Association to Preserve Cape Cod

Photo by Sue Machie

What I'm Thinking...

Advocacy Works!

by Andrew Gottlieb, APCC Executive Director

Sometimes the system, even the U.S. Congress, functions as it was designed to. By now you probably know that an amendment sponsored by Congressman Keating resulted in the full House Armed Services Committee extending the funding for the multipurpose machine gun range (MPMGR) at Fort Devens, while striking from the National Defense Authorization Act a similar extension of the funding for the MPMGR atop the Upper Cape Water Supply Reserve.

The House Armed Services Committee, chaired and under majority Republican control, made the right policy choice by enhancing readiness by funding an instate training facility while avoiding the location critical to the water supply of an entire region. The committee demonstrated what APCC has long said to be true; that the premise that we need to choose between military preparedness and the protection of critical environmental resources and drinking water was an unnecessary and false choice. We can achieve both outcomes at the same time.

The other lesson here is that local political engagement works. APCC often asks our members to contact elected officials and express their interest in environmental protection. If you ever doubted that such contact matters, last week should make you doubt no more. Over 700 people took the time to contact Congressman Keating to express support for the protection of our water resources. I can assure you that the collective weight of your input tipped the scales and was an important contributor toward the positive outcome at the committee hearing.

While there is a lot left to do to hold the ground gained last week, the fundamental dynamics remain the same. Nothing good happens by accident and you will soon be asked again, and repeatedly, to weigh in with the Senate and then with the governor and the Environmental Management Commission. I hope we can count on your voice as we see this through to the end.

NOTE: The state’s Environmental Management Commission (EMC), the entity charged with ensuring that military training activities do not compromise the groundwater or threaten the habitat of the Upper Cape Water Supply Reserve, is meeting this Thursday, May 30th. The EMC is required to meet at least twice a year. This meeting seems designed to satisfy the requirement for the EMC to have met, as the agenda is comprised of updates and shows no planned discussion of, or action on, the proposed multipurpose machine gun range.

Herring Are Still Running; Counts Will Continue Until June 15, 2024

Photo by Gerald Beetham

As of May 24, 2024, volunteers were still counting herring in a number of Cape Cod runs. To date, the cumulative total counts at different runs were as follows:

Note: The reported counts are counts that volunteers entered into APCC’s herring count data entry system at https://apcc.org/our-work/science/community-science/herring/ as of 5/24/24 and have not been reviewed for quality assurance. They are preliminary data not to be used for final counts.

Volunteers are asked to please keep counting until June 15, as some Cape Cod runs have in recent years continued into early June. Please keep up with entering your counts at APCC’s online data entry system HERE. After June 20, we will close the online data entry system to further entries to enable staff to review data before transferring it to DMF.

Please DO NOT mail your hard copies of count forms to APCC this year. And thank you for continuing to count!

Cyanobacteria Monitoring Program News

Our cyanobacteria monitoring map is live for 2024. The program begins in earnest this week and results are displayed on the interactive map. You can sign up for cyanobacteria bloom alerts here - and receive a notice when a bloom is detected.

Hurray, it's 16 days away!

APCC's Annual Native Perennial Sale

Due to construction at APCC's headquarters,

this year's annual plant sale will be a

one day, in person sale - no advance orders.

Friday, June 7th

9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

We will be set up in the parking lot of Bud's Go Karts,

9 Sisson Rd (Route 124) and Route 28, Harwich Port

Oodles of quart size perennials for purchase, representing over 15 species.

See the list here.

$10/qt pot or 12/$100 plus MA sales tax

Still plenty of time to do your research and make your list!

You have 16 days until APCC's plant sale...

Our sincere thanks to our business member and sponsor for our annual native plant sale event - BlueFlax Design, LLC.

APCC Webinar

The Jewels of Cape Cod - Our Freshwater Ponds

Cape Cod Ponds Network

Save the Date!

Next meeting of the CCPN will be in person at

the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, Route 6A, Brewster on

Thursday, August 8th at 6 p.m.

We will have a presentation by Steve Hurley, fish biologist with MA Department of Marine Fisheries.

If you are not already on our email list and would like to attend quarterly Zoom meetings, sign up here. Any questions can be directed to Kristin Andres at kandres@apcc.org or Dr. Julie Hambrook at jhambrook@apcc.org.

Events Hosted by Others

Cape Abilities Farm, Saturday June 1st, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. -

Native Plants & Pollinator Pals. APCC's Kristin Andres will be on hand to sign Guidelines for Cape-friendly Landscapes.

Resilient Roots hosts APCC's education director, Kristin Andres

The 2023 State of the Waters: Cape Cod report content can be viewed on this dedicated website: CapeCodWaters.org

Guidelines for Cape-friendly Landscapes - an APCC publication

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.

Thank you for this important book! Hopefully everyone of us with a yard will read it and put it to use! - Vicky Titcomb of Titcomb Bookshop

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 grateful for the several retail shops that are partnering with us 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, Heritage Museums and Gardens, Titcomb's Bookshop, Sea Howl Bookshop, Soares Flower Garden Nursery, and Eight Cousins Bookshop.

If you are a retailer and would like to sell this publication at your store, contact Kristin at kandres@apcc.org.

You can also view the book's content as a pdf on our website.

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. Please get on the map to show your support of pollinators on Cape Cod!

You can purchase now your 9-inch aluminum Pollinator Pathway Cape Cod sign at Hyannis Country Garden, Crocker Nurseries, Brewster Book Store, Orleans Conservation Trust, and

Cape Abilities Farm.

If you are a retailer, and you would like to sell the signs, you can order online here, or email pollinators@apcc.org.

APCC Merch