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| Wildlife Event was a howling success
What were those yips and howls at the Berkshire Community College (BCC) Paterson Field House Thursday night? Not wolf, nor coyote, nor even fox. All the wildlife sounds were made by Sue Morse of Keeping Track, to help illustrate her visually stunning slideshow. It was an exciting evening at BCC with 263 people plus 15 staff and volunteers attending Berkshire Keeping Track’s Wildlife Event which was sponsored by BEAT and the BCC Conservation Club. The Event was co-sponsored by all four Berkshire County colleges: Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Simon’s Rock College of Bard, the Center for Environmental Studies at Williams College who also provided some of the funding, and BCC who provided space, took care of renting tables and chairs, helped with the organization and set-up, and much more. Thank you to all!!! Berkshire Keeping Track gathered many interested volunteers to be trained to monitor the landscape for wildlife sign. There are still a few openings to form a group of eighteen participants to sign on for six full-day training workshops in the field plus two classroom sessions with Keeping Track founder, Sue Morse. Check the Berkshire Keeping Track part of our website for more information on becoming part of the Berkshire Keeping Track Monitoring Program. Then, when training is complete, volunteers survey once each season on an ongoing basis. Data collected by trained volunteers can be used to help educate the community about areas are vital to the well-being of wildlife populations; monitor changes in wildlife populations over time and space; contribute to land use planning efforts; support land protection projects; evaluate potential effects of proposed land use and zoning changes; and develop or update a conservation plan. Berkshire Keeping Track will share our information with land trusts, river groups, neighboring monitoring programs, the regional planning commission, and the state. In addition, BEAT will be starting our Berkshire Connections Project. Jane Winn, Executive Director of BEAT, has long been interested in wildlife corridors between large, appropriate habitat areas, and the blockages or bottlenecks caused by roads and other development. Now with the state setting aside 100,000 acres of forest reserves (see article) and committing to sustainable manage the other 400,000 acres of forest they own, this seems like a perfect time to look at ways to maintain and enhance connections between these and other large protected areas. BEAT will use the data Berkshire Keeping Track collects, along with other available data, to form maps using Geographic Information System (GIS) software, to identify existing and potential wildlife corridors among large protected areas and to identify blockages and bottlenecks in these corridors. |
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| Massachusetts Forests – 100,000 acres in reserves, the rest to be sustainable managed 9/21
Secretary of Environmental Affairs, Bob Golledge, came to Jug End State Reservation and Wildlife Area in Egremont to announce the creation of Forest Reserves on state land. Golledge, along with Commissioner David Peters form the state department of Fish and Game, and Commissioner Stephen Burrington of the Department of Conservation and Recreation said yesterday they are setting aside about 100,000 acres of state forest to be managed for their ecological and recreational value, and to be allowed to develop into the old growth forests of our future. In Massachusetts native forests were largely cut by the mid-1800s for pastures, farmland, and to harvest lumber. While many trees have grown back, most of the stands are about the same age and do not support the wide range of biodiversity that once existed. The state does have some relatively small areas of “old growth forest” – areas that were never cut. Most of these are in areas too steep or remote to have been easily harvested. Golledge said that the Forest Reserve designation creates nine large preserves totaling 50,000 acres that represent large contiguous forests, mostly in the western part of the state, and many smaller reserves, which combined will be another 50,000 acres. The preserves will be off-limits to logging and will encourage only back-country experiences such as hiking and cross-country skiing. None of the areas has or will allowed motorized traffic such as all terrains vehicles. In addition to the Forest Reserves, Golledge announced a sustainable forest management initiative on the remaining 400,000 acres of state-owned forests. Sustainable forestry is the practice of harvesting trees using techniques and strategies that ensure continuous production and long-term forest health – strengthening both local economies and ecosystems. The state’s creation of a Forest Reserve system and its commitment to expanding sustainable forestry are in line with the “Green Certification” of state timberlands, which Massachusetts earned from the Forest Stewardship Council in 2004. Massachusetts was the first state to the receive Green Certification on all state-owned forest land. “This approach will ensure that we have balanced and sustainable habitats, including very young and very old forests,” said Golledge. “Forest reserves will allow us to study natural processes on unharvested lands and to apply this knowledge to our managed woodlands.” “Massachusetts’ forests are special places offering myriad benefits – from providing wildlife with areas to forage, breed and migrate to supplying people with clean water and tranquil settings for outdoor recreation,” said Wayne Klockner, Massachusetts state director of The Nature Conservancy (TNC). “These reserves are part of a comprehensive management strategy for state-owned forestland that strikes a balance between sustainable working woodlands, recreational opportunities, and habitat conservation – a formula we believe will enhance the biological and economic health of our forests and surrounding communities.” According to a TNC press release: The state saved tens of thousands of dollars, as well as time, by tapping TNC’s expertise and data on New England forests. Extensive data TNC has collected and analyzed over the past decade, in Massachusetts and beyond, was crucial in identifying nationally-significant forest resources. These areas, containing the most intact forests in the Commonwealth, form the basis of the reserve system. In addition to ecological data, the Conservancy provided analysis and mapping services to help the state determine the location and scope of reserves. The nine new large reserves, totaling approximately 50,000 acres, range from about 800 to 11,000 acres. Klockner noted that several fall within the Massachusetts Chapter’s regional landscape programs – providing opportunities to enhance The Nature Conservancy’s conservation efforts in these areas. In turn, The Conservancy’s land protection efforts augment and buffer the new state reserves. In the Westfield River Highlands, for example, the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation provided the first charitable investment devoted to protecting land around Massachusetts forest reserves with a generous gift that enabled The Conservancy to purchase 270 mostly-forested acres abutting the Middlefield Reserve. Elsewhere, the Berkshire Taconic Landscape’s Mt. Washington Reserve completes a 15,000-acre block of protected and ecologically managed forestland spanning the Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York borders. In Southeastern Massachusetts, the Myles Standish Reserve protects globally-rare and fire-adapted pitch pine-scrub oak forests – home to rare species such as the endangered Northern Red-bellied Cooter. Other large reserves include Greylock, Otis, Chalet, East Branch of the Westfield River and Mohawk/Monroe/Savoy in the state’s western regions; and Cunningham Pond in central Massachusetts. Representative of the state’s diverse forest systems, large reserves provide sanctuary for the full complement of animals and plants native to each site, and are exempt from commercial forestry and motorized recreation. The state is also in the process of defining some 50,000 acres of smaller reserves, most ranging from dozens to hundreds of acres. Scattered throughout Massachusetts, these smaller tracts will protect specific landscape features, such as vernal pools, or safeguard rare species habitat and other unique resources, while allowing hiking, bird watching, and other forms of non-motorized recreation. Management of the state reserves focuses on restoring habitat, removing invasive species, and conducting studies on undisturbed forest processes to inform forestry practices on the state’s “working woodlands.” State officials, The Nature Conservancy, and other stakeholders pointed out that increased sustainable forestry on state-owned land makes Massachusetts less dependent on imports. With 62 percent of its landscape covered in trees, Massachusetts is the country’s eighth most forested state. Yet, Bay State residents import 98 percent of their wood products from other states and countries – including ones that don’t place as high a premium on forest ecosystem concerns as Massachusetts now does. —– BEAT believes that one of the best ways to protect the scenic beauty of the Berkshires is to find ways to make sustainable farming and forestry pay well enough that families do not need to sell to developers. One way you can help is to buy locally grown – whether that is food or forest products. Currently this is difficult with forest products because we do not have much in the way of manufacturing in the Berkshires. Instead most of our local wood is shipped to Canada, where it is processed, and then shipped back to us as finished lumber. For more information see the Massachusetts Forestry Association, Massachusetts Woodland Cooperative, and UMass’ Natural Resources Conservation outreach pages. Learn more about Massachusetts’ new Forest Reserves . |
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| Mt. Greylock roads to be fixed – but is that all?
Excerpts from Glenn Drohan, North Adams Transcript, Friday, September 22 with comments by BEAT at the end Anyone who enjoys driving to the summit of Mount Greylock better do it before the snow flies. Next year, the only way up may be on foot or by mountain bike. State environmental officials confirmed Thursday that the roads to the state’s highest peak will at last be repaired, beginning in 2007, at a cost of $12 million or more, under the long-stalled “Historic Parkways Initiative.” They also confirmed that the current plan calls for both Notch Road from North Adams and Rockwell Road from Lanesborough to be closed during construction — probably for a year or more — meaning that all traffic up (or down) the 3,491-foot-elevation mountain would be blocked, except for construction vehicles. “We are in fact moving ahead with that project,” Stephen H. Burrington, commissioner of the state Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), said Thursday. He declined to elaborate on specific plans for the road project, saying he and other state officials would travel to Adams within the next three weeks to make the major announcement. Other officials confirmed, however, that the plans call for both access roads (and Summit Road at the very top) to be blocked so that construction could be completed faster. The previous plan, first announced in February 2002, had called for a three-phase project that was supposed to have begun in summer 2003 and been completed by 2005. It would have included the repaving and rehabilitation of all 13.5 miles of Notch, Rockwell and Summit roads, which were built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (which also built the historic Bascomb Lodge at the summit). The low bid for the work was $12 million, according to the DCR, but the state put the project on “indefinite hold” in July 2003 because of a lack of funding. An estimated 200,000 people per year visit the summit each year, with as many as 30,000 vehicles making the climb. The last major repairs to Notch, Rockwell and Summit roads were done in the 1970s, according to advisory council members. The three roads are closed during the winter. See the notice in the Environmental Monitor on BEAT’s Public Notices page. Comments are due by Oct. 2, and copies of the notice are available from Stephen Brown, (617) 616-1360. ———- Although we have not yet seen the plans, BEAT is concerned about segmentation of this project. From what we have heard, it appears there are more to the plans than just the road, including some – as yet to be determined – septic system? |
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| Buying into ‘BerkShares’ 9/25
The entire front page of Berkshire Trade & Commerce October issue was devoted to an article, which continued on three more pages inside, on the new Berkshire currency – BerkShares. |
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| Brownfield Site to be put to new use 9/25
from a Berkshire Eagle article with comments from BEAT Once a bustling industrial site, the former A.H. Rice Silk Mill at 55 Spring St. is quiet now. Abandoned last December when company owner Jim Miller relocated the business to his manufacturing plant in South Carolina, the buildings are mostly surrounded by overgrown weeds. But two Boston-area businessmen have big plans for the former mill. If they have their way, the site could be bustling once again. Partners Roy Krantz and Sam Levine of Berkshire Silkville LLC purchased the 129-year-old property, which contains 10 major buildings on three-acres, for $250,000 on Aug. 24, Krantz said. They hope to transform the space into an “urban village” for artists, craftspeople and creative professionals to live and work in Pittsfield’s Morningside neighborhood, one of the city’s poorest areas. Krantz said he expects the pre-sale of residential units to begin in the spring of 2007, but the property will have to be cleaned up first before anyone can live there. The mill is one of 10 Berkshire County sites that has been accepted into the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission’s regional brownfields program since it was established in September 2005. Planning Commission member JoEllen Warren said her organization’s consultant considers the former mill a petroleum site, and Krantz said: “There’s not much here to clean up, except that the place is covered with No. 6 fuel oil.” Still, with the total cost of the cleanup expected to be high, Warren said the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission is looking into helping the partners obtain grants to help pay for the cleanup. The Planning Commission’s consultant has already completed both phases of a site assessment to determine the kinds of contaminants that are on the site. Most of the hazardous waste found on the property has been placed in barrels, and that a company the partners hired could remove it within 10 days, Krantz said. “They’ve already been in and done a full inventory of it all,” Krantz said. “They’ve given us a price-quote for every barrel and we’re saying go. So now it’s just a matter of scheduling it. They say they can act very quickly.” The partners also plan to knock down a boiler building that A.H. Rice added to the mill in 1977. ———- Jane Winn, Executive Director of BEAT, serves on the Brownfield Committee that had the Phase I site assessment done on this property. “I would much rather see abandoned properties reused, than our open space developed,” said Winn. |
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| Land Conservation Federal Tax Benefits Greatly Increased! 9/25 from the Massachusetts Environmental Collaborative August 17 the President signed the pensions bill (H.R. 4) into law. The bill It is important to note that these tax incentives only apply to land The new law also contains a variety of new requirements affecting appraisals – “Substantial valuation misstatement” is now defined as 150% or greater There are also new reporting requirements for 501(c)(3) organizations – There are a number of resources available to help guide you through this: Attorney Steven Small’s perspective on the tax incentives: http://www.massland.org Example of the tax savings under the new law: http://www.compact.cape.com Full text of the legislation, detailed explanation and detailed summary at Up-to-date information from Land Trust Alliance Grassroots toolkit (doc) for land trusts to use to spread the word in your local
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| EOEA Releases Land CAP Numbers from the Massachusetts Environmental Collaborative The Executive Office of Environmental Affairs has released the land cap for $4.5 million – Self-Help Program |
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| ELM Collaborative Internship Opportunity 9/25
The Massachusetts Environmental Collaborative, a program of Collaborative Assistant : The Collaborative will be preparing a Interested students should send a detailed letter and resume Janet Tilton |
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| Western Massachusetts Communities Reap $1.2 Million for Recycling Efforts at Springfield MRF – 9/14
Seventy-eight communities in western Massachusetts recycled a combined total of 44,926 tons of aluminum, glass, paper and plastic in fiscal year 2006, resulting in these communities receiving $1,251,468 in revenue sharing payments. The high market demand for recyclable commodities and the institution of a new operator’s contract, which pays communities a flat rate of $15.67 per ton of recyclables delivered, are the reasons why communities are receiving the largest fiscal year payout since the inception of the Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) in Springfield, which the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) owns and operates in partnership with Waste Management Recycle America “In the past year, we have diverted over 40,000 tons of waste from our landfills and incinerators and paid over $1 million to municipalities,” MassDEP Commissioner Arleen O’Donnell said. “The Materials Recycling Facility is an excellent illustration of how state government, municipalities and private business can partner to yield significant environmental and economic benefits.” The following Berkshire County communities received the listed reimbursements: Alford – $1,800.28; Becket – $3,364.23; Dalton – $9,872.25; Egremont – $6,481.28; Great Barrington – $4,200.19; Lee – $5,064.33; Lenox – $1,873.59; Monterey – $4,308.43; New Marlborough – $3,038.75; Otis – $5,202.72; Pittsfield – $63,433.80; Sandisfield – $1,642.47; Sheffield – $7,493.28; Stockbridge – $17,697.22; Washington – $1,627.64; West Stockbridge – $5,549.44. MassDEP opened the Springfield MRF in January 1990 to help reduce waste, divert material away from landfills and incinerators and encourage the re-use of recyclable materials. Since that time, the MRF has processed more than one billion pounds of recyclables and returned almost $5 million back to municipalities in the form of revenue sharing. Recycling these materials also provides additional economic benefits in the form of avoided disposal costs. By recycling approximately 45,000 tons of material in fiscal year 2006, municipalities saved approximately $3 million in solid waste tipping fees. |
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| Romney Administration Promulgates Rules To Implement First-In-The-Nation Regulation To Limit Carbon Dioxide Emissions From Power Plants
The Romney Administration today announced a milestone in Massachusetts’ first-in-the-nation program to limit greenhouse gases (GHGs) with the creation of a GHG emissions credit trading system that will achieve strict emissions reductions, while providing safeguards to protect ratepayers from spikes in their electric bills. “This regulation provides real and vital environmental benefits, with a flexibility that is essential in this new and volatile energy market,” Gov. Mitt Romney said. “It offers rate-hike protection for consumers and businesses, and perfectly complements my energy plan, which supports efficiency, conservation, and diversifying and increasing the energy supply through the use of renewable wood, hydro and wind power developments.” These regulations were filed September 14th with the Secretary of State’s office, and will be officially promulgated on October 6. Regulations established in 2001 set strict limits on the CO2 emissions from the six oldest and largest power plants in the state, and required those limits to be met in two phases beginning in 2006. Today’s rules establish the criteria by which the power plants can meet emission limits for all GHGs, including CO2, the most common greenhouse gas. The rule includes criteria by which the power plants can use projects – conducted on or off their sites – that reduce, avoid or sequester GHG emissions to meet their compliance obligations. The projects may be conducted by the facilities themselves or by third parties. The CO2 limits are part of the 2001 air quality protection regulation, designed to cut emissions of CO2, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and mercury from power plants. The 2001 regulation called for a CO2 offset program, and today’s regulation specifies how the offset program will work. It is expected that, when fully implemented, this regulation will result in the annual reduction of about 2 million tons of CO2. The GHG regulation allows power generation companies to implement GHG reductions at their own facilities or fund other reduction projects off-site through a GHG credit program. To stay within their limits, power plants can reduce emissions on-site or purchase emission credits from third parties whose emissions reductions have been certified by MassDEP. Those third party projects could include the capture of combusted landfill gases, sequestration of GHG, or the generation of renewable energy, among others. The CO2 and GHG regulations are also consistent with the Governor’s long-term energy plan, announced in July, which will produce significant reductions in GHG emissions when fully implemented through energy efficiency projects, conservation and the use of renewable energy resources. Estimates suggest that when the energy plan is fully implemented, the combined results of the plan and the regulation being promulgated today will produce a reduction of 3-6 million tons of GHG per year. “The Governor’s Energy Plan, combined with the CO2 emissions limit, will produce emission reductions that will make a real difference in both our local air quality and our contribution to global climate change,” Environmental Affairs Secretary Robert W. Golledge, Jr. said. “Massachusetts continues to lead the way forward on environmental protection and promoting technological innovations.” Because the market for GHG credits is just beginning, the GHG regulation contains protections against unexpected and excessive price increases for businesses and consumers. The regulation implements a two-tiered system of triggers and safety valves. Initially, facilities can conduct offset projects or purchase offsets from projects conducted in northeastern US, which keeps environmental benefits and technological developments closer to Massachusetts. However, if the price of available offsets reaches a calendar year average of $6.50 per ton of GHG emissions, companies would then be able to shop for offsets anywhere in the world, where cheaper opportunities might be available – thus protecting ratepayers while providing the same environmental benefits. In the unlikely event that the price of offsets climbs to $10 per ton – a point that would have an unacceptable economic impact – the power plants can then meet their emissions obligation by paying into a Greenhouse Gas Expendable Trust. The Trust will be used by the state to fund projects achieving the maximum amount of GHG reduction at the lowest price, with a preference for Massachusetts-based reductions. As a further protection, the final regulations include a Circuit Breaker provision in the first three years of the program, which allows the Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) to expand the geographic scope of projects or allow payments into the GHG Expendable Trust, if credits are unavailable or prices rise unexpectedly. The circuit breaker sunsets on January 1, 2009, after which it is expected that the GHG emission credit market will be more firmly established. Offset projects must demonstrate a reduction in GHG of at least 5,000 tons per year and can be submitted by any company for credit. The applicant, however, must demonstrate that offsets can be certified by MassDEP. To view more information on the GHG regulations and the response-to-comments document, visit the MassDEP website. |
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| Save energy and money – computer tips
–A single computer with monitor running 8 hours a day, 5 days a week –Limit screen-saver use. A screen saver does not save energy. In fact, |
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