Wed, Sept 26, 2007
4:30 pm, West Tisbury library, State Rd. With Chris Wiley. Free. 508-693-3366.

Wed, Sept 26, 2007
6:30 pm, Vineyard Haven library, Main St. Evening lecture series. Nan Doty leads weekly workshop to create plan to reduce your CO2 footprint. Save money and save energy. Last in the series. Pre-register at the circulation desk: 508-696-4211.

Thurs, Sept 27, 2007
5-6 pm, Aquinnah library, 1 Church St. Tim Boland, executive director of Polly Hill Arboretum. Last of series. 508-645-2314.

Sat, Sept 29, 2007
From 9 a.m. to noon, rain or shine, meets at the Regional High School’s faculty parking lot. Explore the Vineyard’s woodlands, meadows and beaches to learn about bird identification, ecology and behavior. For details, call 508-693-4908. Cost is $25 per person.

Sun, Sept 30, 2007
12 noon-3 pm, Community Solar Greenhouse, New York Ave., Oak Bluffs. 20th annual fest. Linda Jean's soup, music by Vineyard Brass; spinning demonstrations; plants, jams, produce, baked goods sale; Trifles and Treasures sale; and more. Free admission and parking (across the street).

Monday—Friday
Kayak Quest
9:00 am - 1:30 pm, (Schedule for up to 2.5 hours)
Enjoy Sengekontacket at your own pace on this self-guided tour. The Quest clues will help you uncover the story of the pond’s people, places, and wildlife. Your Quest ends after you find the hidden Quest box. Kayaks, paddles, lifejackets and Quest materials are all included.Fee: $30 Mass Audubon Members, $40 Non-Member per boat (all equipment included) Registration suggested - call for availability

Mon, Sept 24,
Guided Kayak Tour
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm Join a naturalist on an exciting kayak adventure. Paddle by Sarson’s Island to see nesting shorebirds. Watch American oystercatchers, cormorants and yellowlegs feed. Enter the salt marsh and search for great blue herons and egrets. All trips focus on the natural history of saltwater communities found on Martha’s Vineyard. Ages 11 and up with an adult. Fee: $28 Mass Audubon Members, $35 Non-Member per person Registration required

Tues, Sept 25
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, Sustainable Book Club
7:00 pm
West Tisbury Library Please join this island-wide book group, reading and discussing books that examine our relationship with nature. The group is sponsored by all six-island libraries, Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary, Polly Hill Arboretum and The Vineyard Conservation Society. FREE

Tues, Sept 25
Paddle by Moonlight
6:00 - 8:00 pm
See Sengekontacket in a new light, moonlight, as we celebrate the Harvest Moon. With a guide, you will kayak on the pond as the moon rises and sparkles on the water. Fee: $32 Mass Audubon Members, $39 Non-Member per person Ages 11 and up with an adult. Registration required.

Wed, Sept. 26
Moonrise Meander
6:15 sharp
Felix Neck shines under the moonlight! Join us to greet the full moon rising over Sengekontacket Pond as the sun sets over the marsh and fields behind you. Felix Neck's trails provide the views and Suzan Bellincampi will be your guide on this brisk early evening walk. Dress for the weather and bring a flashlight. Fee: $4 Mass Audubon Members, $8 Non-Member per person

Contact 508-627-4850 x 101 with questions and to register

October 11 & 12, 2007
Woods Hole, MA
The Waterways Group of the Boston Society of Civil Engineers Section/ASCE & the Woods Hole Sea Grant are co-sponsoring a workshop regarding the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Coastal Engineering Manual (CEM).

This two-day program will feature a short course presented by two of the CEM’s primary contributors: Steven Hughes, Ph.D., P.E. and Jeffrey Melby, Ph.D. of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Coastal Hydraulics Laboratory, Vicksburg, MS. Day Two of the workshop will include a morning discussion session and an afternoon field trip to Hull, MA to review ongoing coastal engineering projects which are based on guidance provided in the CEM. Register to attend this meeting and pay by credit card online at www.engineers.org, search for this program under Events. For more information or to register by check please contact: Timothy Hillier, Waterways Group Chairperson at (508-830-1110) or thillier@ocean-coastal.com

On a recent trip to Nantucket I had an opportunity to speak with Whitney Hall, President of Waste Options, the company that manages the recycling and composting center at the island landfill. Having had a very interesting tour of this successfully functioning facility just a year earlier, (see article in Almanac recycling section) I was curious to get an update on the goings on.

Mr. Hall was forthcoming with information regarding the controversy surrounding who would pay for the construction demolition waste. The State recently mandated that such waste be shipped off island due to changes in state law prohibiting landfilling of such materials. Specific terms of the contract that Waste Options had with the town were in dispute. Should the town of Nantucket or Waste Options be responsible for the costs? A lawsuit between the two parties ensued and last April the court ruled in favor of Waste Options.

Go to the recycling section for the rest of the article

The turtle captured it all.

I was on my way to Boston, driving along Route 3 to get to Suffolk University one morning last week, when out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of a turtle at the side of the road, on the edge of the median strip. It was so close to the traffic hurtling by that I immediately worried it would be hit. But by then, I had sped on as well, and there was no opportunity for me to get over or get off the highway and execute a complicated rescue.

http://capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/20070916/LIFE/709160379/-1/NEWS01

Menino mounting bid to make city a bicyclist's dream

Potholes, narrow roads, mean drivers.

Riding a bicycle in Boston is something akin to combat. Cyclists routinely rank the city America's worst.

Stung by national criticism and hoping to take a bite out of traffic and air pollution, Mayor Thomas M. Menino is vowing to change that. A newly converted cyclist himself, Menino will announce today the hiring of a bike czar, former Olympic cyclist Nicole Freedman, and a first phase of improvements to include 250 new bike racks across Boston and an online map system.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/
articles/2007/09/20/pedal_pushing/

Open waters in northern ocean highlight massive melting.

Even for a society jaded by the continual breaking of climate records, the retreat of Arctic ice this year is stunning.

Sea-ice extent — the total number of 25 x 25 kilometer square sections of ocean covered by at least 15% ice — in the Arctic Ocean melts from about 16 million km2 every March to a minimum sometime in September or October, the exact date normally only being evident in retrospect. The US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) says the previous record absolute minimum was 5.32 million km2, set in 2005. This year has already reached 4.14 million km2 — the lowest since records began in the late 1970s.

http://www.nature.com/news/2007/
070917/full/070917-3.html