Newsletters

September 2008 - Mushrooms, Peace Haven, Monroe, Wind Power

WELCOME TO GREEN FUTURES!
SEPTEMBER, 2008

"A deep skepticism exists in the electorate about the party's commitment to protecting the environment. Have Republicans abandoned their roots as the party of Theodore Roosevelt, who maintained that government's most important task, with the exception of national security, is to leave posterity a land in better condition than they receive it? The answer must be 'No.' "
-John McCain

“One of the things I draw from the Genesis story is the importance of us being good stewards of the land, of this incredible gift. And I think there have been times where we haven't been, and this is one of those times where we've got to take the warning seriously. And part of what my religious faith teaches me is to take an intergenerational view, to recognize that we are borrowing this planet from our children and our grandchildren. And this is where religious faith and the science of global warming converge: We have to find resources in ourselves to make sacrifices so we don't leave it to the next generation. We've got to be less wasteful, both as a society and in our own individual lives. I think religion can actually bolster our desire to make those sacrifices now. As president, I hope to rally the entire world around the importance of us being good stewards of the land.”
-Barack Obama

"I personally believe that the single most important step we can take to resume a leadership role in international climate-change efforts would be to make real progress toward a domestic emissions-reduction regime. For too long we have abdicated the responsibility to reduce our own emissions, the largest single source of the problem we face today. We have the world's largest economy, with the highest per-capita emissions. Rather than leading by example, we have retreated from international negotiations."
-Joe Biden

“I believe in science and have such great respect for what they are telling us [about climate change]. I'm not going to disagree with the point that they make that mans activities can be attributed to changes.”
-Sarah Palin

New Website

Have you checked out our new look? What do you think?

Although long in coming, good things are worth waiting for. As an all-volunteer organization, it sometimes takes longer than one likes to get things done.

Go to our website, gf.gareworks.com and tell us what you think. Your comments, suggestions …and constructive criticism …always welcomed.
 

Mushrooms

At this time of year …sunny fall days, cool rainy nights …mushrooms appear almost magically in New England woodlands, fields and back yards. Are you curious about these fungal manifestations? Wondering why all the fuss about wild mushrooms? Would you like to know more?

The Boston Mycological Club (BMC) is offering an “Edible Wild Mushroom” class October 6 at 7 p.m. The class will consist of reviewing some common edible mushrooms in our area, with tips on cooking and preserving them.

$10.00 per person for BMC members, $15.00 for non-members. You may join the BMC at the time of class registration. For a membership application or for more information on the BMC, go to www.bostonmycologicalclub.org.

Class will be held at the Harvard Herbaria Conference Room, 22 Divinity Ave., Cambridge, Ma.
 

Peace Haven

As part of the effort to save a significant portion of the historic Peace Haven site we have compiled a report on the biological and historical importance of that area and distributed it to political leaders and others who may be interested and capable of aiding in facilitating a strategy to acquire and preserve that open space parcel.

Here is the introductory statement from that report-

THE IMPORTANCE OF PEACE HAVEN
  (Over 10,000 years of human habitation)

Known since Colonial times as Peace Haven, the land lying along the Taunton River from Barnaby's Cove north to the confluence of the Assonet and Taunton Rivers has been continuously inhabited by man for over 10,000 years ago. It is unique in that archaeological excavations, extending over 70 years, by Roy Athearn and his associates resulted in the discovery of Paleo-Indian settlements at Peace Haven dating from just after the receding of the glaciers at the end of the last ice age.

Peace Haven is one of the few locations in New England with such a long unbroken human record. Peace Haven's proximity to major shellfish beds, anadromous fish runs, extensive system of inter-connecting waterways for easy travel, fertile slopes oriented to the southwest and sheltered position in the Taunton River valley provided ideal habitat for human settlement. Whether during the Paleolithic, Archaic, Historic or Industrial eras, Peace Haven has always been able to provide its inhabitants with more than just the basic necessities of life.

Peace Haven is considered one of the most thoroughly documented archeological sites in the Commonwealth and one of the most significant. The site has been the subject of many articles in the Journal of the Massachusetts Archeological Society and other publications on archeology. Some of the many artifacts unearthed at the site are on display at the Somerset Historical Society and recorded with the Massachusetts Historical Commission.

Peace Haven also includes one of the most significant geological features in the area remaining from the past Ice Age, a large intact esker.

Eskers are elongated serpentine ridges, many reaching over thirty feet in height. They were formed when fissures and crevasses in glacial ice allowed melt water through forming streams beneath the glacier that over thousands of years deposited layers of sand and gravel and boulders.

When the glacier eventually melts way, esker formations are reveled. Since locally occurring eskers have been exploited for their gravel deposits over the last hundred years, most have been stripped of their gravel, turned into gravel pits and thus destroyed.

Peace Haven was also the site of one of the key incidents that resulted in the start of King Philip's War. On July 19, 1675, following opening hostilities between Wampanoags and the English settlers in Swansea, King Philip and Weetamoe fought the English in the battle of the Great Pocasset Cedar Swamp. Many English casualties resulted, allowing the Wampanoag warriors to escape by traveling along the west side of Watuppa Pond and then down an old Indian trail that the English settlers called Mowry path. Mowry Path terminated at Winslow's Point at Peace haven, where and Indian operated ferry was located. Philip, Weetamoe and their warriors were ferried across the Taunton River which allowed their advance toward central Massachusetts where they joined with some Nipmuc and thus began what is known today as King Philip's War.

The escape from Winslow's Point was the last opportunity for the English to avoid war. Had King Philip and Weetamoe been intercepted at Winslow's Point, the Indian uprising would have been ended and the course of New England history changed dramatically.

On August 3, 1676, Weetamoe, who had remained loyal to Philip throughout the war, drowned in the lower Taunton River, just south of Peace Haven, while trying to escape the Taunton Militia. She was found dead on the Somerset shore.

Peace Haven is also rich in natural history. The biological diversity of Peace Haven, as we've already noted, is the reason for the continuing presence of humans for the past 12,000 years. Some of the bounty …oysters, soft shell clams, quahogs, blue crabs, eels, striped bass and white perch are still found there today. Ospreys still patrol the river and wintering bald eagles are becoming more than an occasional visitor. The endangered Atlantic sturgeon prowls the deeper holes in the river and two Massachusetts “species of special concern” …the diamondback terrapin is retuning to the salt marshes and spotted turtles are becoming more frequent in the freshwater areas of upper Hathaway's Cove.

The salt marshes and uplands at Barnaby's Cove are well vegetated and contain many indigenous species. There are some exemplary stands of sassafras and white oak along the peninsula.

Commercial, industrial and residential growth is at an all time high in southeastern Massachusetts. As a result not only wildlife habitats and open space recreational lands are being put in jeopardy, but historical sites are increasingly being threatened and destroyed.

Many parcels may be suited for continued development. However, every so often, certain properties are slated for development that are exceptional in their biological and historical scope and value. Peace Haven is one of these sites.

The Stop and Shop warehouse facility and other future Churchill & Banks development projects could result in the total loss of the Peace Haven site, destroying its historical and ecological treasure forever.

We recognize the imperative for development, but also realize Peace Haven is unique and that it has qualities that belong to all of us. Surely, development can occur, but the most environmentally unique and historically significant pieces can be saved.

Churchill & Banks understand that. In a letter to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, Churchill & Banks states their support for open space preservation of environmentally sensitive land at Peace Haven. They also endorse an ecopassage corridor, for wildlife crossing, under Route 24 that will link the Peace Haven site, on their property, to the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve.

The Massachusetts Highway Department has agreed to the necessity of providing a passage for wildlife under Route 24.

The Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve is a large area of open space land of exceptional environmental value. It lies just east of the Peace Haven site and would benefit from the Peace Haven acquisition. Peace Haven and the Taunton River are integral habitat units presently lacking representation in the Bioreserve. Their inclusion makes more complete the full range of coastal forest and shore ecosystem preservation inherent in the intent that resulted in the creation of the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve.

As you may be aware, the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve protects, restores and enhances the biological diversity and ecological integrity of a large-scale ecosystem with diverse natural communities representative of the region. The Bioreserve permanently protects public water supplies and cultural resources and offers opportunities for interpretive and educational programs communicating the value and significance of complete ecosystem preservation. It also provides opportunities for appropriate public use and enjoyment of our natural environment.

The Peace Haven green link to the Bioreserve and the accompanying ecopassage not only adds a new ecosystem to the Bioreserve but assures wildlife migration opportunities, provides access for walkers and also allows the imagination to relive 12,000 years of human history and such notable events as the flight of King Philip and Weetamoe on that fateful day in 1675.

Fine Chemical, formerly Polaroid, property borders Barnaby's Cove on the south and is part of Peace Haven. The high banks and mature woodland edge of this section must be protected to ensure the integrity of the cove and the esker peninsula.

Peace Haven's location on the shores of the Taunton River also gives it extraordinary scenic beauty and is important to eco-tourism initiatives should the river receive federal designation as a Wild and Scenic River. The Wild and Scenic River study is presently ongoing from the Taunton's headwaters to its mouth at Mount Hope Bay.

When complete, this important project will serve as a model of how to advance economic development while protecting open space, historic resources, wildlife routes and unique ecosystems.

What a wonderful gift to future generations.

“In the end, our society will be defined not only by what we create, but by what we refuse to destroy.”
- John Sawhill
 

Big Trees

A couple of us recently spent a few days exploring the northern edge of the Hoosac Range in the northern Berkshires of western Massachusetts.

Although the flora and fauna are similar to what we have here along the coast, they do have a few bits of mega-fauna our overly developed and populated home area lacks.

Black bear and moose evidence was abundant and we did see both species on their native turf. Although truly not “old growth” …there were amazingly large specimens of black cherry, sugar maple, white pine and hemlock in the Monroe State Forest and adjacent areas.

The population of Monroe, Massachusetts, hovers around 90. The latest census found 678 Homo sapiens in the neighboring town of Florida. At times, it was hard to believe we were still in Massachusetts.

Here is the description of the Monroe State Forest from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Forests and Parks website:

“Wild and rugged Monroe State Forest has deep valleys, steep mountains and tall trees reaching for the sky. To view this forested landscape with valley-filled fog is an unforgettable experience. A hike to the top of Spruce Mountain or to CCC-built Raycroft Lookout offers magnificent panoramas of the surrounding Hoosac and Green Mountains and Deerfield River. From the parking area off River Road, hike the Dunbar Brook Trail through shaded stands of old-growth Eastern Hemlock and associated northern hardwood trees. This pristine brook tumbles and drops 700 vertical feet in two miles, over huge moss-covered boulders forming entrancing waterfalls, rapids and pools.

The forest has reclaimed much of the farmland and pastures that previously existed here in the 1800s. Only cellar holes and stone walls remain; stark memorials to the rugged individuals who once wrested a living from this rocky soil.”
Sound inviting? Take a hike and let us know what you see.
 

Wind power

It has been distressing to see respected environmental educational and advocacy organizations …local, regional, and national …falling all over themselves to endorse wind power anywhere and everywhere. Often these endorsements have come before aesthetic …and more importantly environmental …impacts have even been determined.

Things done hastily often turn out poorly and although we endorse wind power and other alternative forms of energy production we believe the wise approach is to go slow and especially …when it comes to our already much abused environment …do no harm!

A few years ago it was unfortunate to see some local groups and individual enviros, that we admire, jump on the bandwagon to endorse the Cape Wind proposal …and then suddenly watch these same folks do a 180 when energy development scoundrel Jay Cashman proposed erecting giant wind turbines closer to their turf in Buzzards Bay.

Alternative energy technology is developing rapidly …and would develop even faster if alternative energy funding was not being wasted on a multitude of dead-end “clean coal” research and development projects. There just ain't no such thing as “clean” coal, but BIG COAL has convinced enough politicians to think otherwise.

If our leaders in Washington really wanted to wean us off fossil fuels they would immediately provide the funding, recruit the top alternative energy experts in the world, and embark on a quest …similar in intensity to what was done with the Manhattan Project and the effort to put a man on the moon …to have the majority of our energy needs met by alternatives within ten years.

Just this week there were a number of news articles on new European offshore wind farms …20 to 50 miles offshore …where the winds are stronger and more sustained, the windmills environmentally benign …and importantly not visible from resort areas or coastal beaches.

Okay then, let's tax BIG OIL, GAS and COAL and use those funds solely for development of true environmentally friendly alternative energy sources (wind, solar, hydro, tidal, wave action, geo-thermal, etc). Recruit the best alternative energy experts. Give them the tools and resources they need. Give them a deadline.

Now that's something we can enthusiastically endorse!
 

Autumn

The great seasonal wheel continues to turn. Summer has slipped away and autumn has taken its place. What a wonderful time of the year to live in New England. Peruse our particularly abundant Calendar for autumnal things to do.

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