10 Nov, 2016 Author: administrator
Finding a path to put almost 600 acres of land into conservation in a way that will insure a publicly accessible future takes patience and a lot of work! As this summer sped by, I was remiss in not updating this site regarding our progress.
Valley View from Mars, Nov. 2016
Today, the the active construction of Tidmarsh East wetland restoration more or less complete, and the the healing trajectory is underway! For this we are grateful to many people including: Alex Hackman of Mass Fish & Game's Division of Ecological Restoration whose passion, knowledge and talent guided the oversight of restoration actions - well done! Inter-Fluve, whose design specifications and oversite were critical; special thanks to Nick Nelson who travelled many miles around the site by bicycle checking every detail. Travis and Chad Sumner who with their team of skilled and dedicated machine operators from SumCo Eco-Contracting realized the design; you are the best! Our funding partners without whom we could not have made this journey: here we extend special thanks to USDA Natural Resources Conservation Services Wetland Reserve Program, especially Beth Schreier and Helen Castles; the US Fish and Wildlife Service, especially Eric Derleth; NOAA especially Eric Hutchins; David Gould and Kim Tower of Plymouth's Department of Marine and Environmental Affairs; and many others. We also thank our neighbors, friends and supporters; we appreciate your patience and support. Finally our Living Observatory partners especially our superb greenhouse team, Irina Kadis and Alexey Zinojvej of Salicicola.com and Claire and Emma Esterman. This landscape modification could not have happened without all of you you!
However, we have not reached the end of this journey. We now turn our energy to the goal of transitioning the ownership of the property, so that the almost 600 acres of land right here in Manomet will become publicly accessible. As many of you know, Mass Audubon has set the goal of purchasing Tidmarsh East and turning it into MassAudubon'sTidmarsh Wildlife Sanctuary. The theme of the sanctuary is "Welcoming Nature's Return". Here is a video of their pitch. If you can help or know someone who can help make this a reality, please send them to MassAudbon.org/tidmarsh.
Meanwhile, the scientist, artists, engineers and others working with Living Observatoryare busy keeping a detailed record of the changes that have and will occur on the property. While the property itself is still closed to the public, you can follow the property today using applications provided by a team at the MIT Media Lab. These include a window of current sensor data, time lapse movies, a virtual tidmarsh in which sensor data drives musical compositions. Also you can sign up for Halsey Burgund's BogPeople, an application in which you can hear many past voices of the property. Beginning this spring, we will be building several volunteer activiites including: an annual herring count, invasive species watch, native seed collection, and helping out in the native plant nursery. If you are interested in joining us as a regular volunteer, please send your info toinfo@livingobservatory.org