Sunday, October 15, 2017

SCT Meeting Today at 2 p.m.


The SCT hopes to see you at our annual meeting today.

Our featured guest speaker is Peter Trull. Peter is an educator, author, photographer and wildlife specialist, who will present “The Gray Curtain – The Impact of Seals, Sharks and Commercial Fishing along the Northeast Coast.”

Photo credit:  Peter Trull


WHEN:  2 p.m. TODAY, Sunday, October 15

LOCATION: E. Sandwich Grange Hall, 91 Old County Rd., E. Sandwich




Monday, October 9, 2017

Dr. Shirley Cross

If you haven't read the Broadsider this week, I encourage you to read the story about Dr. Shirley Cross. A box of her botanical drawings were recently discovered and are currently on exhibit at the Green Briar Nature Center.  Shirley Cross is the namesake of Shirley's Woods, a gifted parcel to the Sandwich Conservation Trust.

Dr. Shirley Cross
Photo credit:  Gary Higgins, The Patriot Ledger

Make sure to watch the video of Shirley at the end of the article. 

Sunday, October 8, 2017

SCT Annual Meeting - Sunday, October 15


On Sunday, October 15, 2017 at 2:00 PM the Sandwich Conservation Trust will hold its Annual Meeting with guest speaker Peter Trull, educator, author, photographer and wildlife specialist, who will present “The Gray Curtain – The Impact of Seals, Sharks and Commercial Fishing along the Northeast Coast.” 




This timely program will show, through discussion and vivid photographs, the relationship between commercial fishing, expanding Gray Seal populations, and the occurrence of Great White Sharks along the beaches of Cape Cod and the northeast coast. This "Gray Curtain" has come about after geologic and environmental changes, range expansion of marine mammals, animal migrations and population increases. Each has had an effect on the lives and attitudes of commercial fishermen and Cape residents, and through daily and seasonal changes, some are now accepted as normal. While looking at the history of commercial fishing we realize that there are great transformations taking place that have, and still may, go unnoticed, some unexplained. While fishermen and scientists don't always agree, both have played a role in these dynamic coastal changes. In the minds of many commercial fishermen, the Gray Seal has played a major part. Now, a new charismatic, apex predator has entered the picture and has made its presence known: the Great White Shark. This enlightening, colorful and lively program brings together the main factors that have created the phenomenon of The Gray Curtain.

Over the course of forty years of studying, researching and teaching about wildlife and the environment, Peter Trull has written six books about Cape Cod’s natural history, with a seventh, “The Life of Terns – Birds of Paradox,” just completed. He has been Education Director at both the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History and the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies. Peter presently teaches 7th Grade Science at the Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School in Harwich, MA and holds a Masters Degree in Education.

The meeting will take place at the East Sandwich Grange Hall, 91 Old County Road, East Sandwich, MA. The meeting is open to the public and all are cordially invited to attend. Donations are gratefully accepted to help defray costs for the hall rental and the speaker.

Friday, October 6, 2017

SCT Preserve Maintenance Appeal



P.O. Box 531, East Sandwich, MA 02537
(508) 888-7629 www.sandwichconservationtrust.org


SCT PRESERVE MAINTENANCE APPEAL 
September, 2017

Dear Members and Friends,

Early fall greetings to you, and I hope that within your busy lifestyle you’ve had a chance

to spend some quality time outdoors in Nature, whether in your backyard, or in one of the many great conservation lands in Sandwich. Walking or quiet contemplation in the woods or marsh edge can be a wonderful antidote to many ills! The Sandwich Conservation Trust does its best to preserve and maintain natural areas for you to enjoy.

For this particular letter, the word “maintain” serves as a theme. In the earlier part of our 32 year existence, it may be that “acquisition” was our predominant theme – we wanted to fulfill our purpose of acquiring and preserving land, and we have been reasonably successful – we own 23 parcels totaling 84 acres and hold eight conservation restrictions on privately owned pieces totaling 140 acres - 224 acres of protected land in Sandwich.

Among our holdings are four upland preserves with parking areas and trail systems: Joe’s Woods (Roos Rd.), Elinor’s Woods (Plowed Neck Rd.), Toolas Preserve (Great Island Rd.), and the Osborne-Sherman Conservation Lands (Gully Lane). The last two feature beautiful fields. The Maruca and Ray conservation restrictions are accessible for public use and have extensive trails. I’m sure you can see where I’m going – to keep these fields and trail systems accessible and useful for public enjoyment and recreation we need to maintain them with hand and power tools, tractor and chainsaw.

We are fortunate to have a few volunteers, but members of our Board of Trustees handle much of the trimming and mowing, and occasionally we hire a contractor to help us out when we lack the manpower. The summer of 2017 has been lovely, but the abundant rains seem to have doubled the amount of maintenance needed.

In 2016 the SCT held a special appeal for improvements at the Osborne-Sherman preserve, and you helped us! 42 donors sent over $4000, and we got the work done. With this letter, I’m asking if you can help us again, with the specific goal of maintaining our preserves. We are asking for two kinds of help: financial, for those times when we have to hire a tractor, and, if you can do it, your time with hand tools. Walking a trail with loppers makes a big difference, and it’s not heavy work.


We want to build a group of volunteers who could be called upon once or twice a year for some special project. We have such a list started, but we are finding that people are busy and can’t always respond, therefore we want to increase the numbers of volunteers we can call upon.

Would you please consider helping the SCT maintain its publicly accessible preserves by sending a tax- deductible donation? Could you volunteer to help with trail maintenance?

A return envelope is provided with this mailing. If you wish to volunteer please call vice president Joe Queenan at (508) 833-0861. Thank you!

Sincerely,
John N. Cullity President