Association to Preserve Cape Cod - this week... |
Low Tide. Photo by Sue Machie |
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Troubling Times by Andrew Gottlieb, APCC Executive Director
By the time you read this, the votes will be in and mostly counted. I fear, however, that little will be resolved, and not because of the inevitable claims of election fraud we have already been told will be asserted. Nothing will be resolved because the issues that define the political chasms in America don’t lend themselves to resolution. Americans today live in dueling universes and experience life in competing realities. The perspectives today are divided among many fault lines; urban vs rural, education level, religion, race, income, and divergent views of personal liberty, just to name a few.
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If competing realities were not hard enough to bridge, the sobering truth is that the politics of the day reward candidates who play up our differences and punish those who seek to narrow them. Perhaps that was always true to a degree, but we now have the very real prospect of violence as an accepted means of expressing political grievance added to the mix. Not since the '60s has political violence been so front and center as part of the political landscape. While risking a charge of recency bias, it seems to me that at least in the '60s the political leadership on both sides saw violence as an illegitimate expression of political grievance. Admittedly, I was seven when the '60s ended so others may have a more informed first-person impression of the era. What I do know now is that it feels to me that violence is at the top of some political to-do lists and is an active part of the strategy some have in place to grab and retain power.
The implications of all of this are beyond my ability to fully comprehend, but it’s clear that part of the result is that important work is not being done. Go no further than the sobering headlines emerging from the global climate conference. Globally, we are falling far short of meeting the carbon reduction targets. That’s an obvious result of our collective inability to act on a consensus view of what is in our collective best interests. Climate inaction is just one example of many that jeopardize our ability to preserve Cape Cod.
If I had the answers to solving the problems that are fracturing this country, I would offer them up, but I am largely at a loss. That said, ignoring a problem only serves to perpetuate it, so I encourage you to think more about politics in America. It’s our only way forward. |
APCC’s Cyanobacteria Monitoring Program Concludes for 2022
This week marks the end of the 2022 monitoring season for APCC’s Cyanobacteria Monitoring Program. Between Memorial Day and mid-November, APCC works in partnership with county and town officials, pond groups, and residents to conduct biweekly to weekly cyanobacteria monitoring in freshwater ponds across Cape Cod. In 2022, over 130 sampling sites were monitored for cyanobacteria across Cape Cod with all 15 towns included in this program. This year, town health officials posted recreational use advisories due to cyanobacteria concerns at 24 ponds across Cape Cod.
The goals of APCC’s Cyanobacteria Monitoring Program are the following: raise public awareness of the health and ecological risks posed by cyanobacteria blooms; help inform proper responses to cyanobacteria concerns in order to promote public health; monitor priority ponds across the Cape; and motivate public action to address the causes of harmful cyanobacteria blooms (HCB) by improving water quality.
APCC thanks all the town, county, and state officials, as well as the pond groups and citizen scientists who contributed to this program in 2022. In particular, APCC thanks the following citizen scientist teams for their assistance in sample collection throughout the season: Marty Burke, Chuck Madanksy, and Ron Essig with the Brewster Ponds Coalition team; Judy McDowell with the Falmouth Water Stewards team; Sarge Slicer and Sue Machie with the Friends of Chatham Waterways team; Chris Dennis and Nancy Horn with the Friends of Peters Pond team; the Gstalders and Buckleys with the Gull Pond Area Conservation Association; Jamie Demas with the Orleans Pond Coalition team; and APCC volunteer Scott Kania.
We thank our remaining two interns, Lynn Francis and Meri Ratzel, who are approaching the conclusion of their time with APCC for this year. Lynn and Meri have each gone above and beyond for this program, contributing greatly to its growth and our ability to meet our obligations in a busy summer. We also thank once more our summer interns: Brooke Withers, Chiara Nava, Leah Stucke, and Taylor Lanxon. Our program has benefitted from a fantastic team this year and we are all thankful for their efforts.
Thank you all for following along this season and we look forward to continuing this crucial work in 2023! |
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Enjoy the Colors of the Season!
Photo by Sue Machie |
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Herring River Restoration Project Moves into Construction Phase by Carole Ridley |
Above: Aerial view of Cape Cod Bay, Wellfleet Harbor, the "Gut", the Chequessett Neck Road Dike, and the Herring River
After two decades of planning, the vision of a restored Herring River is closer to reality as the project surpassed multiple milestones toward the start of construction.
The town of Wellfleet and Cape Cod National Seashore have obtained environmental permits needed for Phase 1 of the tidal restoration. Phase 1 will restore tidal flow to 570 acres and includes construction of all tidal control infrastructure needed for full restoration of 890 acres.
The town also secured $49 million in state and federal funding, including $27,200,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service and $22,670,000 Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game, Division of Ecological Restoration. The grants provide full funding for construction of a new bridge and sluice gate structure to replace the existing dike at Chequessett Neck Road, as well as other project elements.
The significance of these events was underscored during an August visit by Senator Elizabeth Warren, who was joined by Congressman William Keating, State Representative Sarah Peake and State Senator Julian Cyr. Senator Warren, who worked with Senator Ed Markey and Congressman Keating to secure federal funding, praised the local, state and federal partnership. The senator called the project “powerfully important” and a model for effective government action to repair the environment, create economic opportunity and enhance climate resilience.
Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Beth Card and Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Ron Amidon visited Wellfleet to celebrate the award of state funds and applaud the project’s climate resilience impact. U.S. EPA Regional Director David Cash and NOAA Deputy Assistant Administrator Sam Rauch also toured the project. The town advertised a competitive construction bid to replace the existing dike and culverts with a new bridge and sluice gates and is expected to execute a construction contract this fall, setting the stage for mobilization of construction in this calendar year. The town will also use a portion of state and federal funds to hire an Owner’s Project Representative to provide staff and technical support to the town DPW throughout the multi-year construction period. |
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Learn all about pollinators from the experts in this weekly series on Fridays at 10 a.m., courtesy of Ohio University. Here's a recording of last Friday's webinar with Matthew Shepherd of the Xerces Society. To register for the next webinar (it's free), click here. |
Be Part of Pollinator Pathway Cape Cod
Our resident Cape Cod pollinators need some support. Even now is a great time to start planning how you can enhance your yard for pollinators.
1. Create your winter garden now! If perennials and grasses are left in their natural state when they go dormant, in their own way, they provide just as much beauty in fall and winter months. Leaving seed heads and grasses standing offer a variety of textures and movement with the wind for an attractive winter garden, while at the same time offering cover and food for insects and birds.
2. Leave the leaves, leave the stems, leave the seeds. Those fallen leaves help protect the soil, give winter protection to queen bees and other insects. If you feel a need to wrangle them, rake them into your garden beds and around the base of trees, or corral them to make leaf mulch compost. If you're trying to maintain a lawn area, mulch mow so the leaf matter remains on the lawn to recycle nutrients. The stems can be valuable overwintering places for insects that support local food webs. Keep any seed heads still intact because they are also beneficial, especially to winter birds.
3. Reduce your lawn area. You can start small by planning to expand an existing planting bed. Give it one last mow and lay down some cardboard over the grass and mulch with compost and leaves. It will be ready to plant in the spring. For a video on sheet mulching, click here.
4. Go shopping. Some of our nurseries are having sales on plants right now. There's still time to get things in the ground here on the Cape. But before you head to the store, take a native plant list for pollinators with you, so you can avoid impulse purchases of plants that are not the best for supporting pollinators. Maybe you'd like to grow your own. Wild Seed Project has a terrific selection of native perennial seeds, and this non-profit, based in Maine, also provides you all the planting instructions!
5. Get your neighborhood or civic group involved. Maybe you've got a community space that would be a great place to showcase some plants for pollinators. The winter is the time to organize and plan what could be a fun project for you and your neighbors and help build the pollinator pathway across Cape Cod.
6. Learn more. There's always more to learn about plants, pollinators and nature! Check out these online resources: Xerces Society, Tufts Pollinator Initiative, Pollinator Pathway.
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The Pollinator Pathway Cape Cod is a group of organizations promoting native plants and pollinator-friendly land care practices to create a load of safe oases for our native bees, butterflies and a whole host of other pollinators that are crucial to the health of our ecosystems. Join us! It's easy. There are no fees. You just need to pledge to ADD native plants, SUBTRACT a little lawn, AVOID yard chemicals, especially pesticides, and LEAVE the leaves. And, help us spread the word. If you wish, please get on the map to show your support of pollinators!
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Above - long-horned bee © Heather Holm |
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Whoops! This little bee was incorrectly labeled in last week's email as a leafcutter bee. In fact, it is one of the long-horned bees - Melissodes druiellus. Thanks to Wellfleet Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary's Science Director Mark Faherty for bringing the flub to our attention. To see other amazing photos of wild bees and wasps, check out Heather Holm's website. |
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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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The Jewels of Cape Cod ~ Our Freshwater Ponds |
Nyes Pond, Falmouth. Photo courtesy of Alison Leschen. |
Pond Stories is a collection of writings and other media from Cape Codders and visitors who love the 890 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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| Arrowwood Viburnum - Viburnum dentatum
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APCC Enewsletters. Our weekly newsletters will now be archived on our website and easily shared.
You can find past newsletters starting in July 2022 here.
Share this with your friends and they can sign up 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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Rick & Joan's rain barrel |
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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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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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