Association to Preserve Cape Cod |
Cold Water Creek, Harwich. Photo by Sue Machie |
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| The Creek is Rising by Andrew Gottlieb, APCC Executive Director
While the weather in Mashpee on Sunday was far from the hoped for fall crispness many of us have been anticipating after a very humid summer, it was nothing like what my neighbors in Sandwich were experiencing. Sure, the sky looked a little ominous to the north, but I was shocked by the reports that the Sagamore Bridge was closed due to flooding of the approach roads from heavy rains on Sunday. Combine that with the flood alerts received by my visiting kids for the portions of Somerville where they live and the pictures of utter devastation along Rt. 2 in central Massachusetts from Monday's rain and its increasingly clear that the future of climate change is upon us.
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Equally clear from examples local, national, and global is that our stormwater infrastructure is not designed to handle new precipitation patterns. When undersized and antiquated infrastructure is combined with the destruction of wetlands, designed by nature to give flood waters someplace to go, is it any wonder that the damage to buildings and roads is increasing? The message here is obvious and one ignored at our own peril; we are all vulnerable to loss of property and even life from sudden and severe storms.
The only rational response we can have is to improve the capability of our infrastructure to handle these new storms while also preserving undeveloped wetlands and restoring degraded ones. An approach to climate response that neglects working with nature will be unnecessarily expensive and ultimately a failure. Investing in additional open space protection and wetlands restoration will save the public money in the long run and will enhance our ability to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of the climate changes already in the works.
With a hurricane likely passing just offshore this week, Cape Cod appears poised to survive this latest risk to our collective well-being. But it is inevitable that we will have a storm that makes the flooding of this past weekend look minor. We should be putting the time we have before the next storm to good use by encouraging our towns to pick up the pace of open space protection, strengthen wetlands protection and modernize stormwater infrastructure with an emphasis on the use of green infrastructure like that which APCC has helped numerous towns implement.
Willful ignorance or seeking higher ground is not a strategy. We need to do better and it is clear what that looks like. |
APCC spent last week completing pre-restoration monitoring of the Scorton Creek salt marsh in Sandwich (upstream and downstream of Jones Lane). We monitored and mapped the location of big cord grass, Spartina cyanosuroides (a state threatened species) and observed several salt marsh sparrows (a species of special concern) as well as other salt marsh gems like salt marsh asters, coffee bean snails, and nests of marsh wrens.
This work is being funded by the Cape Cod Conservation District and is part of the NRCS funded Cape Cod Water Resources Restoration Project. A better understanding of the current status of the marsh will help determine the impact of restoration once planning is complete and the undersized culvert under Jones Lane is replaced. |
Above: Eliza Fitzgerald, APCC restoration technician. Photo by Gerald Beetham |
Above: Jordan Mora, APCC restoration ecologist. |
Above: April Wobst, APCC restoration ecologist. Photo by Gerald Beetham |
Large pools on the salt marsh platform like this will be monitored to track change over time with sea level rise and restoration. |
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Take a hike and look for late season flowering native plants, such as these! |
APCC Cyanobacteria Monitoring Program ~ Pond group volunteers make our program possible! |
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Ron Essig at Smalls Pond, Brewster. |
| Jon Duggan and Steve Shervanian at Cedar Pond, Orleans. |
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Carolyn Auty and John Smith at Crystal Lake, Orleans. |
APCC is Hiring: A Fulltime, Year-round Position |
Cyanobacteria Science Coordinator: APCC seeks an experienced project manager to manage the sample analysis, interpretation, and reporting of results for APCC’s Cyanobacteria Monitoring Program. The cyanobacteria science coordinator is responsible for ensuring the overall scientific quality of the program through oversight of sample collection, analyses, interpretation, and reporting of monitoring results, and communicating results and other information to municipal officials, agencies, organizations, and the public in an accurate clear manner. The position is fulltime, year-round, salaried with benefits. For the full description, click here. To apply, email a cover letter and resume to Dr. Julie Hambrook at: [email protected]
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An APCC publication - Guidelines for Cape-friendly Landscapes |
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The Guidelines gives homeowners steps they can take in the design and maintenance of their properties that will support pollinators and birds, manage stormwater, conserve water, and protect the Cape's water quality.
This 40-page booklet is beautifully illustrated by Marcy Ford with content that is easily digestible and supported by numerous resources for additional learning. |
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We've enjoyed creating it and hope it will help you with ideas to help you steward your piece of Cape Cod and maybe foster an environmental ethic in the decisions we all make in our own managed landscapes. Get your copy here—and maybe one for a friend? |
We are partnering with several retail shops to make this publication more widely available. If you are a retailer and would like to make this publication available at your store, contact Kristin at [email protected]. |
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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 boat 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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| The Jewels of Cape Cod ~ Our Freshwater Ponds |
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Eagle Pond, Cotuit. Photo by Bill Sullivan. |
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] |
Have a favorite pond? Want to connect with others who are active in protecting their ponds? Join the Cape Cod Ponds Network. For more information about past meetings of the Pond Network and to sign up, CLICK HERE.
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APCC has QR code stickers that link to our cyanobacteria webpage. If you'd like one or more to post on or around your pond, request by email to [email protected] |
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| By popular request...
APCC Caps are available for purchase! $25 includes shipping & handling Click here for more information and to order. ~ This is one great way to show your support for APCC's work. |
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A Cape Cod Native Plant-selector ~ to help you choose the perfect native plant for your garden location. |
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| Beach Plum, Prunus maritima |
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Sally Baer's rain barrel! |
| Rain Barrels for Cape Cod
Order online from Upcycle Products $99 each
includes FedEx shipping to your door APCC receives a portion of the proceeds.
For more information, click here. |
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| APCC Enewsletters. Our weekly newsletters are archived on our website and easily shared.
You can find past newsletters and share with your friends to sign up for future enewsletters HERE. |
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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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Expressions Gallery, 578 Main Street, Chatham
CLICK HERE |
Expressions Gallery donates 20 percent of its profits to APCC's work.
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Thank you to our business sponsors |
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