Newsletters

January 2010 - Mystery Stones, Forest Survey

WELCOME TO GREEN FUTURES !
JANUARY 2010

The most alarming of all man's assaults upon the environment is the contamination of air, earth, rivers, and sea with dangerous and even lethal materials. This pollution is for the most part irrecoverable; the chain of evil it initiates not only in the world that must support life but in living tissues is for the most part irreversible. In this now universal contamination of the environment, chemicals are the sinister and little-recognized partners of radiation in changing the very nature of the world--the very nature of its life.
-Rachel Carson

The more we exploit nature, the more our options are reduced, until we have only one: to fight for survival.
-Morris K. Udall

EUREKA!!! We found it! -

Thanks to rock hunter Larry for notifying us of his discovery; thanks to the navigational skills of Jeff; thanks to the keen eyes of Phil; …and thanks to the twenty-seven hardy explorers who took part in the search to find, photograph, measure, compare, and closely examine Mystery Stone IV.

Mystery Stone IV is similar in size to the other three mystery stones. Like Mystery Stone II, Mystery Stone IV does not appear to have any markings on its top surface. Like Mystery Stone I, it is also perched …or propped …on other rocks. Mystery Stone IV is unique in being the only mystery stone resting at an angle. It is also the only one with clearly visible faults in its matrix.

Larry Harrop, the discoverer of Mystery Stone IV, is a lithic enthusiast who scours Rhode Island and adjacent areas looking for and photographing mysterious stone structures and possible ceremonial stone objects from the land’s aboriginal past.
Larry first saw the mystery stones on our website …and went out and found another. He has a very interesting website at www.larryharrop.com.

Any ideas on the intended use of any of the mystery stones? Eagerly waiting to hear your theories. Email them to us at info@greenfutures.org.

FOREST SURVEY -

There are innumerable threats to our public forests here in heavily developed Massachusetts. Everything from tree destroying alien insects and diseases; to clearcutting and other inappropriate logging practices; to acid rain and air pollutant deposition, to erosion and young tree destruction by off-road vehicles and other inappropriate recreational activities; and to ill-conceived plans to destroy entire forests to fuel biomass plants. The state agency in charge has been doing a less than adequate job. That could change.

Here’s a chance to have some input on stewardship of our public forest lands.

The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is seeking comments on their Forest Stewardship Draft Recommendations.

As part of DCR’s Forest Futures Visioning Process, a Technical Steering Committee (TSC) has met over a period of ten months to arrive at a draft version of recommendations that they will make to DCR on forest stewardship.

DCR encourages interested stakeholders to review the recommendations and provide comment. The draft recommendations are located on the DCR website at http://dcr.env.govt.state.ma.us:81/news/publicmeetings/tsc_draft_recommendations.htm The public comment period closes February 22.

There are a number of ways to provide input. These include by email, at public forums and through a simple online survey. Details for each are below.

Written - Comments may be submitted via email to: MODRDCRFFVP@umb.edu

Public Forums - Five public forums will be held across the state between February 4 and 11. Information on dates, times and locations are found at: http://www.mass.gov/dcr/news/publicmeetings/forestryfvpupcoming.htm .

At each of these forums there will be a brief overview of the recommendations, a short time for clarification questions followed by facilitated table discussions where people can discuss their concerns, suggestions, and/or support for the recommendations. The goal is to help advance the dialogue and understanding of the issues, the recommendations and to provide feedback to the Committee for its final deliberations.

This format allows each person to participate and the facilitators will report out to the group as a whole at the end of the forum. All feedback received at the public forums will be captured by scribes and provided to the TSC. It will also be made available for viewing on the DCR Forest Futures Visioning Process website. You may also submit written comments at the meeting.

Survey - A simple online survey is available through a link at: http://www.mass.gov/dcr/news/publicmeetings/tsc_draft_recommendations.htm

The survey asks about level of support for the vision and each recommendation and provides space for brief written comment.

After the comments are received and the results of the forums summarized, the Technical Steering Committee will review them and reconvene to develop its final recommendations which will be submitted to the Commissioner of DCR and the DCR Stewardship Council.