Association to Preserve Cape Cod |
|
|
Cyanobacteria and River Herring |
Due to widespread questions about the effects of cyanobacteria on river herring, APCC staff, Dr. Julie Hambrook and Dr. Jo Ann Muramoto, were asked to give presentations on cyanobacteria at last week’s annual meeting of the River Herring Network in Orleans.
Dr. Hambrook provided an overview of APCC’s cyanobacteria monitoring program and described common cyanobacteria found in Cape Cod ponds. Due to cyanotoxins carried by common cyanobacteria, the widespread occurrence of harmful cyanobacteria blooms is cause for concern for human health and pond health. For herring wardens and others who work in or near ponds and streams that may contain cyanobacteria blooms, she described simple measures to protect against direct skin exposure to cyanotoxins. Julie also introduced APCC’s new Cape Cod Regional Pond Monitoring Program to monitor water quality in 50 ponds for three years. Eighteen of the 50 ponds being monitored provide herring spawning habitat, and many ponds are also monitored by APCC for cyanobacteria.
Dr. Muramoto reported on the results of a 2021 APCC study (“Ponds-to-Sea Study”) to see if juvenile herring feed on cyanobacteria and accumulate cyanotoxins and whether herring runs contain cyanotoxins originating from cyanobacteria blooms in ponds. APCC’s study followed a 2019 report by cyanobacteria scientist Nancy Leland who found that juvenile herring in Lower Mill Pond (Brewster) switched from feeding on zooplankton, their normal food, to feeding on cyanobacteria. The study results from the Stony Brook and Santuit Pond herring runs were “yes” to all of the above questions, and raise concerns about whether herring health is affected by cyanotoxins, food web effects, and more. For this study, APCC worked with Nancy Leland who analyzed cyanotoxins in juvenile herring and stream water samples collected by APCC staff.
The River Herring Network was established in 2011 to facilitate communication among herring wardens and state and federal fisheries officials, academics and herring enthusiasts, support herring wardens in managing herring runs, and document the natural and cultural history of herring runs. The River Herring Network was established with funding from the Massachusetts Bays National Estuary Program, which promotes coastal restoration and protection in coastal communities along Cape Cod Bay, Ipswich Bay and Massachusetts Bay.
|
|
|
| Thanks to Pollinator Pathway for getting the word out! |
|
|
Say NO to Taking Away State & Local Authority to Restrict Pesticides!
Ask your representatives in Congress to oppose the Agricultural Labeling Uniformity Act (H.R. 4288) proposed as part of the 2023 federal Farm Bill, which threatens to undermine local and state authority to protect the health of their residents from pesticides. Although the bill appears to focus on labeling, it contains preemption language that denies any state or locality their right to impose restrictions on dangerous pesticides. Contact your U.S. Senators and House Representative
Over 200 communities and six states, Alaska, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, Hawaii and Vermont, have already enacted pesticide restrictions tougher than federal regulations. These would be nullified. And, for example, legislation such as New York’s Birds and Bees Protection Act and other laws restricting neurotoxic neonicotinoids would be reversed.
The most powerful messages to Congress are those that come from you via email, letter, or a phone call. Find your house representative and your senators. Or, reach them via this one-click action from Beyond Pesticides.
While you have your U.S. senators and House representative on the phone, ask them to support and co-sponsor the Protect America’s Children from Toxic Pesticides Act (S.269), or PACTPA. This bill calls on the EPA to ban many of the most dangerous pesticides, introduce robust protections for farmworkers, and close loopholes that allow the pesticide industry to circumvent important safety reviews.
Each year, the United States uses over a billion pounds of pesticides, or nearly a fifth of worldwide use. Approximately one-third of this use comes from pesticides that are banned in the European Union, such as neonicotinoids.
A recent Brookings Institution report on the EPA and its role in monitoring pesticide use states, “a mounting body of evidence indicates that the agency, long-heralded for its early decision to ban DDT, has evolved into a more timid regulator that has not kept pace with the rest of the world to protect the health of people and wildlife.”
The Center for Biological Diversity has provided a simple form for contacting your senators and congressman/woman about PACTPA. |
Make your voice heard and help protect the Upper Cape Water Supply Reserve from contamination. |
|
|
| Contact Congress and say no to more funds for the proposed multi-purpose machine gun range!
APCC recently told you about the Massachusetts National Guard’s efforts to circumvent the regulatory checks in place to protect the Upper Cape Water Supply Reserve by obtaining construction bids from contractors to build the multipurpose machine gun range. The story was picked up by WCAI and what speaks most loudly is the Guard’s refusal to comment about the revelations made by APCC. If our information was factually in error the Guard would have no doubt said so, but they didn’t. Draw your own conclusions.
|
|
|
Anyone concerned with the preservation of the Upper Cape Water Supply Reserve is encouraged, if you have not already done so, to contact Congressman Keating’s office, Senator Markey’s office and Senator Warren’s office to let them know in your own words that you are opposed to Congress providing additional funds for this project.
Specifically, please ask them to remain vigilant in preventing any additional public funds to be set aside for a project that has been identified by the EPA as a potential significant risk to the Upper Cape Water Supply Reserve. |
|
|
APCC, so thrilled!
APCC's new publication, Guidelines for Cape-friendly Landscapes has a full page in the Fall-Winter edition of Cape Cod & The Islands Magazine, "Closing Reflection." This week, Kristin Andres, APCC education director and Marcy Ford, photographer and illustrator of APCC's book, attended the celebration of the release hosted by the magazine. Marcy's spectacular bird photos are featured in an article, "Backyard Birds," written by Mike O'Connor of Birdwatchers General Store (an APCC Business Leader). And the subject featured on the cover should look familiar to many; it's of Tobey Farm on Route 6A in Dennis! Our sincere thanks to the publisher, Eric Brust-Akdemir, for giving our book such a wonderful plug in what is a most tasteful and engaging publication. Consider picking up your copy when you see that beautiful cover! |
|
|
An APCC publication - Guidelines for Cape-friendly Landscapes |
|
|
|
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. |
|
|
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: Brewster Book Store, Birdwatchers General Store, Crocker Nurseries, Wellfleet Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary, Cape Abilities Farm, Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, the Cape Cod Lavender Farm, and Sea Howl Bookshop.
If you are a retailer and would like to sell this publication at your store, contact Kristin at [email protected]. |
|
|
|
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!
|
|
|
| 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. |
|
|
A Cape Cod Native Plant-selector ~ to help you choose the perfect native plant for your garden location. |
|
|
| Highbush Blueberry Vaccinium corymbosum |
|
|
| 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. |
|
|
| 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. |
|
|
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.
|
|
|
| Thank you to the homeowners who just contracted to install solar panels through E2 Solar. May the sun always shine for you! |
|
|
Expressions Gallery, 578 Main Street, Chatham
CLICK HERE |
Expressions Gallery donates 20 percent of its profits to APCC's work.
|
|
|
Thank you to our business sponsors |
|
|
Our Contact Information *{{Organization Name}}* *{{Organization Address}}* *{{Organization Phone}}* *{{Organization Website}}*
*{{Unsubscribe}}* |
| |
|
|