Almanac Archive
The Conservation Almanac features news, analysis, and commentary on local and global environmental issues. Sign up today!
Looking for past coverage of an issue or location of interest? Try hitting “Control-F” and typing a search term in your browser.
July 24, 2024: Give the Oceans a Break (geoengineering / marine carbon capture); Potential statewide action on plastic bags and updating the Bottle Bill; Ewell Hopkins is Bluedot’s Local Hero; Beach BeFrienders take on Chilmark; “Life List” by Warren Woessner
July 8, 2024: A remembrance of Gus Ben David, including an oral history video clip courtesy of Linsey Lee and the MV Museum; background info for Finding a Better Balance, plus summer screening events with Q&A panels; Beach BeFrienders & Beach Trash Art
June 19, 2024: VCS Annual Meeting; Beach BeFrienders summer schedule and related activities; a new population study of local turtles seeks community input; “The Trip” by Warren Woessner
May 21, 2024: Art and awards from this year’s Art of Conservation student contest; the Nature as Inspiration environmental film festival returns; the 2024 VCS Annual Meeting, featuring a special screening of Finding a Better Balance
May 13, 2024: Standing for Trees — on protecting nature, for nature’s sake; the 2024 Climate Action Fair; the tenth anniversary of the Nature as Inspiration environmental film festival; the Earth Day Beach Clean-Up wrap-up, including trash contest award winners
April 22, 2024: Earth Day Beach Clean-Up edition
April 8, 2024 Town Meeting Edition: Today’s Issues Illuminate Island’s Growing Pains
April 2, 2024: April events, including “The Truth About Sustainability” and more
March 22, 2024: The premiere of the second installment of Ollie Becker’s docu-series on the Great Ponds: Finding a Better Balance
March 13, 2024: The fiftieth anniversary of the MV Commission; A Beach Find Tells a Whale of a Tale (gray whale sighting and eDNA research); premier of the second installment of the Great Ponds film series; Winter Walks wrap up with visit to Edgartown Great Pond; events including Vineyard Lawns and Beach BeFrienders; “Late Winter Walk” by Warren Woessner.
Feb 7, 2024: Rez Williams, Island Conservationist; Talking About Managed Retreat; Quenames Farm history and upcoming Winter Walk; Full Moonrise beach clean-up; meadowmaking lecture
Jan. 23, 2024: (brief update) VCS is hiring a new Director of Advocacy; scenes from Squibnocket Ridge Winter Walk; Beach BeFrienders in Oak Bluffs; “Walking in the Snow” by Warren Woessner.
Jan. 10, 2024: Beach BeFrienders ring in the new year with huge hauls at Squibnocket, Lobsterville, and more; land use and conservation history at Squibnocket Ridge; the benefits of textile recycling and a new dropoff box at the West Tisbury School; and a promising economic policy experiment in pricing groundwater demonstrates the power of media framing to affect public opinion.
Dec. 21, 2023: Year-in-review edition featuring a message from the Executive Director and highlights past and present.
Nov. 29, 2023: Winter Walks at Lagoon Pond (featuring a tour of the MV Shellfish Group hatchery) and Tisbury Great Pond; a possible moratorium on artificial turf prompts reflection on the bigger picture; changes in USDA growing zones and “climate coincidences”; Beach BeFrienders visit Long Point.
Nov. 6, 2023: Winter Walks return with a focus on how land use decisions influence the health of the Island’s coastal ponds; also, Beach BeFrienders update, a new show for the Art of Conservation, and “Scavenger Hunt” by Warren Woessner.
Sept. 18, 2024: Global Climate Change Calls for Local Conservation; highlights of local projects, programs, and events, including the Island-wide Organic Waste Project, Beach BeFrienders clean-ups, a new On Our Watch screening event, and a course on meadow creation.
Aug. 15, 2023: (brief update) State Forest event recap and Gazette coverage; food waste recovery at the Fair; Beach BeFrienders heading to South Beach
Aug. 1, 2023: A walk and talk at the State Forest explores the ecology and geologic history of the Island’s most important conservation property; help wanted at the Ag Fair to maintain progress on waste reduction; new youth education activities at the Fair; Beach BeFrienders at the Inkwell; “Retouching” by Warren Woessner, VCS Poet Laureate
July 17, 2023: Background on Vineyard Lawns, educational events, and an opportunity to bring the message to neighborhood associations; a beach clean-up double feature in Oak Bluffs; recent climate change and energy news, and an unusually personal essay from Bill McKibben elicits thoughts on this rare moment of attention on climate change
June 19, 2023: (Annual Meeting notice) A good piece in the Vineyard Gazette on the proliferation of swimming pools, featuring comments from VCS’s Sam Look; a profile in Bluedot magazine of our own “Local Hero,” Brendan O’Neill
June 8, 2023: (Spring Membership drive) Updates on recent activities including water bottle refill stations, the Climate Action Fair, the Art of Conservation contest, the Earth Day Beach Clean-Up, the new Beach BeFrienders program, and the Memorial Day environmental film festival
May 23, 2023: The ninth annual Nature as Inspiration environmental film festival; selections from the 2023 Art of Conservation, Climate Hope
May 5, 2023: Climate Action Fair, No Mow May, and thanks for the many helping hands who made the Earth Day Beach Clean-Up a success
May 2, 2023: Big news at VCS, as Samantha Look takes the reins following the retirement of Executive Director Brendan O’Neill after 38 years of service
April 19, 2023: The 31st annual Earth Day Beach Clean-Up and the first annual Earth Day Conservation Festival
Mar. 29, 2023: Sandpipers in the State Forest: upcoming Woodcock walk searches for misplaced shorebirds; something in the air: the sky’s the limit for eDNA sampling; electric ferries for a cleaner and quieter boat ride; photos and farm history from our Mermaid Farm walk; volunteers needed for Beach Clean-Up and Lobsterville beachgrass planting
Feb. 9, 2023: Conservation history at Allen Sheep Farm; a home-run swing for island-wide composting; rare earth mining present tough choices between the global climate and local environmental protection; new print newsletter out, featuring one of our favorite Art of Conservation pieces ever
Jan. 11, 2023: Land use and ecological history of the North Shore’s Pilot Hill Farm, including background on the limited development project that resulted in the protection of 40 acres of open space and another 60 kept in active farming, along with contemporaneous coverage in the long-lost weekly paper, The Grapevine and insights into a unique family history from farm historian Patricia Carlet.
Dec. 8, 2022: A return to the Woods Preserve brings a look back at ten years of ecological change since the “defoliation rejuvenation” of the early 2010s; a science talk on microbes and pond ecology; photos from the Squibnocket Ridge Winter Walk.
Nov. 10, 2022: A new season of Winter Walks is announced, including a rare public visit to Squibnocket Ridge; a critical election in Brazil brings newfound optimism for saving what’s left of the Amazon rainforest, and the possibility of climate progress globally.
Sept. 26, 2022: The online premiere of Great Ponds, Episode 1: On Our Watch follows an amazing season of in-person screening events (with more to come!).
August 31, 2022: August calls out a plea to save Martha’s Vineyard; a new PFAS study offers hope for remediation, while illustrating the broader challenge; the MVC’s Climate Action Plan is unveiled; Vineyard student artists lend their talents to illustrating the meaning of climate change; two award-winning entries at the Ag Fair from Wakeman Center colleagues.
July 25, 2022: The story of On Our Watch, the new pond advocacy co-production by TMVFF and VCS; Take Back the Tap with new outdoor refill stations in Vineyard Haven and Edgartown, with many more to come; new initiative Island Eats offers takeout without the trash; an update on two important pieces of legislation advancing in the Mass State House; a call for help to Green the Fair through reducing food waste.
June 21, 2022: (brief update) The 2022 Annual Meeting, featuring the premiere screening event of On Our Watch; an ecological restoration volunteer opportunity
May 24, 2022: (brief update) Winners of the 2022 Art of Conservation; the 8th Nature as Inspiration film festival; and the upcoming Annual Meeting, featuring the premiere of new pond water protection advocacy film, “On Our Watch.”
May 6, 2022: A possible positive resolution to the years-long effort to prevent artificial turf playing fields at the High School; also, the upcoming release of the MVC’s Climate Action Plan, a survey seeking input on the CAP, the Island’s first Climate Action Week, and scenes from the 2022 Earth Day Beach Clean-Up.
April 18, 2022: The return of the Earth Day Beach Clean-up; update on the artificial turf controversy, and a new hearing; West Tisbury’s Big House Bylaw passes at Town Meeting; the PFMV plastic bottle ban goes Island-wide; and a return trip to the depths of McMansion Hell.
March 10, 2022: Conservation history of the Moshup Trail heathlands; Why Moshup Matters; Learning by Listening: GLUBS Offers a Fresh Set of Ears for Study of Marine Life; Environmental DNA Sampling Aids in Early Detection of Invasive Species; Public Hearing on Proposed Big House Bylaw in West Tisbury; Reader Retorts: Keeping it Cool on the Streets (open door air conditioning on Main St. Edgartown); photos from the Katama Farm Winter Walk
Jan. 26, 2022: A proposed “big house bylaw” in West Tisbury; land use and climate change; a Winter Walk at Katama Farm; and “Keep Cool and Carry On”, a look into the link between modern refrigeration and climate change (including a bit of fun with ourdoor air conditioners)
Jan. 6, 2022 (brief update): Upcoming events, including a workshop on Great Pond science and climate change, a “climate cafe” on land use decisions, and a Winter Walk at the Woods Preserve
May 26, 2021: The Nature as Inspiration Environmental Film Festival returns in a hybrid format with nine amazing films.
April 14, 2021: Earth Day edition: an appreciation for the behind the scenes work that makes the annual beach clean-up possible; climate change takes the stage for the MV Museum’s “One Island, Many Voices” series; and a surprising study from Greenland emphasizes why we must take care of our own environment – even when problems seem too global to confront.
April 1, 2021: The Beach Clean-Up is back; more meadows, farms, and fields art to illustrate the conservation story of Allen Sheep Farm; and a bracing winter poem from Ellen Martin Story
March 4, 2021: Meadow, Farms, & Fields: Art and Conservation stories; important steps at the federal level to protect public lands; another plastic grass hearing at the MVC; and, the single most popular linked item in the history of the Almanac.
Feb. 4, 2021: As seas encroach, hopeful signs on the horizon for climate change mitigation; the enormous challenge of America’s excessive food waste; another artificial turf hearing at the MVC; and the return of the Earth Day Beach Clean-Up
Archive in progress – check back for more issues to come!