Association to Preserve Cape Cod - this week... |
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| Take Control by Andrew Gottlieb, Executive Director
… While you're strolling down the fairway Showing no remorse Glowing from the poisons They've sprayed on your golf course While you're busy sinking birdies And keeping your scorecard
The devil's been busy in your backyard The Traveling Willburys 1990 |
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The summer heat has broken and there has been a smattering of rain and guess what has happened. Typical Cape Cod lawns, those with a mix of clover, moss and multiple grasses have become green again. Heavily manicured lawns reliant on pesticides and fertilizers and mowed short have not come back as quickly because they just don’t belong here in the first place.
What is the lesson? There are many, but most obvious is the landscape that is closest to what is native and likes to grow here does best and supports a healthier environment. With the end of the growing season, it’s a good time to look at your yard and make some decisions about next year. Rather than over-seed with more non-native grasses, think about spreading clover seed to begin to diversify your lawn area. Don’t apply that last application of weedkiller that makes your lawn less resilient and kills the clover and other native plants that want to be in your yard. Rather than fertilize again, build the soil by allowing clippings to fall in place and grind leaves instead of raking them away. A better soil will support better and more robust plant growth without fertilizers that can end up in waterways. Look at your border areas and see where native plants can be added to reduce lawn area and to replace waterhog annuals and non-natives. It’s cheaper now to buy plant stock that will come back in the spring like an old friend.
Fall is a great time to take control of your yard. You and Cape Cod will reap the benefits for years. |
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This is what river restoration looks like. |
One of the primary goals of the Childs River restoration was to remove barriers to fish passage and provide cold water habitat for brook trout. Immediately following completion of construction in 2021, we were already seeing drastically reduced temperatures in the river (median temperatures in July below 60 degrees compared to 65-75 degrees prior to restoration). Brook trout need water temperatures below 70 degrees to thrive and their ideal temperature to support spawning is in the 50s.
Now, one year after construction, we are seeing more brook trout in the upper Childs River, 84 captured in a two-day electro-fish survey completed by MassWildlife biologists this week, including 50 within the restored area. The video, by Steve Hurley of MassWildlife, shows brook trout in the stream seen near the newly installed culvert under Carriage Shop Road. This project, led by the Falmouth Rod and Gun Club, was completed with project management, monitoring and outreach support from APCC as well as collaboration from many other partners and funders.
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Who's a Weed?
One of life’s great questions – what is a weed? You may see this discussion on a Facebook gardening group – "please help identify, friend or foe?” It's not that there isn't value in knowing a plant’s identity and its life habit. As a gardener, it’s good to know whether a plant that shows up on the landscape plays well with others or will take over the property. It’s also good to know if the plant is noxious to touch or will make your child, dog or goat sick if it eats it. But labeling a plant a weed also relays the idea that the plant as worthless. And, with that connotation, the result is to despise, kill, and even wage chemical warfare. This is unfortunate because every plant, if it’s native to the area, has relationships with other organisms, and has a reason for being here. Here's but one example.
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| Goldenrod. If you don’t know how to identify goldenrod, that’s okay. If it’s late summer to early fall, the golden yellow flowers in the field or along the roadside edge or the wild edge of your property are most likely goldenrod.
Thanks to the native plant movement and ecological landscape designers and native plant geeks seeking them out for their managed gardens, the nursery trade has embraced them. There are several kinds of goldenrods, and nature’s creativity applies to goldenrod species. They vary in the arrangement of the florets - compact or delicate plumes. Some goldenrods are petite at two feet or robust at six feet.
An undetermined number of goldenrods are native to New England. Most importantly, goldenrods are not the cause for fall hay fever, but instead are critical pollen providers to migrating monarchs, bumble bees, and a plethora of other insects.
The gall fly is one such example of an insect that depends on goldenrod for its life cycle. The adult fly lays an egg on the plant stem and when hatched, the larva bores into the stem. Due to the chewing of the larva, the plant responds to the irritation by producing a growth around the larva, providing it an overwintering protection and food source. If the larva doesn’t end up as food for a chickadee in the winter months, it will emerge as an adult fly in the spring to start the next generation of gall flies.
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Data collected by DMF, working with cooperating commercial lobster fishers and the Center for Coastal Studies, indicate that dissolved oxygen (DO) levels are decreasing at some locations in the southern half of Cape Cod Bay. Most recent data show levels near the seabed of < 4.0 mg/L in several locations (Figure 1); values less than 4.0 mg/L are considered mildly hypoxic, and values less than 2.0 mg/L are considered severely hypoxic and could result in mortalities of fish and shellfish that are unable to migrate from the low-oxygen areas. Read more...
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Registration's Open! Cape Cod Climate Change Collaborative's 5th Annual Net Zero Conference FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2022 8:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. (virtual)
Register here
This free virtual event will highlight varied climate issues facing the Cape and Islands, with discussions on how YOU can make a difference in such urgent times. NZ-22 conference sessions offer insight, inspiration, resources, and case studies focused on impacts and opportunities for large-scale renewables; energy efficiency and decarbonization tools and incentives; and innovative planning frameworks and resources enabling towns to advance local climate planning initiatives, while acting regionally to meet the climate crisis.
Visit the website for continued updates on the conference agenda, presenters and more! |
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The Jewels of Cape Cod ~ Our Freshwater Ponds
POND STORIES |
News from Save Mashpee-Wakeby Pond Alliance: Swim Event A "Splashing" Success for the Second Year! |
The Save Mashpee-Wakeby Pond Alliance hosted its second annual "Make a Splash" event on Sunday, September 11, to raise awareness of the declining health of the pond and what residents can do about it. Fifteen swimmers embarked from Attaquin Beach in Mashpee, twelve of whom swam the entire 2.5 mile length of the pond, ending at Ryder Beach in Sandwich where the participants gathered for a community picnic. The swimmers were accompanied by kayakers and paddle boarders.
The group held a silent auction to offset the cost of the event. Vice President Meredith Harris designed and created a beautiful stained glass rendering of Mashpee-Wakeby Pond. It was so popular, she agreed to make a second for the two top bidders.
The group of swimmers included David Weeden, Chair of the Mashpee Select Board; Mary Waygan, chair of the Planning Board; Ashley Fisher, director of Natural Resources; and Meredith Harris, a member of the town of Mashpee Sewer Commission. "We are absolutely thrilled with the momentum this event has created and the participation from town leaders," said Susan Dangel, president of the Save Mashpee-Wakeby Pond Alliance. "We've had two cyanobacteria outbreaks on the pond in the past two years and we fear this will now be a regular occurrence. We hope this event motivates others to get involved in our efforts to do everything we can to preserve the health of the pond for generations to come.” You can learn more about the Alliance at SaveMashpeeWakeby.org.
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The Trash Collectors of Wonderland by Susan Baur |
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Julia Benz, Paula Wiseman and Susan Baur |
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“On the count of three!”
Two pairs of legs flipped above the surface of the pond and disappeared. A long moment later, spluttering and panting, two swimmers emerged with a slimy, decomposing truck tire held between them. As if by magic, a green kayak slid into position ready to skewer the tire and ferry it to shore.
“The legs are the signal that I’m needed,” explained Diane Hammer, the garbage collector of the Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage. This is the group of women, from the age of 64 to 82 that has been cleaning up ponds from Falmouth to Brewster this summer.
Founded in 2018 by Susan Baur, a retired psychologist and passionate turtle advocate, the group started in Chatham by cleaning up Goose Pond on a whim. Several ponds in Falmouth followed. Then in 2020, the idea that there is a ready source of adventure as well as balls, cans, lures, tires, boats, docks and lawn chairs in ponds across Cape Cod took hold and the old ladies got to work. Perfecting their technique on every clean-up, the group now enlists the help of town conservation commissions and pond associations to provide kayak support, shore clean-up, garbage disposal, occasionally a small donation, and of course cookies.
“We stagger out of the pond after 90 minutes elated and famished,” Baur explains, “and what better solution than to have a giant pan of hermits on hand or brownies. And water.”
This season, the six swimmers and one garbage collector have undertaken eight clean ups in Dennis, Falmouth, and Brewster. After each, onlookers thank them for undertaking such a slimy, miserable job, but that’s not the way the swimmers see it.
“We get to go on an exciting treasure hunt in a beautiful underwater world,” said one. We are the trash collectors of Wonderland.”
Next spring the group will hold an open house for anyone of any age or gender interested in joining the group or starting a chapter of their own. |
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Pond Stories is a collection of writings and other media from Cape Codders and visitors who love the almost 1,000 local ponds that dot the Cape. We hope this collection of stories awakens your inner environmentalist to think deeper about our human impacts to these unique bodies of water. |
Send us your favorite pond photo, story, poem, video, artwork--we want to share with everyone why the Cape's ponds and lakes are so special! Email your pond connection to [email protected] |
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A Cape Cod Native Plant-finder ~ to help you choose the perfect native plant for your garden location. |
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Bearberry, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi |
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Email [email protected], 482 Main St, Dennis, MA 02638 and we'll send you a CapeCodNativePlants.org decal. |
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APCC Enewsletters. Our weekly newsletters will now be archived on our website and easily shared.
You can find the months of July and August here. | |
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Water Use Restrictions Posted in Your Town?
How about a rain barrel (or two) to harvest rainwater for your garden! |
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APCC Rain Barrel Program $99 includes delivery
to your door via FedEx. Upcycle Products repurposes food barrels, otherwise destined for the landfill, to make these rain barrels. Choose your color - gray, black, blue, or terracotta. For more information and to order online,
CLICK HERE. For a how-to-use video, check this out from Brewster Conservation Trust! |
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Looking for a speaker? Check out APCC's Speakers Bureau. APCC staff speak on a variety of topics and are available by Zoom. If interested, please contact the staff person directly to make arrangements. |
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Are you thinking of going solar? We hope so!
In partnership with SUNPOWER BY E2 SOLAR in Dennis, APCC receives $500 for every solar installation when APCC is named as referral. |
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| Thank you to the homeowners who just contracted to install solar panels through E2 Solar. May the sun always shine for you! |
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| Every cup of coffee you drink could be supporting APCC's work and a local Cape Cod business.
But ONLY if it's Coastal Cape Blend from Cape Cod Coffee!
Order online. A portion of the proceeds for every bag of
Coastal Cape Blend sold is donated to APCC. It's important to know that Cape Cod Coffee sources beans are
Fair Trade & Rainforest Alliance certified, and grown without the use of pesticides. |
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Expressions Gallery, 578 Main Street, Chatham
CLICK HERE |
Ocean to Office. APCC has partnered with EXPRESSIONS, a fine art photography gallery located in Chatham center, to provide Cape businesses the opportunity to beautify their offices with coastal photography while directly supporting protection of our cherished environment. This special offering gives back to APCC. CLICK HERE to learn more. |
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Thank you to our business sponsors |
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