The BEAT News April 17, 2012

News Headlines

Coming to a Floodplain Near You: Trees! fromThe from Trustees of Reservations

This spring, the Trustees will be beginning an exciting project at Bartholomew’s Cobble to expand the existing floodplain forest. 

 

Floodplain forests are located along rivers and must receive annual (or semi-annual) overbank flooding and silt deposition. They have a canopy of mostly silver maples and a generally open understory, except for a thick layer of ferns, nettles and other plants. These forests support a variety of plants and animals (some of which are only found in floodplain habitats), serve as wildlife corridors, protect water quality of rivers, and serve as important floodwater storage areas. Floodplain forests are considered to be among the rarest and most threatened natural communities in Massachusetts. Due to their high soil fertility and scenic qualities, floodplain forests have largely been converted to agriculture or lost to housing and industrial development.

The Bartholomew’s Cobble Floodplain Forest Restoration and Habitat Improvement Project will plant silver maples and other trees across 10 acres of existing fields as well as control invasive plants on an additional 75 acres adjacent to the Housatonic River. The project will improve the resiliency and health of habitats at Bartholomew’s Cobble which will give the habitats and the wildlife and plants within them a better chance to survive as our climate is changing. Last year, the Holyoke Youth Conservation Corps visited Bartholomew’s Cobble to collect new silver maple seedlings from the river bank at the Cobble. These seedlings would not have survived where they were growing due to their location on the eroding bank of the river. The seedlings are currently growing at our greenhouse at the Land of Providence in Holyoke and will be brought back to the Cobble for planting in 2013. This year we will plant some American elms that are being donated by The Nature Conservancy and we will continue our work on controlling invasive plants in preparation for planting next year.

Come visit to learn more about the project and watch our floodplain forest grow!

The Trustees of Reservations has received funding for this project through the Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Programs of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, using funding via the Massachusetts SubCouncil of the Housatonic River Trustee Council.

 


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True New England Native PlantsNew England Wild Flower Society’s Nasami Farm, 128 North Street, Whately, MA, is a native plant nursery focused on the propagation and research of our region’s flora. Nasami Farm is open weekends April 14 through October 28, 2012. Come visit the Garden Shop, take a class, or walk the Roaring Brook Restoration Project. We look forward to seeing you in 2012!To more closely align the Nasami Farm nursery with the core mission and goals of the Society, we are investing in a new direction and partnerships to ensure that true New England native plants – with the genetic traits that make them hardy in our climate and perfect for native insects and wildlife – are available to our customers and in the nursery trade.Our goal is to:

  • grow only locally sourced New England native plants from seeds sustainably collected by our staff and network of volunteers throughout the region
  • focus on propagation and research to bring different and hard-to-grow plants into production
  • partner with local nurseries to grow our propagated plants to retail size for our customers
  • sell in our seasonal retail area plants that are grown in partnership with local nurseries, especially Project Native of Housatonic.

 

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Greenagers to Run Housatonic River WalkBy Trevor Jones, Berkshire Eagle StaffAs the founders of the Great Barrington Housatonic River Walk ready their 25th year of trail maintenance, they’re also preparing to pass the stewardship on to another group so the site can remain a community asset for the next quarter century.The Greenagers, a local group aimed at fostering the ethics of service and stewardship among youth, will take over the trail’s maintenance starting in the fall.Organizers will host their annual Earth Day workday of the trail this Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Volunteers are asked to meet at the W.E.B. Du Bois River Garden Park behind the former Searles school. Work will include river bottom cleanup, habitat restoration and native plantings, trail maintenance, removal of invasive plant species and bank stabilization.

 

Fletcher said crews will be out rain or shine, but she encouraged anyone concerned about the weather on Saturday to call (413) 528-3391 for updated information. Further details about the cleanup can be found at gbriverwalk.org.

 

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Insect Tracking Guide by Local Authors now in Second PrintingCharley Eiseman and Noah Charney’s award-winning guide to natural history mysteries, Tracks & Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates, is now in its second printing!  This is not an expanded second edition, but it does include several corrections, so if you don’t already have the book or are purchasing it for a gift, make sure you get the latest version.  If you are shopping at your local bookstore, you can recognize it by the modified cover, with two gold medallions (National Outdoor Book Award and Choice Magazine Outstanding Academic Title) incorporated into its design.  If you are ordering it online, the only way to be sure is to get it from the authors at http://www.northernnaturalists.com.Return to list of headlines.
A Better Way to Manage Organic Waste in Massachusetts
from the Conservation Law FoundationCreative Commons image courtesy of BenandAsho on FlickrWe throw away a lot of food. Sometimes the scraps are inedible, like banana peels. Sometimes we forget about things in the refrigerator until we notice the smell. And sometimes our eyes are just bigger than our stomachs. Regardless of the reason, a lot of food scraps end up in our trash and ultimately the landfill. This is a wasted opportunity to realize environmental and economic benefits by using food scraps to improve soil health and generate renewable energy. 

By diverting food scraps to other uses, such as generating energy and creating compost, we avoid the need to expand landfills in the state or transport waste long distances to out-of-state facilities. When food scraps and other organic matter decompose in landfills, they produce methane gas, a potent contributor to climate change. So diverting food scraps from landfills also helps us meet the state’s aggressive greenhouse-gas emission reduction goals.

 

To realize these benefits, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is supporting public and private investment in a new kind of infrastructure for managing organic materials. But for this new infrastructure to succeed, DEP and the project developers that will build and operate this infrastructure need to convince the public that food scraps are not garbage, but something else entirely.

 

The DEP is currently working on an action plan for managing Massachusetts’s organic waste. The state needs a plan, because it has set lofty goals to divert organic material from landfill disposal to be used in other processes. The state’s draft Solid Waste Master Plan calls for diverting 35% of food waste, estimated to be about 350,000 tons of material per year. This goal is echoed by the Clean Energy Results Program, which sets a further goal of 50 megawatts of installed capacity of renewable energy from aerobic and anaerobic digestion facilities by 2020. And let’s not forget the proposal to ban commercial food waste from Massachusetts landfills in 2014. These are great goals, because diverting organic material out of the solid waste stream provides opportunities for economic development that can improve the environmental impacts of solid waste management, and now DEP is developing the plan to make sure we get there.

 

The plan aims to ensure that organic “waste” isn’t wasted in a landfill. It calls for a few things:

  • Gathering better and more current information about sources of food waste,
  • Providing funding and technical assistance to work out the logistics of separating food waste from the actual trash, and
  • Working with haulers to move this material to appropriate processing facilities.

There are also provisions for funding and technical assistance to facilitate the construction of additional processing infrastructure, like anaerobic digestion (AD) facilities, and to develop good markets for the resulting products.

 

Organics diversion presents an economic opportunity for cash-strapped municipalities to save money through reduced trash fees. It also allows developers – municipal or private – to generate revenue by using “waste” organics as inputs for marketable products like compost and other soil amendments and as a source of clean, renewable heat and electricity. At a time when municipal budgets are facing historic shortfalls and municipalities are seeking means of both cutting costs and creating revenue, this is surely a good thing.

 

DEP’s draft action plan is a progressive, proactive approach to organics management, but it’s missing something very important. It provides much-needed support and direction for people and organizations that are already proponents of better organic material management and will help project proponents navigate the technical and regulatory processes to achieve success. But what about the majority of people who likely have no idea that the DEP is interested in doing something dramatically different with organic waste?

 

This action plan and DEP efforts to date on this issue do little to address the very real need for public engagement and outreach to help citizens and businesses understand the good reasons for organics diversion. These include:

  • Mitigating greenhouse gas emissions through improved methane utilization;
  • Generating renewable energy from anaerobic digestion; and
  • Producing nutrient-rich soil amendments through composting.

 

The intersection of waste management and energy development is more complex than either of these individual business sectors taken on their own. For instance, energy facilities such as anaerobic digesters, which use “waste” materials as inputs to generate energy, face the siting hurdles typically encountered by both energy and waste facilities. Public concerns with other renewable energy technologies, such as wind and solar, have emerged relatively recently, but communities and individuals have been fighting against landfills and transfer stations for a very long time.

 

Today, forward-thinking people and businesses are beginning to talk about “materials management” rather than “waste management,” and those on the inside know what we mean by that. But most people don’t currently make the distinction, especially when the materials in question are leftover food and other organics that can rot. In the case of a proposed anaerobic digestion facility, the result is often a contested siting process. While AD proponents see facilities that will produce clean energy and environmentally beneficial soil products, opponents are concerned about siting waste incinerators, trash transfer stations, and toxic sludge.

 

The DEP, along with other state agencies such as the Department of Agriculture and Department of Energy Resources, is pushing to change the way “waste” materials are managed in Massachusetts. This is a good thing for economic development and the environmental performance of our materials-based economy. However, many people will not readily accept the subtle changes in regulatory definitions that distinguish separated materials from mixed solid waste. With these changes, materials that formerly had to be permitted as solid waste (trash) and processed at a permitted solid waste facility are no longer legally considered trash, so they can be processed at a composting or AD facility without a solid waste permit. I’m very happy this distinction is being made for organic material, but I know that many other people will consider this just another form of garbage disposal.

 

An action plan to encourage better organic materials management through diversion to composting and digestion needs to include significant resources to engage stakeholders around the Commonwealth to have open and honest conversations about the wide-ranging benefits, the potential pitfalls, and what everyone needs to know to avoid problems.

 

There is no reason to continue to dump organic material into landfills and many reasons to get everyone on board with using this material to generate more economic value and more environmental benefits for Massachusetts. But we can’t just “dot the i’s and cross the t’s” on the permit applications; we have to engage with people and navigate the changes in a collaborative and productive way. Diverting organic material from landfills can lead to a host of economic, environmental, and community benefits, but anyone who thinks changing the system will be as easy as selecting a site, telling the neighbors about the benefits, and awaiting approval and praise is in for a rude awakening. CLF Ventures looks forward to working with communities and project proponents to engage in open, clear discussions of the real impacts and benefits of organics management facilities so that all stakeholders share the same understanding of the issues and speak with the same terminology.

 

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The USA hasn’t been this dry in five years.Still reeling from devastating drought that led to at least $10 billion in agricultural losses across Texas and the South in 2011, the nation is enduring more unusually parched weather.A mostly dry, mild winter has put nearly 61% of the lower 48 states in “abnormally dry” or drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly federal tracking of drought. That’s the highest percentage of dry or drought conditions since September 2007, when 61.5% of the country was listed in those categories.Only two states — Ohio and Alaska — are entirely free of abnormally dry or drought conditions, according to the Drought Monitor.

 

The drought is expanding into some areas where dryness is rare, such as New England.

 

“Conditions are starting to worry us now,” said Keith Eggleston , a climatologist with the Northeast Regional Climate Center in Ithaca, N.Y.

 

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, stream flow levels are at record or near-record lows in much of New England. The Drought Monitor lists all of Vermont as “abnormally dry,” just six months after the state’s wettest August on record that stemmed mainly from disastrous flooding by the remnants of Hurricane Irene.
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Human Health Benchmarks for Pesticides in Water Published
EPA has published a table of human health benchmarks for approximately 350 pesticides to enable states, water systems and the public to better determine whether the detection of a pesticide in drinking water or source waters for drinking water may indicate a potential health risk. Advanced testing methods now allow pesticides to be detected in water at very low levels. These small amounts of pesticides detected in drinking water or source water for drinking water do not necessarily indicate a health risk.Concentrations of pesticides in drinking water that have the potential for cancer risk are not currently included in the human health benchmarks for pesticides table. EPA intends to include these concentrations later. The table includes pesticide active ingredients for which health advisories or enforceable National Primary Drinking Water Regulations have not been developed.EPA intends to update its online table of human health benchmarks for pesticides annually to ensure that the best available science is accessible to the public.To view the table of human health benchmarks for pesticides, visit: www.epa.gov/pesticides/hhbpReturn to list of headlines.
Fourth Annual Sustainability Symposium NEW LEBANON, NY—On Tuesday, April 24, 2012, Darrow School will host its Fourth Annual Sustainability Symposium, a day of cutting-edge environmental education and discussion. The forum is free and open to the public, and will feature presentations on a wide range of topics by local and regional leaders in the green movement. Organized by Craig Westcott, Darrow’s Sustainability Director and Director of the Samson Environmental Center, the symposium is open to students and teachers from regional middle and high school green teams, as well as interested members of the community who want to learn about and discuss topics in sustainability, both local and global, with professional engineers, educators, chefs, farmers, filmmakers, architects, spiritual leaders, health and wellness professionals, and more. “The goal of the day,” said Westcott, “is for participants to emerge with information, contacts, and strategies that they can return with and apply to their own education and work.”The program runs from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and will include keynote addresses from two noted experts on environmental issues:Bill McKibben (whose address will be prerecorded) is the groundbreaking author of dozens of books, articles, and essays about the environment, beginning with 1989’s The End of Nature, which is regarded as the first book for a general audience on climate change. A frequent contributor to various magazines, including The New York Times, Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s, Orion Magazine, Mother Jones, The New York Review of Books, Granta, Rolling Stone, Outside, and Grist, McKibben has been awarded Guggenheim and Lyndhurst Fellowships, and won the Lannan Prize for nonfiction writing in 2000. He is also a founder of the grassroots climate campaign, 350.org, which has coordinated 15,000 rallies in 189 countries since 2009. Time magazine called McKibben “the planet’s best green journalist,” and the Boston Globe said in 2010 that he was probably the country’s most important environmentalist.

 

Martin Ping is the Executive Director of Hawthorne Valley Association, a nonprofit organization promoting social and cultural renewal through the integration of education, agriculture, and the arts. Located in New York’s Hudson Valley, the Hawthorne Valley Association includes Hawthorne Valley Farm, a 400-acre biodynamic farm. A holistic approach to sustainable living, biodynamic farming develops the earth, plants, and animals to create a self-nourishing system. Ping balances his time between developing the working relationships amongst the association’s diverse enterprises—a dairy herd, CSA and market garden, GreenMarket stands, organic bakery and grocery store, visiting students programs, farm ecology program, day school, and more—and cultivating collaborative relationships between Hawthorne Valley and other organizations in the Upper Hudson/Berkshire region.

 

“Having both Bill McKibben and Martin Ping participate in the Sustainability Symposium represents the epitome of Darrow’s effort to provide a forum for our community to think globally and act locally,” Westcott said. “Both grassroots pioneers in education and activism for sustainability, McKibben’s work on climate change has a huge impact at the planetary level, as do Ping’s decades of leadership on the Hudson Valley/Taconic-Berkshire Region. The combination of their messages will create a continuum of possibilities for Symposium participants to be agents of change in their studies, professions, and communities.” Westcott said Darrow also will welcome back a number of presenters this year, including several Darrow School alumni who have participated in previous symposiums. These include Michael Hardiman ’75 of Hargidon Architecture + Design, Boston, MA, and Kate Cholakis ’06, a graduate student at the Conway School of Landscape Design in Conway, MA.

 

A number of concurrent sessions will be held throughout the day, covering topics such as:

  • The Energy and Economy of Solar Power: Examining current technologies for solar electric (photovoltaic) systems, and innovative methods for funding.
  • Flying Deer: Experts and budding young naturalists will learn how to track, move, and think like our abundant wildlife neighbors, the white-tailed deer.
  • Behind the Shaker Scene: Tour the historic Darrow campus to learn about various recent energy conservation measures taken to improve human, economic, and environmental sustainability.
  • We Are Related: Native American perspectives on the inter-connectedness of humans and nature.
  • The World of Organic Farming: Learn about trends in the production of organic food by sharing the experiences of two educator-farmers who participated in a World-Wide Opportunities in Organic Farming experience in Ireland last summer.
  • Collaborating for a Cause: Documentary photographer, filmmaker, and magazine photo editor Jason Houston will display a number of projects, in a variety of mediums, executed while exploring different ways artists and content producers can collaborate with nonprofits, the media, and mission-driven companies.
  • Greening the Learning Environment: Discover how Darrow’s own Science Building is being re-envisioned as a more energy-efficient and functional building by means of an extensive exterior retrofit.
  • How to Harness Free Energy: Explore current technologies in solar thermal systems that use free energy from the sun to heat water.
  • Land Trusts and You: Land trusts operate across the country and around the globe, conserving and safeguarding our natural resources. Learn about the work of land trusts and the conservation tools used to help sustain and strengthen the connection between our communities and our landscapes.
  • Building Naturalist Skills Toward a Sense of Place: Use the Darrow landscape as a study of several topics in nature.
  • Outdoor Adventure and Environmental Service: This session is for students who are interested in participating in summer expeditions involving wilderness adventure, environmental field study, service learning, and cross cultural exchange.

 

Online registration for the Symposium is available through Darrow School’s website at www.darrowschool.org/sustainability/sustainability-symposium.

 

The symposium’s schedule is as follows:

9:00–9:45 a.m.: Keynote by Martin Ping

10:00–11:30 a.m.: Concurrent Sessions

11:30 a.m. –12:30 p.m.: Locavore Lunch and Discussion (Please note: the fee for the lunch is $7 and require an RSVP to Geoff Miller, Special Events and Alumni Relations Coordinator, at millerg@darrowschool.org or 518-794-6555.)

12:45–1:25 p.m.: Keynote by Bill McKibben

1:30–2:30 p.m.: Concurrent Sessions

2:45–3:45 p.m.: Concurrent Sessions

 

Built in 1988, Darrow’s state-of-the-art Samson Environmental Center features many green-design elements, from photovoltaic panels to wind turbines, and is the destination for more than 500 visitors annually from schools, civic and municipal organizations, urban planning firms, and the general public. The SEC also houses the Living Machine™, an innovative wastewater treatment facility that uses a natural ecosystem to clean wastewater from campus dorms and buildings before returning it to the Hudson River watershed.

 

Corporate sponsors of the Fourth Annual Darrow School Sustainability Symposium include Best Western Berkshire Hills Inn and Suites; Real Goods Solar; John Ray & Sons; Clark Engineering; Sundog Solar; and Cranial Solutions.

 

Public inquiries and lunch registration: Geoff Miller, Special Events and Alumni Relations Coordinator, 518-794-6555.

 

Media inquiries: Steve Ricci, Director of Communications, at 518-794-6004, riccis@darrowschool.org.

 

First opened in 1932 as the Lebanon School for Boys, Darrow School–-an independent, coeducational boarding and day school for grades 9 through 12–-is located at the historic Mt. Lebanon Shaker Village on the New York-Massachusetts state line. Darrow’s small classes and challenging college-preparatory curriculum afford all students the opportunity for active participation in the learning process. The School has been recognized as a pioneer in the field of “hands-on learning,” and its teachers use real-world topics and a dynamic approach to capture the imagination and make the subject matter come alive. The School is dedicated to serving students with diverse backgrounds and abilities, building on each student’s individual talents and interests to inspire enduring confidence for success in college and life. To learn more, visit www.darrowschool.org.

 

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NOFA/Mass Accepting Applications to New Mentoring ProgramNOFA/Mass invites aspiring farmers who have some farming experience but aren’t yet running their own farms AND seasoned growers who would like to serve as mentors to apply to our new Farmer Mentoring Program. We provide both mentors and mentees with modest monetary stipends. Application deadline is April 27.For more information, visit www.nofamass.org/programs/mentoring.php or contact Michal Lumsden, NOFA/Mass beginning farmer program coordinator, at michal@nofamass.org.Return to list of headlines.
Pulling Together Initiative Offers Funding to Help Control Invasive Plant Species
Matching grants of $15,000 to $75,000 are available to support public/private partnerships working to control invasive plant species….Deadline: May 18, 2012 (Pre-proposals)Click here for more info.  

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National Environmental Education Foundation Offers Funding for Volunteer Groups Serving Public Lands
Twenty-five grants of up to $5,000 are available to support organizational capacity building projects at nonprofit organizations working to improve and encourage responsible use of public land sites in the United States….Deadline: May 25, 2012 (Pre-proposals) Click here and here for more info.

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Jobs NOFA Winter Conference Workshop Coordinator– Barre, MAFarmer’s Apprentice– Redhook, NYCET Contractor Services Coordinator – Northampton, MA

 

CET Administrative Project Coordinator – Northampton, MA

 

CET Customer Service Representative – Northampton, MA

 

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