Newsletters
October 2012 - Brayton Pt, MESA, Weasel, Comm. Pres. Act
WELCOME TO GREEN FUTURES !
OCTOBER, 2012
“The Endangered Species Act is the strongest and most effective tool we have to repair the environmental harm that is causing a species to decline. “
- Norm Dicks
“It is a drastic mistake to eliminate the provisions that have to do with the protection of habitat for endangered species. It is my opinion that the Endangered Species Act is 99 percent about protecting critical habitat.”
- Jim Saxton
DON’T BLAME US – Yes, still too BIG and too dirty, but it is the fracken gas that is to blame!
For Sale!
Dominion, owner of the huge and ugly Brayton Point Power Plant has placed a “for sale” sign on the largest fossil fuel fired power plant in New England.
Many local nincompoops and third-string talk show hosts have been blaming “environmentalists” for this development. Well, don’t blame us!
The decision to sell Brayton Point has nothing to do with environmental protests, local, regional or national, against the burning of dirty coal.
Dominion is selling, at this time, because coal is no longer the cheapest fuel to burn to make steam to spin a turbine. This past year only 6% of electricity used in homes and businesses in New England came from the burning of coal.
Gas is so cheap, at the present time, and there is so much of it being produced domestically, that the BIG energy companies are liquefying it and shipping the resultant LNG overseas. In a few years we’ll be wondering where all our gas went.
The next owner of Brayton Point will either burn dirty coal or retrofit the facility and burn slightly less dirty gas.
The power plant that became Brayton Point Power originally was intended for a site near deep water close to the mouth of Narragansett Bay. Jamestown and Newport wanted no part of it. Fall River and Somerset lobbied for it and welcomed it with open arms, despite the fact that it was too large and filthy a facility to site so far inland close to urban neighborhoods containing thousands of people. When Brayton Point opened in 1962 foolish area political leaders and chamber-of-commerce types celebrated what their neighbors down the bay were happy to be rid of. Scant thought was given to the harm Brayton Point would do to the ecology of shallow Mount Hope Bay and the air pollution, particulate matter and heavy metals it would shower down on all of us.
If Dominion’s selling price is right, some energy company will buy. The battle will continue.
Read about the sale here: http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/bottom_line/2012/09/dominion-power-plant.html
For info. on clean coal: http://www.coal-is-clean.com/
SAVING MESA – Protecting our natural heritage since enactment in 1990.
Three or four years ago William Pepin, general manager of WWLP television station in Springfield, was thwarted in his attempt to circumvent regulations intended to protect endangered species.
Pepin wants to build a house on a 30+ acre parcel in Hampden, Massachusetts, that is listed as eastern box turtle habitat. Eastern box turtles are a terrestrial turtle species and listed by the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program (NHESP) as a “Species of Special Concern.”
When informed that he would have to mitigate for box turtle impacts in order to proceed with development Pepin became angry and called NHESP a “rogue agency” and that they were out to stop development.
In Massachusetts, the third most heavily populated state, the box turtle population has plummeted due to human development and road building. For more information on the Massachusetts box turtle and its perilous plight, go here: http://www.greenfutures.org/?content=rc6sWx5QMpQ8jNYG. Few large blocks of viable box turtle habitat remain, but this is about a lot more than just a single turtle species.
On the losing end of legal challenges, popular and powerful and a big political donor to numerous elected officials …at least in the Connecticut River Valley …a disgruntled Pepin, wanting to have his way with the piece of land that he “owned,” turned to his local state representatives and senator. Mr. Joe Average would probably have been ignored, but not William Pepin. The result of his meeting with his legislators was the filing of the so-called “Pepin Bill” in the legislature. The intent of the bill was to gut the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act (MESA) and neuter NHESP.
MESA protects the biological diversity of Massachusetts and ensures that our native plant and animal species will remain a part of our common wealth. NHESP reviews proposed developments to make sure they do not harm endangered or rare species nor destroy the habitat they need to survive. Each year, only a tiny minority of proposed projects require MESA permitting.
The Pepin issue has attracted the attention of like-minded environmental neanderthals who would love nothing more than to be able to ignore environmental laws and regulations while developing and paving over every last square inch of the state. Damn those other species that live on land we want to develop!
Unscrupulous development interests are also using the issue of the moment, the weak economy, to blame MESA for high unemployment by preventing development. When called on these accusations the accusers could not cite one example where MESA prevented jobs or development on the less than 10% of projects that triggered a MESA filing.
Like Pepin, many of us like to think we own the Earth, but we do not. The same chemical elements that make up the human body make up the Earth. We and all other species come from the Earth. If anything, the Earth owns us!
“Owners” we are not, but stewards we can be. We should strive to be the best stewards of the Earth we can be in the very limited time we spend on this planet. We’ve all heard the old saying, “We don’t own the Earth, we borrow it from our children.” An Earth bereft of all other species is a terrible legacy to leave to those that follow.
When was the last time you saw these native species: Labrador duck, heath hen, sea mink, great auk or passenger pigeons by the millions “that blocked out the sun?”
You haven’t? Neither have we. They all became extinct during European colonization of New England. At current levels of species extinction scientists estimate we will lose 50% to 60% of the Earth’s species by the end of this century if corrective actions are not taken now!
“Pepin’s Bill” is a bill that never should have been considered. Haven’t we learned anything from the natural resource excesses of past generations?
Fortunately Pepin’s attempts went nowhere in the past legislative session. Unfortunately, we have heard that Pepin toadie Senator Gale Candaras plans to refile the noxious bill when the legislature reconvenes in January.
We will issue an “alert” and ask you to please oppose this misguided legislation should that happen. Stay tuned!
To find your state representatives and senator, go here: http://www.greenfutures.org/?content=TbF6Vx3Enr1hbrJ7
BIORESERVE FAUNA OF THE MONTH – Long-tailed Weasel (Mustela frenata)
"I'm a mean old grumpy weasel and if I had my way, I'd have rabbit meat for breakfast, every single day!"
- The Lively Little Rabbit – Ariane – Golden Press, 1943
Our local weasels are much more than “grumpy!” If long-tailed weasels were the size of Labrador retrievers no one would venture into area woodlands. These weasels are fearless and aggressive. When attacked by a predator or even mildly annoyed they will snarl, hiss, spit, bite, claw and …like their skunk relatives …spray odoriferous musk from anal glands.
Long-tailed weasels are highly efficient predators. Only 12 to 22 inches long and weighing a mere 3 to 9 ounces they can quickly kill a 3 pound cottontail rabbit or 4 pound snowshoe hare. They accomplish this by springing upon their intended victim’s back, wrapping their legs around its body, and quickly sinking their large canines into the base of its skull.
This “grumpy” long-tailed weasel managed to wedge its head through a piece of old rabbit hutch wire. Showing no fear, it was ready to attack anyone and anything. Successfully freed, after great effort, it bounded off into the woods for fifteen or twenty feet before looking back to give us one last angry look.
Long-tailed weasels feed on a wide variety of small woodland creatures. Mice, rats, voles, shrews, chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits, hares, muskrats, birds and their eggs, fish, frogs, salamanders, snakes, turtles and a wide variety of insects in summer are all part of the weasel’s diet. They not only hunt on land, but climb trees and inspect hollows searching for bird nests. Weasels are also good swimmers. Weasels hunt both day and night.
After making a kill the long-tailed weasel laps up the blood and then eats until sated. Any remaining morsels are cached in burrows where it makes its den.
In our area long-tailed weasel dens are often in and under old stone walls. They also den in burrows under logs, stumps and logging debris.
On a dark night this past April two of us were out in the SMB, on the west slope of Copicut Hill, checking vernal pools for spotted salamanders and other obligate vernal pool species. Our flashlight beam picked up two green eye reflecting back from a small mammal boldly approaching. It was an agitated long-tailed weasel and it darted here and there as it followed us down the trail.
On our return a half hour later, walking back down that same woods road, out from the brush came that persistent weasel approaching within fifteen feet. Later, thinking about this weasel’s bold actions and discussing the weasel’s odd behavior with others we concluded its den, with newborn kits, must have been very close to the edge of that trail.
Dens have multiple entrances and the nesting chamber is lined with dried grass and leaves. Some weasels incorporate the fur of their victims in their nest construction.
Long-tailed weasels have dense coats of short fur. Both sexes are similarly colored, brown on back extending down legs and white extending from under the chin, down chest to base of tail. The tail is brown with a black tip. Male weasels are larger than females.
In northern New England long-tailed weasels shed their brown summer coats in the fall and grow a new white winter pelage. In southern New England they often remain brown all year long. In the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve (SMB) they remain brown throughout the year.
Long-tailed weasels mate during the summer months and the weasel kits, usually four to eight, are born the following spring.
The kits grow rapidly during the summer and by autumn they leave their natal den and set off to find a territory of their own.
BIORESERVE FLORA OF THE MONTH – Rattlesnake Plantain Orchid (Goodyera pubescens)
After the pink lady’s slipper, the rattlesnake plantain is the most common orchid found in our eastern woodlands.
Rattlesnake plantain is perennial and evergreen. Its attractively variegated leaves are hard to miss and grow from basal rosettes. The reticulated leaves bear a resemblance to the pattern on timber rattlesnake skin, thus giving this plant its “rattlesnake” moniker.
The second part of its name comes from the shape of the large oval leaves that resemble the leaves of the alien English plantain, a plain ubiquitous plant that grows in similar basal rosette form. The English plantain grows on disturbed ground and poorly kept lawns and even from sidewalk cracks.
Rattlesnake plantain grows best in shady oak and pine forests from acidic, well-drained soil rich in organic material. It prefers damp soil and does not do well in excessively wet or dry ground.
In some forests and woodlands rattlesnake plantain has suffered from overzealous collecting. Their evergreen leaves have been used in Christmas and winter displays and some gardeners transplant them from the wild into their home gardens. Others have plantknapped specimens for use in home terrariums.
Rattlesnake plantain and other wild orchids are exceedingly slow growing and rarely thrive under domestication. Many have symbiotic relationships with soil fungi and cannot survive if transplanted to an area that does not contain their fungal partner.
Our native orchids should not be taken from the wild. Enjoy them where they are found.
In late July to early August tiny white orchid blossoms bloom on 6 to 12 inch stems that rise from the center of each leafy rosette. The flowers are pollinated by small forest bees.
The range of the rattlesnake plantain is from Oklahoma and the eastern edge of the Great Plains to the Atlantic coast and from northern Quebec to Florida, west along the Gulf of Mexico to Mississippi.
Probably because of the belief in the “Doctrine of Signatures” Indians and early European explorers and settlers used a poultice of rattlesnake plantain for snake bites. If little venom was injected, a healthy person was bitten, or the bite was from a non-poisonous species, recovery likely occurred.
Indians did use the chopped and macerated leaves somewhat more effectively to treat skin irritations and minor burns.
Small colony of rattlesnake plantain orchids in the SMB.
The miniature orchid shaped flowers of the rattlesnake plantain.
EXPLORING THE SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS BIORESERVE – September’s “mystery” walk.
On a beautiful early fall day we recently hiked to three of the four mystery stones that have been found in the Bioreserve. Unfortunately, two of the four are now on Fall River industrial land that was part of the land swap to create the Bioreserve. Hopefully, should development threaten, the two stones no longer on protected open space land will be fully examined by professional archaeologists and remain where they are or, if they must be moved, carefully transported to a safe location at either of the Bioreserve gateway and contact areas in Freetown or Fall River.
Read about the mystery stone walk in the Healthy City Fall River e-newsletter, here:http://www.gfrpartners.com/12MysteryStoneWalk.html
For information on Healthy City Fall River, go here: http://www.gfrpartners.com/HealthyCity-cover.html
CPA – COMMUNITY PRESERVATION ACT – Fall River CPA Referendum
Fall River will be voting on whether or not to adopt the CPA on November 6th.
The CPA, Fall River, would raise $1 million dollars annually for parks, recreation, open space, historic preservation and neighborhood stabilization and the $1 million could be used to match another $1million to $10 million in additional state and federal funds.
In Fall River there are many preservation and open space projects needing these funds. One example of a project that the park/open space portion of CPA funds could be used for would be creation of a park along the shore of South Watuppa Pond in an area of the city lacking parkland.
South Watuppa is a 1,300+/- acre “Great Pond” that is almost completely surrounded by residential and commercial development. The only public area is the state boat ramp at the end of Jefferson Street.
Our plan, designed by Al Lima, would turn a blighted industrial area and trash-strewn, spent gravel pit into an attractive lakeside urban park that would improve the existing industrial area making it more attractive to business and industry and also improve the quality of life for residents in surrounding neighborhoods.
CPA could be what Fall River needs most.
For more on the history of the Fall River’s Bleachery, go here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_River_Bleachery
More info on Fall River CPA? Go here: www.fallrivercpa.net
GOING A LITTLE NUTTY – Beating the squirrels at their own game!
September and October are great foraging months to tromp around area woodlands looking for nuts and fungi.
A hundred and fifty years ago, before all the electronic and other distractions of today, folks would form “nutting parties” in the fall and go off into neighboring woodlots searching for chestnuts, hazelnuts, hickory nuts, black walnuts and butternuts. These were all-day affairs complete with picnic baskets filled with sandwiches, dessert and drinks. Nuts gathered would be set out at Christmas or used in various recipes during the winter season.
Not many people go nutting today, but some do and many more go afield gathering fall mushrooms.
Give it a try. Get a basket, some snacks, maybe a field guide or two ...and step back to a simpler time gathering what Mother Nature provides.
Nuts are familiar to most. Mushrooms should only be picked if you are absolutely sure you know what you are picking.
If you’re new to fungi you might want to take a class or learn from expert mushroom foragers. Here’s a link for that sort of stuff: http://www.bostonmycologicalclub.org/
American hazelnut husks on left, nuts on right. – Liz Garant photo
Delicious hen-of-the-woods mushrooms. Sometimes found fresh in supermarkets or in powdered form as nutritional supplements under their Japanese name “maitake.”
OCTOBER – Do it NOW!!!
If you haven’t spent much time out in your natural environment in 2012 you’d better do it now! October is the perfect New England month to make up your “time spent outdoors” deficit.
October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came-
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand ……
And, you are invited!
For meetings and events click on our Calendar.
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