Seas around the Vineyard are rising slightly faster than the global average and Island planners should prepare for significant sea level rise by the end of the century, a new climate change report has found.
The Vineyard Conservation Society report examines the effects of climate change on the Martha’s Vineyard and its surroundings.
The Vineyard Conservation Society, an organization charged with promoting environmental advocacy and education, will hold its annual meeting Wednesday at the Wakeman Conservation Center in Vineyard Haven. Members will elect a new set of officers and hear presentations on rising sea level and moth and insect habitats on the Island.
From the Chappaquiddick Point to the cranberry bogs in Aquinnah, new forecasts show that no part of the Island will be immune from the impacts of sea level rise.
The following maps show the sea level rise on Martha’s Vineyard that is predicted based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s high forecast for greenhouse gas emissions and numerous other analyses. These forecasts are also used for the state’s Climate Change Adaptation Report (2011) and the Martha's Vineyard Commission’s planning work.
A large tract of rare and secluded oceanfront land owned by the Kennedy family in Aquinnah has been placed on the market for sale.
Two undeveloped lots totaling 93 acres from the 377-acre Red Gate Farm were listed for sale this week. One lot is about 53.5 acres, fronting the Atlantic Ocean, with an asking price of $25 million. The second lot is 39.5 acres with more than 1,000 feet of frontage on Squibnocket Pond, deeded beach access off Moshup Trail and an asking price of $20 million.
April 22, 1970, the very first Earth Day, dawned pure and clear on the Vineyard. “One might almost have thought all the brouhaha about Earth Day was nonsense, and unnecessary . . . but by 5:30 p.m . . . it was evident that the Vineyard was far from unlittered,” a Gazette story said at the time.
Bob Woodruff and a group of about 60 others, including many high school students, collected more than 3,000 pounds of litter that day, hauling Mr. Woodruff’s oxcart along the roads of the Island and picking up all debris and trash in its path.
On Saturday, March 9, the partnership of the Vineyard Conservation Society and the MV Film Society will host its next Green on Screen event, a series of films that explore and bring attention to environmental issues. This time; everything you ever wanted to know about biophilic design but were afraid to ask.
Take a look at a Vineyard book shelf and you’re likely to find The History of Martha’s Vineyard by Charles Banks or Moraine to Marsh by Anne Hale. For conservationists, Aldo Leopold’s book A Sand County Almanac published in 1949 is equally iconic. “I think anybody can be inspired by what he wrote,” Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation director Adam Moore said this week. “It’s one of the key pieces of literature in our environmental history in this country.”
The following was submitted as testimony for the Martha’s Vineyard Commission public hearing on its development of regional impact checklist.
The Vineyard Conservation Society is an advocacy organization. Our focus is on environmental, land use, and growth and development issues on this Island. We have over 1,000 seasonal and year-round members, and we have been doing this work for nearly 50 years.
What I am here to advocate for this evening is some version of tightened plan review for high-impact residential development.
The Vineyard Conservation Society (VCS) will begin its program of guided winter walks this Sunday, Nov. 11, with an interpretative hike around the agricultural land and outwash plain at Katama Farm. The walk takes place from 1 to 3 p.m.
This year’s winter walks embrace the theme of historic land usage crossroads and feature properties where possible crises were averted with the help of VCS.
At Katama Farm, the community united to prevent development that could have resulted in hundreds of building lots.
