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Berkshire
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What BEAT is doing to maintain and improve wildlife connectionsBEAT is very concerned about maintaining connections among large, protected landscapes in order to protect the full complement of species in our area in perpetuity. To do this we are partnering with many other organizations and taking several different approaches all with the goal of maintaining or improving these ecosystem connections. In 2006, Joan Cousins approached us to see if we would host a Berkshire group to be trained by the Keeping Track® wildlife monitoring program. We agreed. This group formed Berkshire Wildlife Trakcers. A second group of volunteers has now also completed the Keeping Track® training. Please visit the Berkshire Wildlife Tracking page for more information on this important program. BEAT staff have been attending conferences on Transportation and Wildlife (or Road Ecology or EcoPassages or Critter Crossings). Which ever name you choose, we are very interested in decreasing the impact our transportation network has on habitat connectivity and ecosystems in general. September 13-17 2009, Jane Winn, Executive Director of BEAT attended the International Conference On Ecology and Transportation (ICOET) and reported from the conference on BEAT's Blog. BEAT and the Housatonic Valley Association are working together on a Stream Crossing Project to survey all the stream crossings in the Berkshires, enter the data in a database, and have the data analysed to determine which crossings, if replaced, would most benefit wildlife by reconnecting habitat and ecosystems. This is part of a larger River and Stream Continuity Project led by UMass, Massachusetts Riverways, and The Nature Conservancy. BEAT serves on the Transportation Advisiory Committee to the Berkshire Metropolitan Planning Organization (BMPO) - the agency that oversees all the major highway projects that are state funded in the County. BEAT also videotapes and broadcasts throughout the county the BMPO meetings. BEAT is a partner in the Wildlands & Woodlands Partnership - A Vision for the Forests of Massachusetts, which articulates a bold idea – namely, that approximately 1.5 million acres should be added to the state’s existing protected land base of one million acres, to reach a target of 2.5 million acres, an area equal to half of the land within the borders of the state of Massachusetts. BEAT is a member of the TransWild Alliance - Conservation advocacy organizations working to protect wildlife and natural resources from the devastating impacts of highways and associated development. The TransWild Alliance merely provides the means for these groups to communicate, coordinate and support one another through this partnership. BEAT is a part of the Teaming With Wildlife effort aimed at supporting our state Wildlife Action Plan (aka Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy). We urge you to join the Teaming With Wildlife coalition because the more people we have in the coalition, the more clout we have in asking the state and federal governments to fully fund this program to implement our Wildlife Action Plan. Please check out the website and then join! Joining Teaming with Wildlife is easy! Simply fill out and return the endorsement form. Forms can be faxed to 617-742-9656 or mailed to: Teaming with Wildlife |