Hi Friend,
This past Saturday was the first Big Night of spring here in Berkshire County, meaning thousands of salamanders and frogs left their upland overwintering habitat and made their way to their wetland breeding grounds. Many amphibians get killed when their journeys take them across busy roads. But with the help of our volunteers, we ensured the safe crossing of at least 280 spring peepers, 190 wood frogs, 110 spotted salamanders, four eastern newts, three Jefferson salamanders, and one bullfrog this past weekend!
This coming Thursday, March 24th, is looking like it might be another ideal night for amphibian migration. If the conditions are right, we plan to host four crossing stations — one in Monterey, one in Lenox, another in West Stockbridge, and one in the North Adams/Clarksburg area. If you'd like to lend a helping hand to amphibians by joining one of BEAT's crossing brigades, you can sign up by RSVPing to Noah.
Lastly, to safely and efficiently help these critters across roadways, we need bright LED flashlights. If you have any that work well and would be willing to donate one to BEAT, we would be extremely grateful.
Thanks for all you do to protect the environment!
Jane, Rose, Jake, Noah, and Chelsey
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Berkshire County Students Planting Trees to Offset Paper Usage
Cassie Hudson | 22 News WWLP
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"Students at Lenox Memorial Middle and High School are planting a brighter future for their community, tree by tree. For the second year, the environmental club at the Massachusetts school is working together to offset their school’s paper usage by planting trees locally. Last year, the club teamed up with the tree-planting initiative Tree-Plenish, with the mission to replenish the environment with the resources their school has taken. Buyers have a choice between Paper Birch, Sugar Maple, or Flowering Dogwood. Trees are $5 each and includes delivery and planting on April 30th. Orders for trees must be made by March 30. [...] Their goal is to sell at least 150 trees this year, that amount will offset 1.5 years of paper usage at LMMHS, which is roughly 3000 reams or 1.5 million sheets of paper." Read More
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Change to BerkShares Local Currency Exchange Rate
BerkShares, Inc.
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"Beginning Monday, March 21, 2022, BerkShares can be exchanged 1:1 for federal dollars. The BerkShares Board of Trustees believes that this change will enable the participation of a wider range of businesses in the BerkShares local economy. More participation will mean Berkshire citizens will have more places to spend BerkShares. More participation will also mean that businesses accepting BerkShares (B$) will have more places to recirculate them. If businesses need to convert excess B$ back to dollars, a fee of 1.5% will be charged rather than the earlier 5%. This exchange rate is the same as the new mobile payments app. For example, at participating bank locations, you may now acquire B$100 in exchange for $100 USD, and redeem B$100 in exchange for $98.50 USD. Much credit for making the BerkShares program run smoothly goes to the participating local banks: Lee Bank, Pittsfield Co-op Bank, and Salisbury Bank and Trust. These banks have made a remarkable commitment to the idea of a local economy. Please be patient with their tellers as the new exchange rate is put into effect. Credit also goes to the 400 local businesses that accept BerkShares. Their support and creativity have been critical to keeping BerkShares circulating through our community. Over ten million BerkShares have been circulated since the program’s inception in 2006. Increasingly, people are looking to BerkShares as a model for a stable, localized, value-added economy and as an alternative to a slumping national economy. The BerkShares board and staff are committed to growing the project at a sensible rate and to giving the onlookers even more to talk about." Click Here to Learn More
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Carrot Stem Dwellers
Charley Eiseman | Bug Tracks
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" Carrot (Apiaceae: Daucus carota) is native to Europe but widely cultivated and has become a ubiquitous weed in North America (also known as Queen Anne’s lace), so you’d think we’d have a pretty good handle on what bugs eat it by now. You’d be wrong. Black swallowtail caterpillars (Papilionidae: Papilio polyxenes) are well known to feed on a variety of native and nonnative plants in the parsley family, and I often see them munching away on wild carrot leaves in my yard…but I’ve also come across a surprising number of other carrot-feeding insects in my yard that don’t seem to have been documented before." Read More & See Photos
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Federal regulators to reconsider controversial Springfield compressor station
Dharna Noor | Boston Globe
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"Federal regulators will have to reconsider their approval of a controversial plan to expand natural gas infrastructure in the Springfield area, a federal court ruled on Friday. The proposal, put forth by Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, LLC — a subsidiary of the energy giant Kinder Morgan — aims to build 2.1 miles of new gas pipeline and replace two small compressors with a larger unit at its Agawam site. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission — an independent agency that grants permits to build interstate fuel pipelines and compressor stations — approved the plan in 2019 after conducting a necessary environmental review. But Friday’s decision, from the DC Circuit Court, calls that 2019 review into question. The ruling came in response to a 2020 lawsuit filed by environmental groups Food and Water Watch and Berkshire Environmental Action Team, which alleged that the commission had ignored precedent requiring regulators to consider all potential greenhouse gas emissions of proposed pipelines." Read More
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Maine's landfill is meant for in-state waste. Here's how Mass. and N.H. are filling it up
Charley Eichacker | WBUR
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"...'Juniper Ridge Landfill only accepts waste generated in Maine.' That rule — no waste from other states — has been a guiding principle of Maine’s trash laws since the late 1980s. It’s partly why the state even bought Juniper Ridge in 2004. It’s also misleading: Other states have sent hundreds of thousands of tons of construction waste to the state dump over the years. Massachusetts is the biggest exporter of all that wood, brick, asphalt, and other debris, much of which is banned from its own landfills. The imports have accounted for almost a third of what’s buried in Maine’s state landfill in some years. [...] More than 60% of the licensed space at Juniper Ridge has now been used up, according to state records. Along with the steady imports of construction debris, the landfill has received growing amounts of waste from within Maine, including construction materials, household garbage, and sewage sludge. That has nearly doubled the speed at which it’s being filled in recent years, putting it on track for another expansion in six years." Read More
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'I don't know how we'll survive': the farmers facing ruin in America's 'forever chemicals' crisis
Tom Perkins | The Guardian
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"Maine’s disaster from PFAS-contaminated produce is causing farms to close and farmers to face the loss of their livelihoods. [...] Public health advocates say [...] Maine faces a brewing crisis stemming from the use of biosolids as fertilizer. The state has begun investigating more than 700 properties for PFAS contamination. Few results are in yet but several farmers’ independent testing revealed high PFAS levels, and statewide contamination has disrupted about 10 farms. [...] Farmers who spoke with the Guardian say other growers have admitted to hiding PFAS contamination because they fear economic ruin. [...] PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a class of about 9,000 compounds used to make products heat-, water- or stain-resistant. Known as “forever chemicals” because they don’t naturally break down, they have been linked to cancer, thyroid disruption, liver problems, birth defects, immunosuppression, and more. Dozens of industries use PFAS in thousands of consumer products, and often discharge the chemicals into the nation’s sewer system." Read More
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SEC Proposes Landmark Rule Requiring Companies to Tell Investors of Risks Posed by Climate Change
Georgina Gustin | Inside Climate News
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"Public companies will have to report their greenhouse gas emissions and inform investors about the dangers that climate change poses to their businesses under a highly anticipated proposal unveiled Monday by the Securities and Exchange Commission. [...] When finalized after a comment period, the rule would require publicly traded companies to report on the risks they face from extreme weather, including storms or drought, that could damage their businesses. Last year alone, weather-related disasters caused $145 billion in damage, according to NOAA, and that figure is projected to climb as climate change stokes more severe events. Companies’ filings would also have to convey 'transition risks'—including those that companies face as consumers and policies push them toward cleaner energy sources, potentially leaving their fossil fuel assets 'stranded.' If the rule is finalized, companies will have to disclose the short-, medium- and long-term impacts of climate change, as well as any measures they intend to take to mitigate climate effects, such as placing an internal price on carbon, or any targets they’ve set to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, including whether they plan to use carbon offsets. Companies will also have to report their greenhouse gas emissions, including those from their business operations and the energy they consume." Read More
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New Hiking Trails Open in Worthington
Hilltown Land Trust
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"Three miles of hiking trails in Worthington are now officially open to the public, thanks to a partnership between Hilltown Land Trust and MassWildlife.
Hilltown Land Trust’s Conwell property is comprised of 70 acres of forestland in Worthington along Route 112, and includes a small pond, the top of Eagle Nest Ridge, and 0.5 miles of frontage along the Little River. The parking area is on adjacent MassWildlife land and will also serve for people accessing their Hiram H. Fox Wildlife Management Area. 'In addition to sharing a parking area, we are working with MassWildlife to purchase a property to the north in order to expand our trails,' Loomis stated. 'Conserving this land will also help connect parcels of forest land that will provide larger corridors for migrating wildlife.' A wildlife tracking study conducted by The Nature Conservancy determined that the Conwell property is an active wildlife crossing for mink, red fox, and other species moving between the Jackson Brook area to the east and the Department of Fish and Game’s Hiram Fox Wildlife Management Area to the west. [...] People interested in accessing the land can visit www.hilltownlandtrust.org to download a map, get directions, and learn more." Read More
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Preserving the Cape Cod Pine Barren with Fire
Olivia Box | Northern Woodlands
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"...Historically, naturally occurring fires and fires set by indigenous peoples burned through the pine and oak barrens of Cape Cod, allowing fire-dependent plants to reproduce and support animal life in the ecosystem. The arrival of European settlers, changes in land uses including deforestation and agricultural practices, reforestation, and fire suppression over time have led to many overstocked forests that are more susceptible to forest pests and invasive species. [...] Since the 1700s, Massachusetts has lost up to 90 percent of its original pine and oak barrens. These barrens naturally formed on xeric, deep sandy soils of southeastern Massachusetts and the outer Cape and islands, the Connecticut River Valley, and as smaller occurrences along outwash sandy areas, deltas, and truncated terraces of inland river systems. [...] It is estimated that Massachusetts has less than 160,000 acres of pitch pine and oak barrens remaining. Still, the barrens of southeastern Massachusetts, stretching from Plymouth to outer Cape Cod and the islands are some of the largest remaining barrens in the northeastern United States, second only to the New Jersey Pine Barrens. [...] The dry, sandy conditions of the Cape and frequent drought contribute to the fire-prone nature of the pine barrens. Beneath the trees lies a highly specialized understory. Well-managed stands will have open understories of lowbush blueberry, scrub oak, and scattered forbs and grasses. But due to a lack of fire and other management, it’s common to see a dense layer of more shade-tolerant species such as white pine growing in the understory. As these trees continue to grow, they create ladder fuels reaching into the highly flammable and densely stocked pitch pine and oak canopy." Read More
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Massachusetts program seeks to diversity clean energy job opportunities
Sarah Shemkus | Energy News Network
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"A Massachusetts agency is expanding a pilot program to recruit students of color for internships with clean energy companies with the goal of laying the groundwork for more diversity and equity within the sector. This is a great industry with really great paying jobs,' said Tamika Jacques, senior program director for the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, which runs the program. 'We want to make sure that it’s inclusive of all races, no matter where you live or your upbringing'. Massachusetts has long been considered a leader in solar energy policies and adoption, and was ranked the top state for energy efficiency by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy for nine straight years. Now the state is poised to be the first to deploy large-scale offshore wind with the development of the Cape Wind project. As these sectors continue to grow, state officials and environmental justice advocates have emphasized the importance of making sure people of color and low-income populations share in the economic gains the industries promise to deliver." Read More
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Feds roll out plan seeking to replace every lead pipe in New England
Patrick Skahill | Connecticut Public Radio
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"The six New England states will soon receive more than $200 million from the federal government to replace lead pipes in the region’s drinking water system. The allocation is part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which was signed by President Biden last year. The overall law targets $15 billion toward replacing every lead pipe in the country’s drinking water system within the next decade. David Cash, the Environmental Protection Agency’s regional administrator for New England and its ten federally recognized tribes, said the federal government will steer much of the money toward vulnerable and historically disadvantaged communities. 'Connecticut, as well as New England as a whole, has some of the oldest housing stock in the country,” Cash said. 'There’s aging infrastructure including lead pipes carrying drinking water.'" Read More
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Amphibians on the Move
Mary Holland | Naturally Curious
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"...Blue-spotted Salamanders (& hybrids), Four-toed Salamanders, Spotted Salamanders, Eastern Red-backed Salamanders, Eastern Newts, Spring Peepers, and Wood Frogs were among those seen emerging from their hibernacula. Keep your eyes peeled on warm (40°+), rainy evenings and see if you discover a popular amphibian road-crossing location. Check local resources to see if there is a local volunteer group that assists these slow-moving migrants across the road. If not, you could start one yourself – be sure to wear reflective clothing, have a flashlight, and report your findings to a local nature center or conservation organization." Read More
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Milkweed species proves beneficial for monarch conservation
Krishna Ramanujan | Phys.org
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"Researchers have identified a species of milkweed that holds promise for planting on roadsides to improve conservation habitat for migrating monarch butterflies. The study, 'Ecology of Asclepias Brachystephana: A Plant for Roadside and Right-of-Way Management,' published online Feb. 1 in Native Plants Journal, describes how researchers surveyed the poorly studied bract milkweed (Asclepias brachystephana) to document where it grows, which organisms make use of the plant, seed production, and concentrations of milkweed toxins (called cardenolides). The findings verify that the species is a good candidate for planting within roadside or rights-of-way conservation projects. Entomologists have been alarmed by a global drop in insect numbers. Migrating monarchs have not been spared, with loss of habitat and host plants—such as milkweeds for larvae to grow along migratory routes—as potential reasons for the drop in monarch numbers.
As a result, some management projects are replacing invasive grasses previously planted along roadsides and pipelines with native species that feed and provide habitat to insects. 'With over 130 species of milkweed in North America, we are just beginning to understand the biology of the majority of species, which are typically rare or more restricted in their range than the common milkweed (A. syriaca), which dominates the Northeast,' said Anurag Agrawal, the James A. Perkins Professor of Environmental Studies in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the paper's senior author." Read More
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COMMUNITY CALENDAR
We list events from a variety of local and regional organizations and individuals.
Events with BEAT:
FRIDAY, MARCH 25
Community Calendar:
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23
THURSDAY, MARCH 24
FRIDAY, MARCH 25
SATURDAY, MARCH 26
MONDAY, MARCH 28
TUESDAY, MARCH 29
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30
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JOBS
We list jobs related to the environment from a variety of organizations.
Housatonic Valley Association (HVA) | Stockbridge
Trail Crew | | Berkshire Natural Resources Counsel | Pittsfield
EPA Student Interns | New England Regional Office of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
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Environmental Monitor
MARCH 9, 2022
The Environmental Monitor provides information on projects under review by the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) office, recent MEPA decisions of the Secretary of Energy & Environmental Affairs, and public notices from environmental agencies.
Berkshire Index:
Pioneer Valley Index:
Statewide Index:
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Public Notices
Public Notices listed here are from a variety of sources, from town conservation commissions and select boards to state and federal agencies. These listings are for Berkshire, Hampshire, Hampden, and Franklin counties. Listings are only posted if they are environmental in nature. You can find all public notices for Massachusetts here.
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Berkshire Environmental Action Team
20 Chapel St., Pittsfield, MA 01201
(413) 464-9402
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