- Department Of Fish And Game Seeks Environmental Analyst II
- Screening for Invasive Species Could Save U.S. Billions
- Downloadable 2007 Invasive Plant Calendar
- Landfill, Combustion Facility Sweep Finds Excessive Cardboard Disposal
- CATs Creates Research Database on the Effects of Pesticides on Reptile and Amphibians
- F.T. Rose Superfund Site Reviewed by EPA
- Community Preservation Act II
- DCR Annual Report; Forest Cutting & Parks Management Plan
- Comments Sought on DFG Forest Management Plans
- ELM’s 2008 Green Budget
Department Of Fish And Game Seeks Environmental Analyst II:
Instream Flow and Restoration Specialist, Massachusetts Riverways Program
*Occupational Group:Physical Science
*Position Type:Non-Management
Civil Service
*Full-time/Part-time:
Part-Time
*Salary Range:
$35,778.50 to $47,710.21
*Bargaining Unit: 09
*Shift: Day
*Number of Vacancies: 1
*Confidential:
No
*City/Town Location: Boston
*Facility Location:251 Causeway Street – Suite 400
*Region:Boston
*Application Deadline: 02/02/2007 (applications must be received by 5PM on Monday, February 5th ,
2007)
*Posting ID:11809
*Duties:*
Instream Flow Specialist
1. Serves as technical specialist for the River Instream Flow Stewards program.
2. Assists the Watershed Ecologist in recruiting new groups to the RIFLS program
and identifying new sites for staff gages.
3. Trains RIFLS volunteers to understand instream flow issues, read staff gages
and enter data online.
4. Measures stream flow and analyzes data to develop rating curves.
5. Assists with maintenance of technical equipment, databases and website.
6. Provides outreach to selected watershed groups, organizes meetings with local
constituents, town officials, and experts to plan monitoring projects with the
goal of identifying and mitigating problem areas.
7. Provides materials, training, and support to citizens and municipal officials
for data collection and management activities that lead to improved surface
water functioning. Work includes organizing training workshops and providing data or other relevant information to local, state and federal agencies,
consulting firms and project proponents to enable them to better protect natural
resources.
8. Provides technical assistance for the RIFLS program including (1) quality
control for monitoring techniques, (2) program evaluation, (3) data
interpretation, (4) networking support to determine appropriate technical
partners to help municipalities and groups solve problems and protect resources.
9. Assists with quarterly and final reports in conjunction with the Riverways staff.
10. Participates in the review of policy initiatives and specific permits that
have the potential to affect instream flows through written comments,
participation on committees and/or personal communication.
Restoration Specialist;
Serves as the Restoration Specialist for the Riverways Program – duties may include:
1. Provides field work and data analysis for restoration project evaluation.
2. Provides field work and data analysis for fluvial geomorphic projects.
3. Provides preliminary evaluation of potential projects.
4. Provides technical assistance and outreach on priority and pilot projects as
well as outreach on restoration priorities statewide.
5. Working with partners and the Riverways staff, plans and coordinates
appropriate community outreach and coalition building events including public
presentations, meetings and mailings.
6. Participates in technical advisory committee meetings and planning meetings.
7. Provides public relations as appropriate.
8. Assists with the management of restoration projects as necessary.
*Qualifications:*
MINIMUM ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS: Applicants must have at least (A) three years of
full-time, or equivalent part-time, technical or professional experience in the
field of environmental science, biology, chemistry, earth science, environmental
health, meteorology, natural science, toxicology or public health, of which (B)
at least one year must have been in a professional capacity, or (C) any
equivalent combination of the required experience and the following substitutions.
Substitutions:
I. An Associate’s degree with a major in the field of environmental science,
biology, chemistry, earth science, environmental health, meteorology, natural
science, toxicology or public health may be substituted for a maximum of one
year of the required (A) experience.*
II. A Bachelor’s degree with a major in the field of environmental science,
biology, chemistry, earth science, environmental health, meteorology, natural
science, toxicology or public health may be substituted for a maximum of two
years of the required (A) experience.*
III. A Graduate degree with a major in environmental science, biology,
chemistry, earth science, environmental health, meteorology, natural science,
toxicology or public health may be substituted for the required experience.*
*Education toward such a degree will be prorated on the basis of the proportion
of the requirements actually completed.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS: Based on assignment, possession of a current and valid
Massachusetts Class 3 Motor Vehicle Operator’s License.
*Preferred Qualifications:*
1. Ability to work independently as well as a member of team, to exercise sound
judgment and discretion in handling confidential information.
2. Ability to understand issues relating to instream flow, rating curves, water
conservation, and other surface water issues.
3. Ability to understand scientific concepts and support volunteers to ensure
quality control of the data.
4. Proven ability to work with the public and a variety of interested and
involved parties, to communicate both orally and through written materials, to
make presentations and provide training.
5. Ability to develop advocacy skills appropriate for remediation of flow in
watersheds.
6. A science background, such as biology, geology, hydrology, environmental
science, fisheries, geography, fluvial geomorphology and the ability to
understand and communicate technical information and general knowledge regarding
Massachusetts watersheds and issues affecting Massachusetts rivers.
7. Ability to coordinate and facilitate public meetings.
8. Ability to work with Conservation Commissions, planning boards, and other
municipal boards, state and federal agencies (Preference will be given to those
with community organizing, training, teaching and to those applicants with
experience working with or on Conservation Commissions, planning boards, or
other municipal boards.)
9. Ability to understand community organizing and to assess which methods are
most effective for restoration projects, advocacy and general protection of
rivers and stream resources.
10. Ability to understand the relationship between issues found in the field
with policy and, when appropriate, to take the lead on promoting river-friendly
policies at both the state and local levels.
11. Ability to work independently, with initiative, and to work as a member of a
team.
12. Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
13. Ability to travel to various field locations statewide to conduct field work
and meet with citizen groups and others, including evenings and weekends when
necessary.
14. Ability to edit and layout publications and pictures through such programs
as Adobe Pagemaker, Photoshop, writer and Dreamweaver beneficial.
15. Willingness to work outside in most weather conditions, wade in rivers up to
waist deep, and use and maintain technical equipment.
*Comments: *
This is a civil service position.
This is a 30 HOUR PER WEEK position. The work hours for this position may be
expanded to full-time (37.50/week)next fiscal year depending on the availability
of funds.
The Instream Flow and Restoration Specialist works with partners, including
USGS, a technical advisory committee and local volunteers, to gather and assess
high quality data on streams with suspected low flows through the River Instream
Flow Stewards (RIFLS) program. The goal of the RIFLS program is to establish
sound scientific data to support smart growth decisions by communities and to
restore more natural flow regimes. Work may also include policy and permit
review and local outreach and education related to water resource management to
maintain more natural stream flow regimes.
In addition, the position will provide technical assistance on restoration
activities such as field work for restoration project evaluation, fluvial
geomorphologic field assessment and data analysis, and/or outreach and education
to build local capacity for restoration projects. When appropriate, the position
will manage and support management of projects.
The RIFLS work will include approximately 60% field work measuring stream flow
at RIFLS sites and 40% outreach and technical assistance. In addition, ten hours
of the position will be devoted to field work, technical assistance and/or
outreach for restoration related activities
*Application Instructions: *
All application must be made in writing, consisting of a cover letter making
specific reference to this particular announcement, a current resume with
references and a Commonwealth of Massachusetts Application for Employment form,
which can be found on the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs website, select the link Employment, then EOEA employment
application or you may request a copy be sent to you.
All applications must be received in this office no later than 5:00 P.M. on the
*Monday following the deadline date*.
*How to apply:*
Mail cover letter and resume and application to:
Peter Burke, Personnel Officer
Department Of Fish And Game
251 Causeway Street – Suite 400
Boston, Massachusetts 02114
Telephone #: (617) 626-1562
Fax #: (617) 626-1505
*Agency Web site *
*Affirmative Action Officer: *Mr. Peter Burke, (617) 626-156
The Massachusetts Watershed Coalition
….Creating a Network of Watershed Partners.
Please feel free to pass along
to potentially interested applicants.
Screening for Invasive Species Could Save U.S. Billions
By: Union of Concerned Scientists
Published: Dec 19, 2006 at 07:18
A new study shows that screening for potentially harmful foreign plant
species before they are imported is more economically beneficial than
fighting them after they take root in new areas. Because the United
States has no screening program for invasive species, the study focuses
on Australia and finds that their prevention efforts pay for themselves
with reduced economic damage in just over ten years and result in up to
$1.8 billion in savings over 50 years.
Sent by Olivia Kwong, Plant Conservation Alliance
Invasive Plant Newsbriefs, NO. 30. FORWARDED BY THE SILVIO O. CONTE NATIONAL FISH AND WILDLIFE REFUGE FOR
THE NEW ENGLAND INVASIVE PLANT GROUP (NIPGro)
Downloadable 2007 Invasive Plant Calendar
The Alien Plant Working Group’s Invasive Plant Calendar for 2007 is now
available online for you to download & print. Take a look at it on the website.
From: Olivia Kwong,
SER/PCA – Invasive Plant Newsbriefs, NO. 30. FORWARDED BY THE SILVIO O. CONTE NATIONAL FISH AND WILDLIFE REFUGE FOR
THE NEW ENGLAND INVASIVE PLANT GROUP (NIPGro)
Landfill, Combustion Facility Sweep Finds Excessive Cardboard Disposal
MassDEP: Massachusetts Businesses Still Throwing Too Many Recyclables Away
From MassDEP News
January 3, 2007
A number of well-known Massachusetts businesses and institutions continue to throw away large volumes of easy-to-recycle cardboard in spite of a state ban on its disposal, savings on disposal costs and its value as a commodity, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) reported today. For the first time, the agency has taken enforcement actions against waste ban violators.
“Continued disposal of recyclables is a needless waste of money, raw material, and in-state disposal capacity,” said MassDEP Acting Commissioner Arleen O’Donnell. “Diverting material from trash dumpsters to recycling bins saves everyone money. Recycling creates feedstock for companies that manufacture products with recycled content and employ thousands of people across the Commonwealth.”
MassDEP estimates that over 1.5 million tons of paper products are still being disposed in landfills and incinerators across the state every year at an average cost of $70 per ton – up to $105 million in recycling savings for business and communities.
As part of a statewide campaign to cut down on continued disposal of cardboard and other easy-to-recycle materials, MassDEP sent inspectors to a number of solid waste facilities during the fall to monitor compliance with a state regulation that prohibits throwing those materials away.
One of every five truckloads of solid waste that inspectors observed were found to be in violation of state bans on disposal of large amounts of recyclables. One-third of the violations involved excessive amounts of cardboard – up to 40 percent of the material being thrown away, in some cases.
MassDEP cited 12 companies and organizations for illegal cardboard disposal from nine locations:
Waste hauling companies cited were: Allied Disposal of Quincy, BFI Waste Systems of Revere and Yarmouth, Frade’s Disposal of New Bedford, and Waste Management of South Hadley and Stoughton; and,Nine facilities that generated the material: American Red Cross of Dedham, Building 19 of Lynn, Ethan Allen Furniture of Bellingham, Friendly Fruit of New Bedford, Home Depot stores in Hyannis and Wareham, Lindenmeyr Munroe of Franklin, Westfield State College of Westfield, and Wright Line of Worcester.
The violators were continuing to throw cardboard away in spite of MassDEP efforts to educate waste haulers and generators about the disposal bans last spring, and ongoing opportunities for businesses and municipalities to become better acquainted with waste ban requirements.
Each violator was issued a notice of noncompliance with the waste ban regulation, and required to draw up a plan to stop the disposal of banned materials and submit the plan to MassDEP for approval.
MassDEP is responsible for ensuring clean air and water, safe management and recycling of solid and hazardous wastes, timely cleanup of hazardous waste sites and spills, and the preservation of wetlands and coastal resources.
CONTACT:
Ed Coletta 617-292-5737
CATs Creates Research Database on the Effects of Pesticides on Reptile and Amphibians
EUREKA, California, December 22, 2006 (ENS) – The citizens group
Californians for Alternatives to Toxics, CATs, has created a
user-friendly database of the most recent international research about
the effects of pesticide use on amphibians and reptiles. “By bringing
together current research on beleaguered amphibians and reptiles, we
have made this global information readily accessible to academics,
neighborhood activists and students,” said Patty Clary, CATs programs
director.
The Reptile, Amphibian and Pesticides database, or RAP, builds on an
earlier one covering literature up to 1998 that was put together by the
Canadian Wildlife Service.
“The value of this database is that biologists and other users can
easily access information about the effects of pesticides on amphibians
and reptiles drawn from a variety of sources,” said Marlon Gil, a
biologist who compiled the database for CATs.
Gil, whose frog research has taken him as far afield as West Africa,
said, “Hopefully this will enhance efforts to prevent losses of these
species worldwide.”
The updated research is searchable by species and genus, location of
research, pesticide studied and toxicological effect. It includes a
list of 327 scientific papers published since 1999 on the effects of
pesticides on amphibians, as well as 128 research papers on pesticides’
impacts on reptiles.
Clary said CATs will update the database as new information becomes
available.
The database specializes in field studies from California that are
meshed with findings from the unique pesticide-use database of the
state’s Department of Pesticide Regulation.
California is one of the “hot spots” in the global decline of amphibian
populations, and native aquatic frog and toad species have been
disappearing for two decades.
For example, research by the U.S. Geological Survey since 1997 has
revealed dangerous levels of pesticides in both the bodies of frogs and
in their aquatic habitat in pristine areas of the Sierra Nevada. Entire
populations of native frogs have vanished, and research has pinpointed
pesticide sprays that have drifted hundreds of miles from the Central
Valley to settle in wilderness areas.
Founded in 1982, CATs was a major player in a suit that won increased
protection from pesticides for the red-legged frog, made famous by Mark
Twain in his story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.”
The new database is available at the Californians for Alternatives to
Toxics website
Information provided by Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation
F.T. Rose Superfund Site Reviewed by EPA
For the complete review of this site located one-half mile from Pittsfield in Lanesboro, MA. please refer to: http://www.epa.gov/ne/superfund/sites/ftrose/212558.pdf
CPA II
The Community Planning Act will be filed in the state legislature by January 10, 2007. This much-needed state zoning and land use reform bill is essentially the same as it appeared in the 2006 legislative session, with the exception of four additional amendments. (The amendments concern zoning variances, special permit approval, special permit duration, and modifications to subdivision plans. See attached bill and bill summary.)
It is extremely important that the Community Planning Act (CPA II) get off to a strong start in the new year. Your help is needed in the most crucial first step of accumulating a long list of legislative sponsors for the CPA II.
Please contact your state representative AND state senator between now and January 10, and urge him or her to sign on as a co-sponsor of the Community Planning Act. Also, please contact any other legislator you may have a special relationship with. The bill is being circulated by the CPA II’s primary sponsors, so your legislator will have been informed about it. However, YOUR INFLUENCE AS A CONSTITUENT IS VITAL.
Andrea Nuciforo and Denis Guyer were among the co-sponsors of the Massachusetts Land Use Reform Act (the previous name for the CPA II). So be sure to thank Denis Guyer, and ask him to do it again.
If you have questions about the bill, please feel free to contact Don Keeran, the Coordinator for the Coalition for Zoning Reform:
Don Keeran, Coordinator
Coalition for Zoning Reform
Toll Free: 1-877-955-4142
[email protected]
DCR Annual Report; Forest Cutting & Parks Management Plan
The Dept. of Conservation & Recreation (DCR) has released its Fiscal Year
2006 Annual Report, “Toward World Class Parks and Conservation:
Strengthening Connections between People and the Environment.” The report
may be downloaded from the home page (bottom left) of DCR’s website.
The draft Public Outreach and Consultation for Forest Cutting Plans and Historic Parkways policies are available for review and public comment.
Comments for the Historic Parkways Policy are due Friday, January 12.
Please submit comments c/o Victoria Bonarrigo via email at [email protected] If submitting comment via email, please write the title of the policy in the subject bar. Or via mail at:
Victoria Bonarrigo
Department of Conservation & Recreation
251 Causeway Street, Suite 600
Boston, MA 02114
Comments for the Public Outreach and Consultation for Forest Cutting Plans
Policy are due Friday, March 16. Please submit comments c/o Marcelle Valentin via email at [email protected] If submitting comment via email, please write the title of the policy in the subject bar. Or via mail at:
Marcelle Valentin
Department of Conservation and Recreation
251 Causeway Street, Suite 600
Boston, MA 02114
Comments Sought on DFG Forest Management Plans
The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife (MassWildlife) is seeking
public comment on forest management plans for the Taconic Mountains and
Marble Valley Forest Management Zone (FMZ) and the Berkshire Highlands
Forest Management Zone. Both management plans integrate principles of
MassWildlife’s biodiversity Initiative and addresses Forest Stewardship
Certification (FSC) “Green Certification” requirements for habitat
management planning on state forest and wildlife lands. The plans are
posted on the MassWildlife website. Interested citizens,
conservationists and natural resource professionals are encouraged to submit
written comments postmarked by February 16, 2007 to: John Scanlon,
MassWildlife Forest Project Leader, MassWildlife Field HQ, Westborough, MA
01581.
ELM’s 2008 Green Budget
The Environmental League of Massachusetts has released their Green Budget 2008 (pdf) with recommendations on how much money should be allocated to various environmental budget lines for the next fiscal year (2008). The Green Budget 2008 has been endorsed by 50 conservation and health organizations across the state, with recommendations for the Environmental Affairs budget and will be released within the next two weeks.
In it are recommendations to provide $1 million for the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program (NHESP) within the Department of Fish and Game to help implement the Wildlife Action Plan.
In the FY2004 budget the NHESP lost all of its operating funding from the state, which had amounted to around $800,000 a year. It now functions only on a combination of bond money, voluntary donations from Massachusetts residents in the form of a check-off box on the state income tax return, and federal funds.
NHESP is one of the programs within MassWildlife that implements the State Wildlife Action Plan. In order to continue to receive federal funding to implement our Action Plan, the state must match dollar for dollar what the federal government is willing to provide, which was around $900,000 in FY2007.
Much of the $1 million recommended in the Green Budget for NHESP would qualify for the agency’s federal match to implement the Wildlife Action Plan.
Contact your legislators and urge them to support this funding. Click on their name to email or give them a call.
Senator Benjamin Downing 413-822-0071
1st Berkshire District was Representative Daniel Bosley
2nd Berkshire District Representative Denis Guyer 413-684-0033
3rd Berkshire District Representative Christopher Speranzo 413-447-7225
4th Berkshire District Representative Smitty Pignatelli 413-243-5534
Ask them to support $1 million for the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program, so they can receive matching Federal money to implement the State Wildlife Action Plan. You can also ask that they support all the recommendations in the Environmental League of Massachusetts’ Green Budget. Thank you!