved; 3,997 gallons waste flow saved; 442 pounds of solid waste not generated; 871 pounds of greenhouse gases prevented; 6,665,488 BTUs of energy not consumed."

Senator Kerry Announces Grant for Waquoit Bay

"Kerry Announces $550K Grant for Waquoit Bay Study"
Falmouth Bulletin, May 20, 2008

FALMOUTH -- U.S. Senator John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, has announced that the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve will receive $550,000 from the Department of Commerce.

The funding will be used for operations and management research, monitoring, education and resource protection programs for the reserve. ...

Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve was designated in 1988 and encompasses approximately 2,700 acres of open water, salt marsh, salt ponds and adjacent uplands in the towns of Falmouth and Mashpee. ©

Read the full article in the Falmouth Bulletin.

Wellfleet Conservation Trust Revamps Its Website

The Wellfleet Conservation Trust recently redesigned its website and moved it to a new url: www.wellfleetconservationtrust.org. Anchored with a beautiful photograph of a marsh, the site is easy to navigate and contains a history of the Trust, trail guides, a calendar of events, the forthcoming May 2008 newsletter, and a membership form.

Established in 1984, the Wellfleet Conservation Trust works in a cooperative manner with private landowners, public officals, and other nonprofit organizations to promote the preservation of natural resources and rural character of the town of Wellfleet. To date, the Trust has protected more than 329 acres of land.

Legislative Victory for Land Conservation

“Legislative Victory for Land Conservation”
Land Trust Alliance, Press Release
May 23, 2008

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The hotly debated Farm Bill, which Congress enacted yesterday with an override of the President’s veto, renews a powerful tax incentive which has helped conserve a million or more acres of farms, ranches and natural areas across the US. The incentive had expired January 1st, but is now retroactive to the beginning of the year and will last through 2009. ... ©

Read the full press release and other information about the conservation tax incentive.

The following organizations are members of the Land Trust Alliance:

Barnstable Land Trust
Bourne Conservation Trust
Brewster Conservation Trust
Coalition for Buzzards Bay
Dennis Conservation Trust
Harwich Conservation Trust
Nantucket Conservation Foundation
Nantucket Land Council
Orenda Wildlife Land Trust
Orleans Conservation Trust
Sandwich Conservation Trust
‘Sconset Trust
Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation
The 300 Committee
Truro Conservation Trust
Vineyard Open Land Foundation
Wellfleet Conservation Trust
Wildlands Trust of Southeastern Massachusetts
Yarmouth Conservation Trust

Municipal Open Space and Recreation Plans

A lengthy document governed by the Massachusetts Division of Conservation Services (DCS), a municipal Open Space and Recreation Plan is “a blueprint for how to obtain the benefits of development without losing valued environmental assets.”

A plan encompasses, among other points, a community history, environmental inventory and analysis, inventory of conservation and recreation lands, and five-year action plan. The inventory of lands is particularly valuable as it identifies land and conservation restrictions held by public, private, and nonprofit parties. A valid Open Space and Recreation Plan is a requirement for participating in DCS grant programs such as LAND, PARC, and the Land and Water Conservation Fund program.

•  Barnstable 2005 Open Space and Recreation Plan
    (8.9 MB, 395 pages)

•  Orleans 2006 Conservation, Recreation and Open Space Plan
    (10.8 MB, 110 pages)

•  Provincetown 2007 Open Space and Recreation Plan
    (6.5 MB, 255 pages)

•  Sandwich 1999/2005 Open Space and Recreation Plan
    (539 KB, 95 pages)

•  Wellfleet 2005 Open Space and Recreation Plan
    (1.8 MB, 143 pages)

•  Yarmouth 2007 Draft Open Space and Recreation Plan
    (2.3 MB, 99 pages)

For information about the status of plans of other communities, see a list or view a Map of Communities with an Approved Open Space and Recreation Plan (2008).

For details about how plans are constructed and what content they contain, read DCS's Open Space and Recreation Plan Requirements (2008) and its Open Space and Recreation Planner’s Workbook (2008).

Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation on Vineyard Halts Native Plant Removal

"Sheriff’s Meadow Halts All Native Plant Removal On Foundation Property"
Vineyard Gazette, May 23, 2008
By Mike Seccombe

MARTHA'S VINEYARD -- The Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation this week issued a public apology and launched an overhaul of its land management practices following the revelation that large numbers of trees and other plants had been dug up from two of its preserves and used to landscape an exclusive private property on the North Shore. ...

The land trust, which was founded in 1958 by the late editor of the Gazette, also has terminated its previous handshake agreements with local landscapers, which have allowed them to take small numbers of plants from foundation land in exchange for help in maintaining that land. ...

The two foundation properties, the Caroline Tuthill Preserve in Edgartown and the Priscilla Hancock Meadow in Chilmark, were left damaged by heavy earth moving equipment brought in by contractors hired to landscape the 30-acre property of Dirk Ziff near Lambert’s Cove in West Tisbury. ... ©

Read the full article in the Vineyard Gazette.

Related article: “Native Plant Stripping Violates State Law,” Vineyard Gazette, May 16, 2008

Congress Extends Tax Break for Land Gifts

"Congress Extends Tax Break for Land Gifts"
The Chronicle of Philanthropy, May 23, 2008
By Elizabeth Schwinn

WASHINGTON -- Nonprofit organizations have won an extension of a generous tax incentive for donations of land or historically important property under a law approved by Congress Thursday.

A two-year extension of the so-called conservation easement deduction was included in a bill to protect farmers, which became law Thursday over President Bush’s veto.

The provision, created as a temporary, two-year incentive under the Pension Protection Act, expired at the end of last year. Conservation groups, including the Land Trust Alliance ... lobbied Congress to make the provision permanent, saying it does much to spur donations of property. ...

Landowners now have until December 31, 2009, to take advantage of the tax break when they donate ranches, wetlands, forests, and other properties for conservation. ©

Read the full article in The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Nantucket Biodiversity Initiative Week

The 2008 Nantucket Biodiversity Initiative Week will be held Sunday, May 25 through Saturday, May 31, 2008.

“The Nantucket Biodiversity Initiative (NBI) is a collaborative effort of Nantucket’s leading conservation organizations and off-island partners to inventory and monitor the many species of plants and animals found on Nantucket and to educate the public about the importance of protecting the rare elements that contribute to Nantucket’s rich local biodiversity.”

Participating organizations include the Nantucket Conservation Foundation, Nantucket Islands Land Bank Commission, Massachusetts Audubon Society, Nantucket Land Council, Linda Loring Nature Foundation, The Trustees of Reservations, and Tuckernuck Land Trust.

For more information, read the newspaper article "Explore Island's Wild Side During Biodiversity Week," The Nantucket Independent, May 21, 2008

Cape Walk 2008: May 31st to June 8th

The seventh Cape Walk, a nine-day trek across Cape Cod with some of the region's most experienced hikers and trail walkers, will journey from Herring Cove in Provincetown, Saturday, May 31, to Scusset Beach State Reservation in Bourne, Sunday, June 8, 2008.

Sponsored by Cape Cod Pathways, the walk is not a fundraiser but rather a celebration of Cape Cod's many conservation areas. Participants can walk one day, join in for several days, or walk the entire distance over the nine-day event:

•  Day 1, Saturday, May 31, Provincetown to Truro
•  Day 2, Sunday, June 1, Truro to Wellfleet
•  Day 3, Monday, June 2, Wellfleet to Eastham
•  Day 4, Tuesday, June 3, Eastham to Brewster
•  Day 5, Wednesday, June 4, Brewster to Dennis
•  Day 6, Thursday, June 5, Dennis to Yarmouth
•  Day 7, Friday, June 6, Yarmouth to Barnstable
•  Day 8, Saturday, June 7, Barnstable to Sandwich
•  Day 9, Sunday, June 8, Sandwich to Bourne

For more information and complete details of each day's walk, please read the six-page program booklet.

Orleans Approves Purchase of Sparrow Property; Conservation Trust to Clean Trails

The Cape Codder reports that voters approved ballot Question 8 at the Orleans annual town election of May 20, 2008: “Despite being indefinitely postponed at town meeting to continue negotiations with the land owners, an open space purchase of the Sparrow property in South Orleans passed, even though there was no dollar figure on the ballot.”

Here’s the text of Question 8 as it appeared on the ballot: “Shall the Town of Orleans be allowed to exempt from the provisions of proposition 2½, so-called, the amounts required to pay for the bond issued in order to fund the purchase of all or a portion of the land located at 353 South Orleans Road (Route 28), Orleans, MA consisting of approximately 6.55 acres, shown on the Orleans Assessor’s Map 68 as Parcel 8-1, including all expenses incidental and related thereto?”

Speaking of open space in Orleans, the Orleans Conservation Trust is holding a trail work day at the Icehouse and Rueben’s ponds trails this Friday, May 23, 2008. According to the announcement in The Cape Codder, “These properties, donated to Orleans Conservation Trust by the Hopkins, Moore, Wilbur, Garner-Martin families and others, protect 21.85 acres that wrap around Rueben’s Pond and through the pine-oak woodlands to the west end of Icehouse Pond and connect to Tonset Road by a series of loop trails. The Orleans Conservation Trust also owns a one-acre parcel between Icehouse Pond and Brick Hill Road."

Addendum on Sparrow Property, May 25, 2008:

The aforementioned 6.5-acre Sparrow Property has frontage on Arey's Pond and a tidal river, and is within the Pleasant Bay Area of Critical Environmental Concern. The Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs awarded the Town of Orleans a $500,000 Self-Help grant in November 2007 to help fund the purchase of the parcel. The project has received technical assistance from The Cape Cod Compact of Conservation Trusts.

According to the article “Grants Secure Several Open Space Purchases on Cape,” Cape Cod Times, November 9, 2007, “Orleans received a $500,000 grant to partially reimburse the town's plans to pay $1.27 million for the 6.5-acre Sparrow property on Arey's Pond and Namequoit Road within the Pleasant Bay Area of Critical Environmental Concern. The town is contributing $235,000, and $540,000 is coming from money set aside by the Cape Cod Commission for open space to offset the impact of the Shaw's Market renovation at Skaket Corners in Orleans.”

Spring 2008 Newsletter of the New England Grassroots Environment Fund

The Spring 2008 newsletter of the New England Grassroots Environment Fund has been released. Among other interesting items, Meetinghouse Farm in West Barnstable, a 23-acre conservation area with a 3,000 square foot greenhouse, was awarded a $1,500 grant to fund the conversion of a portion of its greenhouse to usable space for meetings, classes and lectures.

Created in 1996, the New England Grassroots Environment Fund’s mission is “to energize and nurture long-term civic engagement in local initiatives that create and maintain healthy, just, safe and environmentally sustainable communities.” Over the course of its life, the Fund has distributed more than $2.5 million in grants. Past grantees include the Dennis Conservation Trust and the Orenda Wildlife Land Trust.

Owners of Nantucket Oceanfront Property Get Small Settlement in $2.7 Million Lawsuit

“Owners of Oceanfront Property Get Small Settlement in $2.7M Lawsuit”
The Inquirer & Mirror, May 16, 2008
By Jason Graziadei

NANTUCKET -- While the battle against coastal erosion along the Sconset bluff has grabbed all the headlines in recent months, another dispute over the island's eroding beaches along the south shore has moved along quietly in Superior Court over the last five years.

On Wednesday, a jury ordered the town to pay a group of Sheep Pond Road residents $145,832 in damages related to the loss of access to their homes after a portion of the road washed away in 2002. ...

When the town declined to conduct an eminent domain taking to construct a new road, the residents struck a deal with the Nantucket Conservation Foundation (NCF) to build a new road on NCF property, but the agreement came with strict conditions. ... ©

Read the full article in The Inquirer & Mirror.

Podcast: Robert Finch’s 'A Cape Cod Notebook'

"Up a Tree,” the most recent audio essay in naturalist Robert Finch’s ‘A Cape Cod Notebook,’ broadcast on WCAI, is now 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 ‘A Cape Cod Notebook’ won the 2006 New England Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Radio Writing. His essays can be heard on WCAI every Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. and every Wednesday at 5:45 p.m.

Clearing in Edward Hopper Landscape Shocks Truro Neighbors

“Clearing in Hopper Landscape Shocks Neighbors”
The Cape Codder, May 15, 2008
By Kevin Mullaney

TRURO -- The first scar has appeared on the ridge next to the former studio in Truro of famed American painter Edward Hopper, in the so-called Hopper Landscape.

The clearing is the result of an archeological investigation just completed, a requirement imposed before Donald and Andrea Kline can proceed with their plans to build the low-slung, 6,500-square-foot house ...

In March the Klines received the Cape Cod Commission’s blessing on conservation and other restrictions they had proposed ... putting 6.4 acres of the nine-acre property under conservation restriction. ... ©

Read the full article in The Cape Codder.

Related articles:

• “Kline Project Ok'd by Cape Cod Commission,”
    Provincetown Banner, March 8, 2008

• “A Town Tries to Protect an Artist’s Inspiration,”
    The New York Times, September 20, 2007

• “Mansion May Obscure What Hopper Painted,”
    The Boston Globe, August 15, 2007

Also, see the Save the Edward Hopper Landscape blog and checkout a neat poster of The Hopper Landscape (with photographs by J. B. Hightower).

Yale Conservation Finance Camp

The Center for Business and the Environment at Yale University is hosting 2008 Yale Conservation Finance Camp, its second annual weeklong course on conservation finance, June 16 to June 20, 2008.

Co-sponsored by the Land Trust Alliance and limited to twenty participants, “the course provides a framework for analyzing and packaging a wide range of cutting-edge sources of private and public conservation finance, including new types of philanthropic funds, public capital and private investment. The focus is on useful, hands-on tools for conservation practitioners. The course will feature many experienced conservation financiers as presenters, along with a knowledgeable core faculty. Speakers will describe case studies in such emerging topics as ecosystem service payments, conservation investment firms, public bond initiatives and natural resource damage assessments.”

Camp faculty includes Story Clark, conservation consultant, author of A Field Guide to Conservation Finance (2007), and a director of the Tuckernuck Land Trust.

Questions Remain on Eastham Ocean Beach Issue

"Questions Remain on Beach Issue"
Cape Cod Times, May 14, 2008
By Ken Camarro

What's important in the recent ocean beach vote in Eastham was that 48.6 percent of the voters were in favor of a new beach. Half of Eastham voters believe strongly there is a need that is not being filled by the facilities at Coast Guard or Nauset beaches. ...

Were conservation issues exaggerated? Was it appropriate for the Cape Cod Commission to require a conservation restriction ...

Please don't give up on the ocean beach. The objections to the ocean beach show a prejudice against sharing the wonder of our shore with others. This was not the intent of our land-use charters and regulations. ©

Read the full op-ed piece in the Cape Cod Times.

Related article: "Eastham Ocean Beach Proposal Buried," Cape Cod Times, May 6, 2008

Fields Pond Foundation: Recent Grants

Established in 1993 and based in Waltham, Mass., the Fields Pond Foundation provides “financial assistance to nature and land conservation organizations that are community-based and that serve to increase environmental awareness by involving local residents in conservation issues.”

Over the past several years, the Foundation has awarded grants totaling more than $100,000 to a number of private conservation organizations to assist in land acquisitions on the Cape, including:

•  Barnstable Land Trust, $8,000 in 2006, toward acquisition of 23-acre forest parcel at Cordwood Road, linking Almy Atlantic White Cedar Swamp and Eagle Pond in Cotuit

•  Barnstable Land Trust, $4,000 in 2004, toward Hot Bottom Road Pathway project

•  Barnstable Land Trust, $7,000 in 2004, toward acquisition of Bone Hill Farm, a gateway parcel to Mass Audubon’s Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary

•  Brewster Conservation Trust, $5,000 in 2006, toward protection of pitch pine and mixed oak waterfront parcel on Pine Pond

•  Friends of Pleasant Bay, $10,000 in 2006, toward protection of Eelman’s Point, providing public access to Pleasant Bay in Orleans

•  Harwich Conservation Trust, $3,000 in 2006, toward construction of new trail for William & Barbara Land Hacker Wildlife Sanctuary

•  Harwich Conservation Trust, $10,000 in 2003, toward acquisition of 42-acre parcel on shoreline of Monomoy River at Pleasant Bay

•  Massachusetts Audubon Society, $12,000 in 2003, toward acquisition of six acres to Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary in Wellfleet

•  The Nature Conservancy, $12,000 in 2005, toward acquisition of five parcels at Sandy Neck

•  The Nature Conservancy, $7,000 in 2002, toward acquisition of Furman Tract on Sandy Neck in Barnstable

•  The Nature Conservancy, $12,000 in 2001, toward acquisition of 18 acres at Sandy Neck in East Sandwich

•  Orenda Wildlife Trust, $6,000 in 2001, toward Dawson acquisition on Cape Cod

•  Orenda Wildlife Trust, $3,000 in 2001, toward Mercy Lowe acquisition in Mashpee

•  Orleans Conservation Trust, $8,000 in 2004, toward acquisition of Brooks Property, a seven-acre parcel connecting two freshwater ponds

•  The 300 Committee, $8,000 in 2007, toward acquisition and protection of River Bend Farm on Coonamesett River in Falmouth

•  The 300 Committee, $6,000 in 2005, toward acquisition of 8-acre parcel on Quashnet River in Falmouth

•  The 300 Committee, $7,000 in 2003, toward acquisition of Toner Parcel in Falmouth

•  Truro Conservation Trust, $10,000 in 2005, toward acquisition and protection of Poor Hill, overlooking Pamet Harbor

•  Wellfleet Conservation Trust, $7,000 in 2005, toward acquisition of Whale Bone Point, a gateway to waterfront conservation lands

All information taken directly from the Foundation’s Form 990-PF’s.

Tuckernuck Owners Oppose Nantucket Land Bank Purchase of Bartlett Property

“Tuckernuck Owners Oppose Land Bank Buy of Bartlett Land”
The Inquirer & Mirror, May 16, 2008
By Jason Graziadei

NANTUCKET -- The Land Bank is in negotiations to acquire 12 acres on Tuckernuck, the small island immediately to the west of Nantucket, in a deal which would net the town the first public access to the exclusive island, and protect the land from further development.

Yet the potential deal has already raised concerns and criticism from Tuckernuck property owners ...

Tuckernuck contains about 70 different privately owned lots with about 35 houses, but no year-round residents. ... and much of the land is in conservation through the Tuckernuck Land Trust, the Nantucket Land Council, the Trustees of Reservations, and the Nature Conservancy. ... ©

Read the full article in The Inquirer & Mirror.

Native Plant Stripping On Martha's Vineyard Violates State Law

“Native Plant Stripping Violates State Law”
Vineyard Gazette, May 16, 2008
By Mike Seccombe

MARTHA’S VINEYARD -- Scraped earth at Sheriff’s Meadow property in Edgartown. In what may portend a troubling new trend, two prominent Island conservation properties -- one in Edgartown and another in Chilmark -- along with a third private property in Oak Bluffs have been virtually strip-mined to provide native plants for a billionaire landowner who is building a huge home on the North Shore. ...

... one immediate effect of the case has been to end an informal arrangement which has long existed between Sheriff’s Meadow and some Island landscapers, which allowed them to remove trees from foundation properties in exchange for helping with their management. ... ©

Read the full article in the Vineyard Gazette.

The Shifting Sands of Chatham

"Shifting Sands: Strong Forces Confront Our Coastlines"
Special Places, Spring 2008
By Peter H. Taylor

As far back as I can remember I have enjoyed watching huge, storm-driven waves bash the coastline. There’s something thrilling and beautiful about mountains of ocean water hitting sand and rock. Slower-paced forces of coastal change, such as tides, currents, and seasonal shifts in sea life, are just as exciting. The meeting of land and sea is defined by ceaseless change, and that’s what makes coastal ecology and oceanography so interesting to me. ... ©

Read the full article in Special Places, a quarterly publication for members and supporters of The Trustees of Reservations.

Public Grants for Land Trusts

“Grants, RFPs & Commonwealth Capital,” the Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition’s E-News issue of May 13, 2008, focuses on several state conservation grant opportunities for nonprofit land trusts:

•  Conservation Partnership Grants, with application assistance from
    Fields Pond Foundation and The Trustees of Reservations

•  LAND Grants Program (formerly Self-Help Program)

•  PARC Grants Program (formerly Urban Self-Help Program)

•  Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program

For details and additional information, or to learn about the state's Commonwealth Capital (CommCap) initiative, please read the Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition's E-News.

Barnstable Land Trust Faces June Deadline to Raise Funds for Baker Property

With the town of Barnstable recently approving $100,000 in Community Preservation Act funds for the cause, the Barnstable Land Trust must still raise $23,000 by June 17, 2008, in order to preserve the five-acre Baker Property along Little River in Cotuit.

According to BLT's website, the Baker Property is significant because it "preserves water quality of the adjacent Cotuit well fields; connects with 800 acres of protected open space; enhances the waters of the Little River, which feeds freshwater to the Cotuit Bay; completes the acquisition of vacant land along the Little River, a major corridor in Barnstable’s Open Space Plan; and protects varied wildlife habitat."

For more information about the project and the fund raising effort, please visit BLT's website or read the Spring 2008 issue of its newsletter, Resources.

2007 Town Annual Reports

Several towns have posted their 2007 Annual Reports on the Internet. While reading these reports isn't as enjoyable as reading a Robert Finch essay, it's a great way to learn about the accomplishments of municipal conservation, land acquisition, open space, and community preservation committees.

Reports for the following towns are available in pdf format. Note that some of the files are quite large and can take a while to download.

•  Barnstable (44 MB, 236 pages)

•  Bourne (11.7 MB, 368 pages)

•  Chatham (15.1 MB, 274 pages)

•  Dennis (4.4 MB, 467 pages)

•  Falmouth (2.5 MB, 216 pages)

•  Orleans (1.8 MB, 187 pages)

•  Provincetown (668 KB, 229 pages)

•  Sandwich (2.1 MB, 160 pages)

•  West Tisbury (5.3 MB, 194 pages)

Association to Preserve Cape Cod Seeks Federal Funds for National Seashore Land Purchase

"APCC Seeks Federal Assistance for National Seashore Land Purchase"
Press Release, Association to Preserve Cape Cod, May 5, 2008

HYANNIS -- In letters to Congressman William Delahunt and Senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry, APCC sought assistance from federal lawmakers in securing funding for the purchase of 57 acres of land within the Cape Cod National Seashore.

The letters were part of an effort by several environmental organizations, including APCC, to preserve the 57-acre North of Highland Campground through its acquisition by the National Park Service. The campground is currently a privately-owned operation in Truro that provides camping facilities within the National Seashore. ... ©

Read the entire press release.

Mashpee Passes $2.1 Million Debt Exclusion for Property off Route 130

"Mashpee Passes $2.1M Debt Exclusion"
Cape Cod Times, May 11, 2008
By Stephanie Vosk

MASHPEE -- Mashpee voters yesterday gave final approval to a $2.1 million debt exclusion to buy an 80-acre property. ...

The property, which abuts Route 130 and Mashpee-Wakeby Pond, is owned by the St. Vincent's Home Corporation. The town will pay $3.1 million to purchase the land, with $500,000 drawn from Community Preservation Act funding and $500,000 from the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife covering the remainder of the price.

The state money comes with a conservation restriction, which will prevent the town from developing the vacant land.

Town officials were hoping to forgo that grant, and instead ask voters to approve a $2.6 million debt exclusion, but a clerical error led to a misprint on the town meeting warrant. ... ©

Read the full article in the Cape Cod Times.

Related articles:

•  “Mashpee Residents Spurn Official Advice,”
     Cape Cod Times, May 6, 2008

•  “Did we say $2.1M? We meant $2.6M,”
     Cape Cod Times, April 25, 2008

Community Preservation Coalition’s Newsletter for May 2008

The May 2008 newsletter of the Community Preservation Coalition has been published. Contents include ‘Making Your CPA Dollars Go Further,” which details the acquisition and restoration of the Vanderhoop Homestead and six surrounding acres in Aquinnah on Martha’s Vineyard. The property was purchased by the Town and the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank in a deal that involved Community Preservation Act funds.

Chatham Rejects Funds for Lot on Barn Hill Road

The Cape Cod Chronicle reports that on Monday evening Chatham town meeting rejected Article 17 (and, hence, Article 18):

“Voters rejected a $125,000 request from the land bank and open space committee to use land bank funds to buy a half-acre buildable lot off Barn Hill Road. Committee member Jack Farrell said the land would serve as a gateway to the so-called Valley Farm Estates property, six parcels to the east purchased for open space by the town in 2006. The proposal called for the town to contribute $250,000 to the purchase, through land bank and community preservation funds, with the Chatham Conservation Foundation kicking in the additional $50,000 to meet the $300,000 asking price. Several people cited the price for the land as too high, especially if the land is to be used for parking so people can access the adjacent land.”

For more details about Article 17 and Article 18, see our blog post of May 11, 2008.

Recent Nonprofit 990 Filings for Public Review

Recent IRS Form 990 filings for several local nonprofit organizations are available for public review:

•  Eastham Conservation Foundation, Form 990-PF for FY 2007

•  Quissett Harbor Preservation Trust, Form 990-PF for FY 2007

•  Yarmouth Conservation Trust, Form 990 for FY 2007

Filings for prior years are available through the Foundation Center or GuideStar.

First Edition of Beston’s The Outermost House

AbeBooks.com, a bookseller’s website, has a listing for a neat first edition of Henry Beston’s classic book, The Outermost House: a Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod, published by Doubleday in 1928:

“Recased in full blue morroco covered boards with gilt text stamping on the spine with gilt decorations between five raised bands and with marbled end papers. Without its issued dust jacket. The first free end paper bears a Christmas 1928 gift inscription and the book is signed by Charles D. Keegan "Officer in charge Nauset Station" (which is the Life Saving Station closest to the Outermost House on Cape Cod). Beneath this entry is a copy of a short poem on a 2" by 4" long column from a newspaper which has been tipped-in. 222 pages of text and illustrated with 31 black and white photographic plates. Tipped-in on the second to last free end paper is an essay taken from a magazine by Henry Beston titled: Sound and Life.” Price: $385.

For more information about Henry Beston and his The Outermost House, check out the website of the Friends of Henry Beston and the Beston Family Papers, 1899-1977, at Bowdoin College.

Meet-the-Donors: Cape & Island Funders, May 20th

Associated Grant Makers is hosting “Meet-the-Donors: Cape & Island Funders,” a panel discussion for nonprofits, on May 20, 2008, in Hyannis.

Scheduled to be moderated by Elizabeth Gawron of The Cape Cod Foundation, here’s a description of the program:

“Join us for a panel discussion around some of the latest initiatives and partnerships occurring to provide funding to the many nonprofits that provide support to year-round and seasonal organizations on Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. Learn why particular grant makers fund in this area and the ways they are adapting to the current economic situation. And discover some of the processes they go through in determining what programs to fund.”

For more information and a list of panel participants, please visit the website of the Associated Grant Makers.

Nantucket Conservation Foundation Closes Eel Point to Vehicles; Seeks Research Supervisor

"Eel Point Closed to Vehicles; Erosion the Cause"
The Nantucket Independent, May 6, 2008
By Peter B. Brace

NANTUCKET -- Due to severe erosion, the Nantucket Conservation Foundation closed the end of Eel Point to vehicles indefinitely.

NCF Ecologist Karen Beattie estimates that erosion during the last 18 months has pushed the beach back into the salt marsh on the south side of Eel Point, washing away dunes held in place with beach grass and Rosa rugosa beach roses, further filling several mosquito ditches and blowing the sand back over the marsh. ... ©

Read the full article in The Nantucket Independent.

In related news, the Nantucket Conservation Foundation is “seeking a full-time, experienced Research Supervisor to oversee a variety of projects involving inventorying, monitoring, and managing species, habitats, and other natural resources found on the Foundation’s conservation lands.” For more details, please read the job announcement.

Michael Lach to Speak in Brewster on May 17th

Michael Lach, President of the Brewster Conservation Trust, will be speaking about conservation, Brewster and the Brewster Conservation Trust on Saturday, May 17, 2008. The lecture, sponsored by the Brewster Historical Society, will be held at 3:00 p.m. at The Brewster Ladies Library.

Mr. Lach is Assistant Director of The Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts. He is also Executive Director of the Harwich Conservation Trust and a Trustee of the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History. Recently, he presented a workshop, “Growing Your Organizational Membership,” at the 2008 Massachusetts Land Conservation Conference.

No Resolution to Sandy Neck Access in Barnstable

"Sandy Neck: No Resolution on Cottage Access"
The Barnstable Patriot, May 8, 2008
By David Still II

BARNSTABLE -- Cottage owners looking for an opportunity for unescorted access along Sandy Neck’s front beach shouldn’t expect it this season.

On April 1, the Barnstable Conservation Commission approved a new five-year order of conditions for the barrier beach that removed a provision that provided for unescorted access under certain conditions. It did so at the request of the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, the state agency tasked with ensuring that no harm comes to animals protected under both the state and federal endangered species acts. ... ©

Read the full article in The Barnstable Patriot.

Chatham to Vote on Land Bank and CPA Funds for Lot on Barn Hill Road

When Chatham town meeting commences on Monday, May 12, 2008, voters will consider Article 17 and Article 18, to approve $125,000 in Land Bank funds and $125,000 in FY 2009 Community Preservation Act Funds, respectively, for the purchase of a half-acre on Barn Hill Road and Valley Farm Drive for conservation and open space.

As the town warrant notes about Article 17, “The purpose of this article is to approve the purchase of a property on Barn Hill Road and Valley Farm Drive consisting of approximately 0.47 acres for conservation and open space. Though not a large parcel, its strategic location fits many of the criteria that the Land Bank reviews when considering a purchase ...

This building lot abuts the Town’s Valley Farm conservation property purchased in 2006. Protection of this lot fronting on Barn Hill Road will serve to protect the scenic vistas to the Oyster River from the public roadway. In addition, the parcel will provide an ideal and appropriate location for a small parking area that will facilitate public access at the entrance to the Valley Farm property and to the trails of the conservation area.

The Valley Farm area is known to support wildlife habitat of rare and endangered species and the prevention of development on this lot will further serve to protect the area. This proposal is congruent with the goals of the Long Range Comprehensive Plan by virtue of conserving open space.

This purchase is a collaborative effort between the Community Preservation Committee, the Land Bank Committee, and the Chatham Conservation Foundation, Inc. Approval of this article will appropriate Land Bank Funds in the amount of $125,000 towards the $300,000 purchase price [and approval of Article 18 will appropriate Community Preservation funds in the amount of $125,000 towards the $300,000 purchase price]. The remaining funds are to be provided by the Chatham Conservation Foundation, Inc. in the amount of $50,000. The Town will own the property and the Conservation Foundation will hold the conservation restriction."

Nature Conservancy Hires Goldman Sachs Banker as New Chief Executive

"Nature Conservancy Hires Investment Banker as Its New CEO"
The Chronicle of Philanthropy, May 9, 2008
By Peter Panepento

WASHINGTON -- The Nature Conservancy today named an investment manager with a deep background in environmental issues to be its new chief executive.

Mark R. Tercek, 51, managing director at the investment firm Goldman Sachs and head of the firm’s Center for Environmental Markets, will replace Steven J. McCormick, who left the charity in October.

Mr. Tercek, who will start his new position in July, takes over at an important time for the nation’s largest environmental-conservation charity. ... ©

Read the full article in The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

The Nature Conservancy has protected more than 23,000 acres in Massachusetts and owns 20 preserves, including three on Cape Cod (Grassy Pond in Dennis, Boat Meadow in Eastham, and Sandy Neck in Barnstable) and six on the Islands (David H. Smith Preserve and Katama Plains in Edgartown; Hoft Farm, Francis Newhall Preserve, and Homer-Watcha Preserve in West Tisbury; Miacomet Moors on Nantucket).

Harwich Town Meeting Postpones Decision on Marceline Property

Earlier this week, Harwich town meeting indefinitely postponed Article 40, “To see if the Town will ... acquire by gift, by purchase, by eminent domain, or otherwise, for open space purposes ... all or a portion of the land owned now or formerly by James Marceline, known and numbered as 0 Queen Anne Road and … containing five (5) acres of land ... and to transfer from Community Preservation Act funds, the sum of money for such acquisition ...”

The estimated cost had not been determined and the Harwich Finance Committee recommended this article be indefinitely postponed.

Podcast: Robert Finch’s ‘A Cape Cod Notebook’

“Thoughts on a Mourning Dove’s Nest,” the most recent audio essay in Robert Finch’s ‘A Cape Cod Notebook,’ broadcast on WCAI, is now available as a podcast.

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 ‘A Cape Cod Notebook’ won the 2006 New England Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Radio Writing. His essays can be heard on WCAI every Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. and every Wednesday at 5:45 p.m.

Cape Cod Bank Supports Dennis Conservation Trust

"Cape Cod 5 Supports Dennis Conservation Trust"
The Register, May 05, 2008

DENNIS -- This morning, Cape Cod 5 Cents Savings Bank contributed $2,000 to support the Dennis Conservation Trust’s summer auction. Dave Berry, chairman of the Trust’s corporate acquisitions committee, accepted the check from Marketing Director Alan Wannamaker at the bank's newest branch off Route 134 in South Dennis.

DCT’s auction, conducted each summer on the Dennis Village green, is the group’s major fundraising event for open space acquisition and protection. “When the bank supports the auction, they’re enabling all the funds the auction raises to go directly to our work,” Berry said. ©

This year’s auction is set for Sunday, July 20, 2008. Meanwhile, read about the 2007 auction.

Eastham Ocean Beach Proposal Buried

"Eastham Ocean Beach Proposal Buried"
Cape Cod Times, May 6, 2008
By Doug Fraser

NORTH EASTHAM -- The drive to establish a new town beach on the Atlantic Ocean came to a dead end last night as the proposal failed to get a majority vote, let alone the two-thirds required on a conservation restriction.

The Cape Cod Commission had stipulated that restriction as a condition of its approval of the 3.97-acre, 250-car parking lot and stairway to the beach. ...

Opponents of the beach said it was not necessary and caused too much environmental harm. ... ©

Read the full article in the Cape Cod Times.

Read a similar article, "Eastham Voters Reject Ocean Beach," The Cape Codder, May 7, 2008.

Coalition for Buzzards Bay Posts Annual Report

The Coalition for Buzzards Bay, which released its 2007 Annual Report at its 20th Annual Meeting on April 3, 2008, has posted the report on its website.

At nearly 25 pages, this attractive report details the Coalition’s efforts at baykeeper advocacy, bay monitoring, land conservation, and education & outreach. Also, it contains the treasurer’s report, with revenue of $5.9 million, and a list of donors.

The Coalition’s website also has Saving Buzzards Bay Lands: Campaign Final Report 2001-2006, as well as other reports and newsletters.

Controversial Effort to Nourish Nantucket Beach and Slow Receding Bluff Erodes

"SBPF Drops Notice of Intent"
The Nantucket Independent, May 7, 2008
By Peter B. Brace

NANTUCKET -- Citing overwhelming island opposition to its beach rebuilding proposal, the Siasconset Beach Preservation Fund pulled its notice of intent from the Conservation Commission without prejudice on Monday afternoon. ...

SBPF's beach nourishment proposal was to mine 1.9 million cubic yards of sand three miles off Sankaty to rebuild three miles of beach from the lighthouse down to Codfish Park and, if necessary, mine more sand at three-to-five-year intervals depending on erosion rates and storm frequency. ... ©

Read the full article in The Nantucket Independent.

Related articles:

•  "SBPF Puts Beach Nourishment on Hold,"
     The Inquirer & Mirror, May 7, 2008

•  “$284,000 Spent by SBPF on Lobbying,”
     The Inquirer & Mirror, May 2, 2008

•  “Compromise: SBPF Considers It,”
     The Nantucket Independent, April 30, 2008

•  "Disappointed But Undaunted, SBPF Forges Ahead,"
     The Nantucket Independent, April 23, 2008

•  “Sconset Beach Project Rejected by Huge Margin,”
     The Inquirer & Mirror, April 17, 2008

•  “Voters Scuttle Sconset Beach Project,”
     Cape Cod Times, April 17, 2008

•  “Wealthy Stake $25 Million in a War With the Sea,”
     The New York Times, July 8, 2007

•  “Nantucketers Fight the Tide,”
     The Boston Globe, March 14, 2005

Foundation Giving Expected to Grow Modestly

"Foundation Giving Posts 10 Percent Gain in 2007: Giving Expected To Grow Modestly in 2008"
The Foundation Center, Press Release
May 2, 2008

New York, NY -- May 2, 2008. The country's more than 72,000 grantmaking foundations increased their giving to $42.9 billion in 2007, according to Foundation Growth and Giving Estimates: Current Outlook (2008 Edition), released today by the Foundation Center. This estimated 10 percent gain followed a 7.1 percent increase in 2006.

Contributing to this rise was close to 12 percent growth in foundation assets in 2006 — the first double-digit gain in assets recorded since 1999. The establishment of new foundations, while occurring more slowly than in the late 1990s and early 2000s, also helped to raise the level of foundation giving. ... ©

Read the entire press release.

Read the highlights of Foundation Giving Trends, 2008 Edition

Read Philanthropy Annual: 2007 Review

Dennis Salt Marsh Restoration Part of Renaissance

"Marsh Restorations Undue Years of Harm"
Cape Cod Times, May 5, 2008
By Doug Fraser

DENNIS -- When it is dedicated June 13, the $1.5 million Bridge Street bridge project in East Dennis will officially become the largest saltwater marsh restoration in Massachusetts, with 65 acres of reclaimed marsh.

But that is really just the beginning. Fourteen more salt marsh projects are already in the works, including the granddaddy of them all, the largest such project on the East Coast: the restoration of an estimated 1,000 acres of the Herring River marsh in Wellfleet, which cost $12 million to $15 million.

In Massachusetts, especially on Cape Cod, it is the renaissance of salt marsh restoration. ... over the past decade Cape towns, working with federal, state, county and private individuals and organizations, have been restoring their access to the sea. Since 1994, 16 Cape salt marshes totaling 330 acres have been rejuvenated ... ©

Read the full article in the Cape Cod Times.

The Day Henry David Thoreau Died

"The Day Thoreau Died"
Cape Cod Times, May 6, 2008

CAPE COD -- The author of Cape Cod made us famous; He walked the entire length four times.

On this day in 1862, Henry David Thoreau died. He was born on July 12, 1817 and died on May 6, 1862 two months shy of his 46th birthday.

Thoreau was an American author, naturalist, transcendentalist, tax resister, development critic, and philosopher. Thoreau walked the length of Cape Cod on four separate occasions from 1849 to 1857. In Cape Cod, the book inspired by these visits, Thoreau heralds the seashore as a middle ground between nature and civilization where our vision of the human voyage can stretch beyond the horizon. ... ©

Read the full article in the Cape Cod Times.

Mass Audubon Bird-a-thon 2008

Mass Audubon is celebrating the 25th year of its statewide Bird-a-thon competition on May 16 & 17, 2008. It’s a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the outdoors, learn about Massachusetts birds, participate on a bird-sighting team, and raise money to support the Massachusetts Audubon Society.

On the Cape, two Mass Audubon sanctuaries, the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary and Long Pasture in Barnstable, are participating in the Bird-a-thon and hosting events.

Meanwhile, read Mass Audubon's Coastal Waterbird Program Spring 2008 newsletter or try eBird, “the powerful Internet-based program currently used by thousands of birders. eBird is a free, user-friendly way for birders across North America to record, archive, and share their observations at any hour of the day."

Cape Cod National Seashore Still Faces Threats

"National Seashore Still Faces Threats"
Cape Cod Times, May 1, 2008
By George E. Price Jr.

As superintendent of the Cape Cod National Seashore, I often hear people share their criticisms and complaints about seashore management as it affects them. However, they usually conclude by saying, -- but I am glad the National Seashore is here!

I've personally enjoyed the National Seashore for more than 30 years. Its establishment is a living legacy to President Kennedy. I have since learned that many others -- local community leaders, newspaper editors, local residents, state, and federal office holders -- also deserve credit. What all of these individuals had in common was a concern about over development, and a desire to preserve the character of the Outer Cape. ... ©

Read the full op-ed piece in the Cape Cod Times.

Read a related article, "Seashore Pledges to Work with Towns on Zoning Issues," The Cape Codder, May 2, 2008.

Read the National Seashore's 1998 General Management Plan.

Community Preservation Act Has Generated More Than $1 Million for Falmouth Projects

"Community Preservation Act Has Provided $15.3 Million"
The Enterprise, April 25, 2008
By Martha V. Scanlon

FALMOUTH -- Since Falmouth adopted the Community Preservation Act in the spring of 2005, more than $15.3 million in community preservation funding has been allocated for projects around town ...

To date, the acquisition and conservation of open space has received $1.35 million, and has three projects in progress, including studies of Green Pond and Sippewissett Marsh. A study of the shellfish habitat in West Falmouth Harbor has not yet been started.

The largest open space project in progress is the acquisition of the Calebs Pond property in Waquoit. Spring Town Meeting approved $400,000 in community preservation funds toward the $1.81 million purchase of the 11.4-acre property. ... Also in progress is the purchase of the Haddad property in Menauhant, a joint project under open space and recreation. ... ©

Read the full article in The Enterprise.