In the News
CALENDAR OF EVENTS Advocacy News (Includes how to reach your legislators) DEP Enforcement Actions In The Berkshire |
Carbon Nation Movie Premiere MOVIE PREMIERE: New York, Los Angeles, and now Williamstown! February 20th, 2pm at Images Cinema. One day only!! Carbon Nation is a brand new, uplifting, beautifully videographed, real world solutions movie. It takes the viewer across the USA to showcase real Americans creating and implementing a wide range of projects that promote efficient and carbon reducing energy, create jobs, help the economy, boost national security, and promote cleaner air and better health, while addressing the concept of climate change. It is a climate change solutions movie that doesn’t even care if you believe in climate change and while entertaining, it sheds new light. A brief discussion on the carbon equation and biomass follows. Movie Trailer: www.carbonnationmovie.com “Nobody makes a greater mistake than he who does nothing because he could do only a little.”—Edmund Burke $10 (or higher) suggested donation FREE childcare at Williamstown Youth Center 1:30-4:30 We are so exited to be right after the New York City and L.A. premieres of this film. The Bennington-Berkshire area is truly a special place and local involvement and the way people care about each other and the environment is part of what makes it so special. |
Attorney General’s Office to Hold Regional Open Meeting Law Educational Forums Throughout State BOSTON — Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office will hold seven educational forums on the Open Meeting Law throughout the state during the months of March, April, May and June. On July 1, 2010, the Attorney General’s Office assumed responsibility for enforcement of the Open Meeting Law from the state’s District Attorneys, who previously enforced the law as it pertains to municipal bodies. The forums are part of a broad effort by the Attorney General’s Office to provide information on the revisions to the Open Meeting Law which took effect on July 1, 2010. State and local public bodies are required to comply with the Open Meeting Law. The Open Meeting Law educational forums will be conducted by attorneys and staff from the Attorney General’s Division of Open Government and are open to the public. The regional educational forums on the Open Meeting Law will be held at the dates and times below: Brookline Dracut Bridgewater Dalton Barnstable Northampton Worcester The Ethics Reform Act of 2009 (Chapter 28 of the Acts of 2009) made significant revisions to the Open Meeting Law, including centralizing the enforcement of the law in the Attorney General’s Office and creating the Division of Open Government. The Division’s responsibilities include receiving, reviewing, investigating and resolving Open Meeting Law complaints, creating and distributing educational materials about the Open Meeting Law, providing training on the Open Meeting Law, promulgating regulations, and responding to general inquiries about the Open Meeting Law from members of public bodies, municipal attorneys and members of the public. The educational forums are being offered free of charge. All members of public bodies, municipal employees, and members of the general public are encouraged to attend. Individuals interested in attending an educational forum are asked to register in advance by calling (617) 963-2246 or by emailing OMLTraining@state.ma.us, and providing: 1) their first and last names; 2) town of residence; and 3) indicating the location of the educational forum they will attend. For more information on the Open Meeting Law, visit the Attorney General’s website at www.mass.gov/ago/openmeeting. Media are welcome to attend. Karen I. Pelto NRD Coordinator 617-292-5785 |
DCR UPDATES “PARK PASSPORT” PROGRAM The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) has launched new, downloadable passports for the agency’s Park Passport program, which lets park users chronicle their adventures in dozens of state parks across the Commonwealth. The free Park Passport program is open to anyone who visits a participating park. The goal is to encourage families to discover the plants and animals, trails, beaches, fields, picnic areas, campgrounds, and fresh air in the more than 450,000 acres of Massachusetts state parks. Each passport has special pages to record the dates that individual parks were visited and to jot down thoughts and impressions of each park. Passports also include tips for safe hiking and taking care of the environment, and a guide to identifying animal tracks. “These little passports open up a whole world of opportunity for exploring our state parks,” said DCR Commissioner Ed Lambert. “Massachusetts offers one of the largest state park systems in the nation, and we hope our park users will consider this, quite literally, a passport to adventure.” This is the fourth year of the Park Passport program, which was suggested by a park visitor and developed by DCR park rangers Peter Michaels, district ranger for the Connecticut River Valley, and Jason Hunt, district ranger for the Quabbin Highlands. The individual park stamps were designed by artist and illustrator Micha Archer of Leverett. This year, for the first time, passport booklets can be downloaded from the DCR website and assembled easily by individual users. At each park, children will find the passport stamp inside a colorful, birdhouse-like box. During school vacation week, February 19 through February 27, DCR is offering special programs in the parks and a special Park Passport opportunity. Visit five or more Passport Parks in a designated region during vacation week, stamp your passport, and receive a free passport T-shirt. The T-shirts, available while supplies last, can be picked up at designated regional offices listed below by March 1. For more information on DCR’s Park Passport program, vacation week activities, and to download a passport, visit www.mass.gov/dcr/passport/index.html. |
2011 MASS. LAND CONSERVATION CONFERENCE - REGISTER NOW! Who should attend?
Download the 2011 conference brochure and list of workshops. MLTC members, remember your discount when you register!
Please note that online registration operates on the honor system. Members who claim more discounted registrations than they are entitled to will be charged the additional amount when they sign in at the conference. Not sure about your membership status? Check the current member list here. |
New tests reveal many pesticides block male hormones. |
ELM Working to Make Mass. Coal-Free Perhaps the effects of burning coal may not be as obvious as the blackened skies of a previous century, but the fact remains that generating electricity by burning coal is inefficient and detrimental to the health of the public and the environment. Coal is the most carbon-intensive source of electric generation and is one of the primary contributors to climate change. What many may not realize is that Massachusets meets about 25% of its electricity demand from coal-fired power plants. Most alarming, however, are the public health impacts of pollution related to coal-fired power plants. Nationally, emissions from coal-fired plants were expected to cause over 13,000 premature deaths, nearly 10,000 hospitalizations, and more than 20,000 heart attacks last year. In Massachusetts, 2010 saw an estimated 5,280 public health incidents such as these related to the pollution emitted from coal-fired power plants ("The Toll From Coal," Clean Air Task Force. September 2010). The pollution emitted from outdated coal-fired facilities is a threat to public health and is at odds with the goals of the Global Warming Solutions Act and Massachusetts' progressive environmental portfolio. The Commonwealth has the resources and tools needed to keep the lights on without relying on dirty coal. By rrequiring a phase-out of coal fired plants, we can reduce GHG emissions, improve public health and accelerate the transition to clean alternatives. This legislative session several bills have been filed to help get us to a cleaner, healthier future, including an omnibus coal bill filed by Representative Lori Ehrlich, An Act Relative to a Coal-Free Commonwealth. Members of the Global Warming Solutions Project (GWSP), led by ELM, have adopted the goal of making Massachusetts Coal Free as one of its priorities and we are looking forward to working with our partners towards this goal. For more information, contact Eugenia Gibbons at 617-742-2553 or egibbons@environmentalleague.org. |
EPA Awards $600,000 Targeted Watershed Grant to River Network The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded $600,000 to River Network to engage communities and increase citizen connection, understanding, and stewardship of urban waterways. This award was made through the Targeted Watershed Grants Program and is an Urban Waters Capacity Building Grant. Under the grant, River Network will form a partnership with Groundwork USA to establish and manage a competitive urban watershed subaward program. River Network will select five to seven subawardees competitively to receive funding (ranging from $30,000 to $70,000) and up to 400 hours of technical assistance for projects designed to strengthen their organization. As part of the grant, River Network will also provide a wider peer-learning network for other organizations working on urban water issues. The goal is to support a new urban waters movement by building highly capable organizations that are self-sustaining and can carry out programs to protect human health and the environment. The urban waterways in many communities are compromised landscapes, impacted by various sources of pollution and often neglected and ignored. These capacity-building subgrants will provide local organizations, tribal and local governmental with skills and techniques to protect their urban waterways and promote more vibrant, economically sustainable communities. All subawardees will attend the National River Rally in North Charleston, South Carolina on June 3-6, 2011. (http://www.rivernetwork.org/events/national-river-rally-2010). For additional information on applying to River Network for funding, please contact Diana Toledo or visit the River Network Urban Waters Capacity Building Grants Request for Proposals. EPA initiated the Targeted Watersheds Grant Program in 2002 to encourage successful community-based approaches to protect and restore the nation's watersheds. Watershed health is important to providing clean, safe water where Americans live, work and play. Since 2003, more than $50 million has been provided to 61 organizations through EPA Targeted Watersheds Grants. Learn more about what EPA is doing to protect Urban Waters. |
Turtles and Transmission Lines. Western Massachusetts Electric Company (WMECO) has proposed upgrades to their transmission lines running from Connecticut through Agawam and Chicopee to Ludlow. Work associated with the upgrade will result in some impacts on wetlands and rare species habitat along the route, requiring that the company obtain permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Mass. Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program. Those two agencies, seeking to mitigate the impacts that cannot be avoided altogether, are requiring WMECO to permanently protect wetlands and rare species habitat in two locations in the town of Agawam just west of Springfield. Why are we telling you this? WMECO has asked Mass Audubon to hold the conservation restrictions that will permanently protect these areas, a total of about 65 acres. The properties are highly deserving of protection, with multiple designations related to ecological value and rare species. We have had several bargaining sessions, hammering out language that will ensure meaningful protection for the land while allowing WMECO to use it for electrical transmission. We are closing in on our goal, and if all goes well, the conservation restrictions will go to record sometime this spring. <read online with photos> |
Off-Highway Vehicle Enforcement and Management Plan Recommendations Comment Deadline – 2/28/2011 For many Friends Groups, the destruction of land by the illegal use of off-highway vehicles (OHVs) is the worst problem they face. Legal riders of all-terrain vehicles say they are frustrated with having only 69 miles of designated trails (total OHV trails = 117 miles) on state lands. Both groups have been waiting too long for a comprehensive plan for OHV enforcement and management. |
Commonwealth Solar Hot Water program We are pleased to announce applications are now being accepted for the Commonwealth Solar Hot Water program. Applications are now available at: www.masscec.com/solarhotwater. The Commonwealth Solar Hot Water Program provides rebates through a non-competitive application process for the installation of solar hot water projects by professional installers at residential and multi-family (1 to 4 unit) homes. For questions about the program, please see the "Commonwealth Solar Hot Water FAQ" at www.masscec.com/solarhotwater. Questions should be sent to solarhotwater@masscec.com. If you manufacture a major solar hot water system component in Massachusetts, your product may be eligible for an additional rebate and listing on our web site. Please contact us at solarhotwater@masscec.com. We are excited about this new program and hope you are able to participate. Thank you for your support of solar power in Massachusetts! |
Winds of Change: The Latest on Wind Energy Early this week, Mass Audubon was invited to join with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Energy Secretary Kevin Chu to review major new initiatives to accelerate responsible siting and development of offshore wind energy projects. For more information see: http://www.energy.gov/news/10053.htm In March, the Interior department is also expected to identify Wind Energy Areas off of North Atlantic states, including Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and launch additional environmental reviews for those areas. Stay tuned. The Interior and Energy departments have also released the first-ever interagency plan on offshore wind entitled: National Offshore Wind Strategy: Creating an Offshore Wind Industry in the United States. View the plan at: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/pdfs/national_offshore_wind_strategy.pdf. New Wind Energy Guidelines This week the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced draft guidelines for wind energy projects. These guidelines are designed to help developers and agency staff make good decisions in selecting sites for land-based wind energy facilities, and avoid negative effects to fish, wildlife and their habitats. The USFWS first began this process in 2003 when they released a set of voluntary, interim guidelines for land-based wind energy projects. After a lengthy public comment period, the Secretary of the Interior established the Wind Turbine Guidelines Advisory Committee in 2007 to provide recommendations for the final guidelines. The Committee consisted of a diverse group of stakeholders, including federal agencies, tribal groups, and conservation organizations including Mass Audubon. After two years of deliberations, the Committee submitted their final recommendations to the Secretary in March 2010. An internal USFWS working group used the recommendations to develop the newly released wind energy guidelines. The guidelines are designed to be used for all utility-scale and community-scale land-based wind energy projects on private and public lands. Request for Offshore Wind-Wildlife Information A task force convened by the American Wind Energy Association will be assembling an offshore wind-wildlife fact sheet, and is looking for input. The fact sheet will provide a summary of the current state of scientific knowledge and knowledge gaps on the interactions between US offshore wind facilities and wildlife, defined broadly to include all living things that occur in marine environments. Inquiries should be directed to cgordon@normandeau.com. |
Follow the Housatonic River from Source to Sound Experience The Housatonic River Adventure 2011 a Source-to-Sound paddle trip to celebrate the beauty and wonder of the Housatonic River and to observe HVA's 70th year of protecting rivers and land. Bring your family, friends, co-workers or go solo for a couple of hours, a day or the entire 10-day journey led by three U.S. Whitewater National champion canoeists. The Adventure is organized by HVA in partnership with many local groups who will provide educational, historical and cultural programs along the way. Email Sign Up for River Adventure |
Goodwill, Dell Expand Technology Recycling Partnership to the Berkshires January 2010, Pittsfield MA - Free Technology Recycling Now Available to Households in the Berkshires and Southern Vermont Households in the Berkshires and Southern Vermont may now recycle their computers and peripherals, at no-cost, by donating the equipment to their local Goodwill, thanks to the Reconnect partnership with Dell. Donated equipment meeting the program’s quality criteria is resold, and devices needing repair are either refurbished or broken down into parts to be recycled by Dell partners. For more information including what items are recyclable (a long list) visit the website. |
The Old Creamery Co-op Conversations |
Orion Green Jobs and Intership Update |
Do you know a current student or recent graduate who loves the outdoors & travel, has a sense of adventure, is creative - and who would be a good spokesperson for Sierra Club's youth programs? |
The Carrot Project/ Extra, Extra Program Coordinator Position Announcement The Carrot Project is pleased to announce that we are hiring a part-time program coordinator to help us with our microloan programs and launch the Greater Berkshire Sustainable Agriculture Fund. The person who fills this role will work closely with the executive director. We seek candidates with an entrepreneurial spirit, someone who can thrive in a small dynamic organization, understands sustainable agriculture, and has a keen grasp of business financial information. Read the full job description for more information. The application deadline is February 25, 2011. |
Two Summer Positions with The Nature Conservancy in Sheffield
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