With the holiday season in full swing and APCC about to take a well-earned break, (yes, this is your last APCC weekly email of 2024) now seems a good time to reflect on a busy and remarkable year at APCC. There are a lot of ways to look at our body of work and judge what you see. My standard of success is to what extent the expansive we—APCC staff, board and membership—made an actual difference to the environment of Cape Cod. By my measure, and frankly by any fair and objective metric, 2024 was an impactful and productive year for APCC.
Any look back on 2024 has to start with APCC-led efforts that prevented the potential contamination of both the Upper Cape Water Supply Reserve and Cape Cod Bay. Success on either front alone would have been validating, but achieving success on both issues effectively at the same time is something everyone associated with APCC should take pride in. APCC led sophisticated, multi-faceted and relentless campaigns at the local, state and federal levels to successfully protect these two invaluable resources against the determined and well-funded efforts of project proponents dismissive of the concerns of local residents. Against formidable odds, we collectively made the arguments and successfully prosecuted our case to make a positive difference for Cape Cod.
APCC’s success on the national stage was not just limited to legislative victories in the halls of Congress. APCC was the recipient of the two largest federal grants in our history from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in support of six freshwater and marsh restoration projects across the Cape. These awards, from two separate NOAA solicitations, were the fifth and sixth largest awards, respectively, made nationally by NOAA. These grants, in addition to showing that APCC has a place among the most impactful environmental organizations in the country, represent a generational investment in resource restoration that will improve habitat and water quality. The result and impact of the projects developed and pursued by our outstanding Ecological Restoration Program staff will be felt for generations.
APCC continued to be the go-to resource for freshwater monitoring and reporting. We continue to provide valuable guidance to residents on the state of their waters through our water quality and cyanobacteria monitoring programs. Our water quality reporting and cyano maps are among the most heavily used products because we, as you, know that water quality is of great importance to most Cape residents. We are at the center of a growing movement and consensus that is driving local efforts to improve water quality. Municipal investment in water quality and wastewater treatment has never been higher and APCC played a meaningful role in creating the conditions that spawned these projects.
Our work on educating the public on how to live more harmoniously with nature through use of native plants and moving away from chemical use on yards and landscapes is central to who and what we are. While there is always work to be done, we are seeing increased interest in educational programming. We invested accordingly in 2024 by increasing the staff efforts devoted to working with our membership on better environmental stewardship.
Above: The Koppel Center to Preserve Cape Cod, almost completed
The year also marked the almost complete transformation of our old barn into what soon will be christened the Koppel Center to Preserve Cape Cod. This new facility will house our water-related programs as well as providing expanded space for educational programming that will allow us to expand our footprint with membership and the public.
Much more happened at APCC in 2024 than space allows me to fully recount, but you get the idea. I firmly believe that many of you support our work because you see APCC as a results-driven organization that works hard day in and day out to make a difference. That is what we strive to be, and I think the record shows that we are pretty good at it. I hope you feel the same and, if you do, please support our work as part of your year-end giving. Donations made at the end of 2024 finance the work we plan to do in 2025.
You can expect to hear more of what we have planned for 2025 when the newsletter starts up again in early January. Until then, thank you for taking this ride with us. Best wishes to all for a happy, healthy and productive 2025.
