Adams says yes to a Lenox developer's $15 million Greylock Glen campground proposal

Scott Stafford | The Berkshire Eagle

". . . A proposal from a Berkshire County real estate developer, Lenox-based Shared Estates, has been accepted by the Select Board to build out a 23-acre campground planned for the Greylock Glen. It is the first private investment in the Glen plan — and the developer proposes intriguing features and amenities for the campground. The investment will run $12 million to $15 million to build out and would be able to house 267 people at any one time by renting out a variety of structures. There will be 35 cabins with five beds each, 19 'Mirror Houses' — which have reflective surfaces as siding — that have two beds each, nine Airstream trailers with four beds each, and nine tented campsites with two beds each. It comes to a total of 72 structures. [...] The plan is to open in the fall of 2024, with construction starting in next summer. The decision comes as work continues on an outdoor recreation center at the Glen, funding by the state and town." Read More

***BEAT IS KEEPING A CLOSE EYE ON THIS PROJECT! Mirrored and glass in buildings are one of the leading causes of bird mortality. According to U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, on average, about 600 million birds are killed this way each year in the United States alone. BEAT feels that mirrored or glass buildings, even with special UV coatings, can be a big threat to many species of wildlife. Not to mention that these buildings do not fit the definition of “rustic cabins” as stated in the master plan for the Greylock Glen site. 

Mass Audubon's Picture This: Your Great Outdoors 2022 Photo Contest Winners

Mass Audubon

"The 2022 contest was a hit with over 7,000 entries! Each image was reviewed carefully by our team and after much deliberation, we are happy to announce the winners of the 2022 photo contest. Congratulations to all the winners, and thanks again to everyone who participated!" See More Photos

Australia rejects forest biomass in first blow to wood pellet industry

Justin Catanoso | Mongabay

"On December 15, Australia became the first major economy worldwide to reverse itself on its renewable classification for woody biomass burned to make energy. Under the nation’s new policy, wood harvested from native forests and burned to produce energy cannot be classified as a renewable energy source. That decision comes as the U.S., Canada, Eastern Europe, Vietnam and other forest nations continue gearing up to harvest their woodlands to make massive amounts of wood pellets, in order to supply biomass-fired power plants in the UK, EU, Japan, South Korea and elsewhere. In the EU, forest advocates continue with last-ditch lobbying efforts to have woody biomass stripped of its renewable energy designation, and end the ongoing practice of providing large subsidies to the biomass industry for wood pellets. Science has found that biomass burning releases more carbon dioxide emissions per unit of energy produced than coal. Australia’s decision, and the EU’s continued commitment to biomass, creates a conundrum for policymakers: How can major economies have different definitions of renewable energy when it comes to biomass?" Read More

McCann School Committee Give Go-Ahead on New HVAC Program

Brian Rhodes | iBerkshires

"After getting a grant from the state worth more than $3.1 million, McCann Technical School has already begun setting up its new heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration program. 'There's a whole lot of fun parts of this, daunting yet it may be. But it's such an exciting thing to do,' Superintendent James Brosnan told the school committee on Monday. The committee approved the program at its meeting Monday and authorized Brosnan to seek engineering help for the proposed 5,580 square-foot HVAC building. The program would provide training to an estimated 100 students each year." Read More

HVA Receives Capacity Grant to Help Protect Vast Wildlife Corridor

Housatonic Valley Association | Press Release

"The John T. and Jane A. Wiederhold Foundation, a supporting fund of the Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation, Inc., has awarded the Housatonic Valley Association (HVA) a $30,000 Habitat, Land, and Environmental Protection Grant for its Follow the Forest conservation initiative. The grant will allow HVA and its conservation partners in Northwest Connecticut and beyond to redouble their efforts to protect one of the most significant wildlife habitat corridors in the eastern United States. [...] 'Follow the Forest is our very own Yellowstone to Yukon, and it has the same Continental-scale importance for wildlife,' said HVA’s Director of Regional Land Conservation Tim Abbott. Follow the Forest identifies a forested wildlife corridor that connects the lower Hudson Valley to the Litchfield Hills and the Berkshires, Abbott said, and then continues to the Green Mountains, the Adirondacks, and Canada. This biologically diverse landscape supports scores of rare and threatened wildlife species, anchored by a network of forested uplands and the places in between, such as riverbanks, fields and even culverts and bridges where wildlife need to pass in safety. Such animals include small and mid-sized mammals, interior nesting migratory songbirds, and wide-ranging species like the young male moose that wandered over fifty miles during a five-day period last September between Woodbury Connecticut and Peekskill New York, Abbott said. HVA was able to document the route taken by that moose through social media, an example of how Follow the Forest integrates community science with the latest predictive modeling." Read More

The world is struggling to figure out conservation. First Nations have some ideas.

Chris Arsenault | Grist

"As nearly 200 countries struggle to negotiate a new plan for nature conservation at the United Nations’ Biodiversity Conference in Montreal, Canada, known as COP15, Indigenous-led guardian programs in Canada may offer tangible successes in protecting crucial lands and waterways. Representatives from around the world are aiming to hammer out a new agreement on a number of issues, a critical one being the preservation of at least 30 percent of the planet’s land and water resources by 2030, a plan known as '30×30', to create protected areas and halt ecosystem and biodiversity loss. [...] Many scientists, and some governments, say the best way to meet the 30×30 goal involves working with Indigenous communities to expand formal protected areas on their lands. Recommendations include the recognition of ownership, and management or governing rights to traditional lands, which often coincide with better conservation outcomes. According to estimates by the ICCA Consortium, an equity in conservation organization, 30 percent of land on Earth is already conserved if Indigenous lands are taken into account, and Indigenous communities conserve an estimated 80 percent of Earth’s remaining biodiversity." Read More