by John Bliss, Chair of BPTF

Most of us are becoming more aware of the threat from global warming and how much our reliance on the automobile contributes to it.  At the same time, we have been learning that obesity is on the rise, in part because children and adults are walking less and driving more. Newton has a Bicycle and Pedestrian Task Force (BPTF) working to address these problems, by making walking and bicycling safer and more convenient for everyone in the city.

Recently, a national bicycling magazine gave Boston a low grade for bicycle accommodations, while commending Cambridge for its leadership in this area.  Although Newton is not known as being particularly bicycle-friendly, the city has been addressing pedestrian concerns, by publicizing the right of way of pedestrians in unprotected crosswalks and installing “count-down” pedestrian signal lights.

Newton’s population of 80,000 clusters around 13 distinctive village centers, each having a range of stores and services.  Improved conditions for bicycling and walking could enable many more residents to satisfy their shopping, commuting and recreational needs without having to use their cars.  Trips to school on foot or by bicycle would be more enjoyable and healthier for children and reduce the congestion and safety hazards now associated with the common practice of being driven to school.

BPTF has been cooperating with other Boston-area organizations to improve bicycle and pedestrian facilities in the entire metropolitan region, while working with our own city officials to mark heavily-traveled roadways with striped shoulders for cyclists, and encouraging private companies to make it easier for customers and staff to access their locations by bicycle and on foot. 

The Task Force has updated the city’s Greenman-Pedersen, Inc. Bicycle Accommodations Report (2000) and has submitted it to the Department of Public Works to help guide future road projects.  This plan helps the City set priorities for bicycle accommodations required by state law for any road project paid for by state and federal funds.  The accommodations include the four-foot wide striped shoulders on Centre Street between Mill Street and Newton Corner as well as “Share the Road” signs and painted “hybrid lane” symbols designed for congested areas that have been proposed for Walnut Street near the Newton Highlands village center. 

BPTF has worked with Boston College and Newton-Wellesley Hospital to improve bicycle and pedestrian access for students and employees, and has helped the city’s Planning Department set priorities for locating new bicycle racks (to be provided at no cost by the state) in conjunction with road projects.

Newton is one of many communities in the “inner core” area of the Boston region, and BPTF works with the MassBike Metro Boston chapter on issues of common interest.  Most recently, this group helped to prepare a report to the state Dept. of Conservation and Recreation on the deteriorated conditions of the Charles River paths that are used by hundreds of people every day.

In the coming year, BPTF will continue to monitor active road project planning, work with City officials on providing bicycle and pedestrian accommodations to the new Newton North High School, promote the adoption of safe routes to school programs, and work with city officials to improve pedestrian facilities in under-served areas and improve access to all sidewalks in the winter.

The Task Force has public meetings at 7:30 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of each month in the cafeteria of Newton City Hall. The October meeting is on the 24th. Come and share your concerns and ideas about bicycling and walking in Newton or contact me to be added to the email list.  More information: johnsbliss@verizon.net or (617) 244-6495.

By Bruce Wenning

Every fall I get questions from people who are worried about the appearance of mushrooms (toadstools) growing in their lawns and gardens. Some people feel that they are unsightly and sure that their presence indicates that something is wrong. Others welcome these fungi and are delighted when they learn that mushrooms serve an ecological purpose by helping in the decomposition of soil organic matter. Only one caller has mentioned that the mushrooms growing in her garden and lawn added interest as “colorful little plants.”

Mushrooms are fungi. Green plants (trees, shrubs, lawns and garden plants) contain chlorophyll in their leaves, and, by the action of photosynthesis, produce sugars and other compounds from carbon dioxide and water. Mushrooms, on the other hand lack chlorophyll and cannot undergo photosynthesis. They must derive their nutrients from dead plant and animal matter.

How do they do this? Mushrooms colonize organic debris in the soil by hyphae (fine branching tubes). As their hyphae grow and “seek out” organic debris such as buried wood chips, dead roots, pieces of wood, lawn thatch, etc., they gain more mass by branching outward and fusing together forming a larger structure called a mycelium. Mycelium is the body of the fungus and hyphae are its individual components.

As the mycelium moves or grows through the soil by way of multiple growing points, it increases in size as a diffuse, loosely combined fungal mass-producing various enzymes and other chemicals to digest or feed on organic compounds in the soil. Mushrooms and other decomposing fungi are important garden organisms involved with organic matter break down and nutrient recycling. They are welcomed additions to the organically-tended lawn and garden.

Mushrooms are the above ground portion of the underground growing mycelium. Mushrooms are the actual fruiting body or reproductive structure of the fungus. They are the “tip of the iceberg” of the entire fungus. In general, a mushroom is composed of a cap, gills, ring, stalk, cup and root-like extensions (rhizomorphs). Under the cap, spores are produced in the gills for release into the air. Boletes mushrooms release spores from pores instead of gills.

Spores, when released, can be carried by wind, rain, irrigation water from sprinklers, animals, insects and gardening tools that come into contact with the mushroom. For a spore to germinate into hyphae, the right combination of moisture, temperature, and available organic compounds must be present for growth and eventual development to occur. The process from spore to hyphae to a mycelium that produces a mushroom could take weeks to years depending upon the fungal species and environmental conditions.

Fairy rings are groups of mushrooms growing in lawns and pastures that form circular or semi-circular patterns. These mushroom rings occur during spring and fall in all types of grasses when temperatures range between 45 and 65 degrees F. Many species of mushrooms can form fairy rings, however these three species are the most common; Marasmius oreades (small, tan color), Agaricus campestris (edible, sold in grocery stores), and Chlorophyllum molybdites (large, white poisonous).

Fairy rings can vary from a few inches to more than 50 feet in length. The mycelium producing the fairy ring mushrooms can be as deep as eight inches or more, impeding water from reaching turfgrass roots. This is the reason why fairy ring fungi are considered a disease in lawns. Grass is killed inside the ring of mushrooms and grass. The outer ring of mushrooms and grass is alive with the grass exhibiting deep green color and a faster growth rate. This is due to the mushrooms’ decomposing soil organic matter and releasing nutrients to the grass as a natural fertilizer. It is not unusual for a fairy ring to resemble a bulls eye appearance similar to dog urine spots on a lawn. However, dog urine spots lack mushrooms.

Fairy rings spread outward from a few inches to several feet per year. According to Mass Audubon naturalist, Dan McCullough, if the fairy ring mycelium hits a rock, fence post, bird feeder post or some other impeding object, the ring will become interrupted, possibly loosing its circular or semi-circular pattern. Digging out the mushroom-mycelium mass and replacing with good topsoil will help eliminate this problem.

McCullough owns fourteen mushroom field guides and still has problems identifying certain species. He strongly urges the beginner to use caution when looking for edible mushrooms. Identifying mushrooms is not like identifying birds, where one bird guide may cover all the birds in an area. You must use several guides when trying to identify mushrooms and it is strongly advisable to take a class to sharpen your skills.

Bruce Wenning is the horticulturist-grounds manager of the Mass Audubon Society, Habitat sanctuary, Belmont and serves on the Board of Directors of the Ecological Landscaping Association. www.ecolandscaping.org

By Anna Eleria and Rebecca Scibek/Special to the TAB

While this summer was filled with warm, sunny days that encouraged recreation on the Charles River and in its parklands, it also saw an explosive growth of a potentially harmful algae in the Lower Charles. First identified in early August, the fluorescent green algal bloom extended from the Harvard/Massachusetts Avenue Bridge east to the Museum of Science, with dense, floating mats of algae most visible in lagoons, canals and along the river’s edge in Boston and Cambridge. 

Algal blooms have been a problem in the Charles River for years, but this year’

s bloom was remarkable for two reasons. First, it was the first time that the algae bloom was identified – a sample collected in early August was identified as microcystis, a type of blue-green algae that secretes toxins and grows naturally in fresh and estuarine waters. Second, the amount of algae was extremely large. The abundance of algae was due to heavy late spring and early summer rainstorms that brought an enormous influx of nutrients to the river, followed by a period of extremely warm water temperatures, creating perfect conditions for algae growth.

In early August, the density of sampled algae was ten times greater than the moderate health risk threshold designated by the World Health Organization (WHO). Samples taken the second week in September by Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) showed that algae levels had decreased significantly, close to the WHO low health risk threshold. CRWA sent water samples (with algae concentrations slightly above the low health risk probability threshold) to a laboratory at the State University of New York in Syracuse to determine if and how much of the toxin was released by the algae. The results showed that a small, but significant, amount of toxin was present in the water at that time. Exposure to the toxin at that level could lead to short-term health problems such as skin irritations, diarrhea, and nausea. 

To notify the public of the potential hazard, CRWA informed all boathouses involved in the Flagging Program, a daily water quality public notification system, of the algal bloom, and instructed those within the affected area to fly red “do not boat”

flags. DCR posted signs along the river warning people to avoid direct contact with the water. CRWA and state environmental and health agencies are continuing to work together to better monitor and understand the algae issue.

Algae is a natural and critical part of the Charles River ecosystem that provides food for fish and other small aquatic animals. However, too much algae drives the ecosystems out of balance, as it blocks sunlight from underwater plants, creates large day-night swings in oxygen levels in the water, produces scum and odor and may secrete large amounts of toxins. Upon die-off, algae consumes large amounts of oxygen, which can damage or kill fish and plant species that are dependent on dissolved oxygen in the water.

The primary cause of algal blooms in freshwater is excessive phosphorus, a nutrient found in wastewater treatment plant discharges and in stormwater runoff. The single greatest source of nutrients in the Charles River is run-off from high-density residential land, which comprises nearly fifty percent of Newton’s land. Lawn fertilizers, soaps and detergents are the main human sources of phosphorus. Other “natural”

sources of phosphorus from residential areas are decaying leaves, grass clippings, and pet waste, all of which increase the level of algae-inducing nutrients when they flow into the river through storm drains or small streams.

The property management practices of homeowners and municipalities have a dramatic impact of the amount of nutrients flowing into the Charles. Property owners should minimize fertilizer use, use only low phosphorus fertilizers, pick up and dispose of dog waste, and dispose of yard waste properly (not in the street or into storm drains). Cities and towns should minimize the use of fertilizers on public playing fields, parks and landscaped areas, provide yard waste pickup, enforce “pooper-scooper” laws, clean catch basins regularly, and build “green infrastructure”

wherever possible. 

Other factors, such as low river flow volume, warm water temperature and the presence of dams, magnify the impacts of phosphorus and increase algae growth.  CRWA continues to develop science-based solutions to tackle these problems, and to advocate for policies and programs that will help reduce algae levels and ensure cleaner, safer waters for fish, wildlife and the public. 

Anna Eleria is a CRWA Project Manager/Engineer, and Rebecca Scibek is CRWA Volunteer Coordinator.

By Gilbert Woolley

For the past 30 years we have been harangued and implored to reduce use of energy and raw materials: drive less, turn down the thermostat, insulate; recycle paper, cans and bottles; use renewable materials and fuels. These are all necessary and beneficial. But there is one major use of energy that has received little attention: the energy “embedded” in construction materials. This is the energy used to turn wet clay into hard baked bricks, limestone into lime and cement, to melt and process steel, copper and aluminum used in a building. The raw materials for roofing shingles, vinyl siding, cable insulation and plastic piping is derived from oil or natural gas. Even the insulation added to reduce energy losses has an energy content.

To this must be added the energy used to mine the clay, lime and sand, to harvest trees and to transport these materials from mine, quarry and forest to the factories where they are processed, and finally to the construction site.  For a typical house in Massachusetts, this embedded energy may exceed the energy used to heat, cool and light it over a fifteen year period. So, how can some of this energy be saved?

There are significant differences in the energy embedded in various materials. In general, lighter construction embeds less energy than more solid masonry construction.  However, masonry has a much longer potential life and has other advantages, like rot and insect resistance.  In poor countries materials salvaged from demolition of buildings are often recycled, but in the US the cost of labor to separate the wood, cables and pipes from the concrete, plaster and bricks is usually greater than the value of the materials salvaged and the demolition debris is hauled away to a landfill, adding transportation energy and compounding another dilemma of modern life: shortage of landfill space.

The optimal way to save embedded energy (and in the long run to save money) is to make buildings last longer.  Often, demolition is not necessary.  Rooms can be added to houses; factories and warehouses are turned into office space; pricey condos and apartments; unused churches are transformed into restaurants and schools into apartments.  Such re-use by the private sector is usually motivated by cost savings. Local examples show how apparently unpromising buildings can be “recycled”. The computer design and prototype manufacturing workshops of Digital Equipment Corporation were located in a 150-year-old mill in Maynard. This mill was fitted out with the latest methods of communication, including fiber optics cables throughout the million square foot, 21 building complex.  The old windows were double glazed, air-conditioning added and roofs well insulated.  Just over the border from Newton in Watertown, “HighTech” Boston Scientific has refurbished an old water mill on the Charles River.  These old buildings are often better built and have finer esthetics than recent construction.

If you are planning remodeling or an addition to your home, ask your architect to incorporate the existing building into the new design. A building is just a shell and the conveniences of modern life can be added to it. In Europe and Asia, buildings are still in active use that are 500, 1000 and more, years old. Even in the US buildings more than 200 years old can be found at many older universities, such as Harvard, and in historic sites like Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. There are many examples of imaginative use of old buildings, impressive structures that escaped being been torn down in the name of “urban renewal”.

Gilbert Woolley is a retired engineer and longtime member of the Sierra Club.

This article is archived at www.greendecade.org/environmentpage.html

By Eric Olson

You may think maple syrup can only be made by the hardy farmers of Vermont, but my kids learned differently several years ago, when we moved back to New England from Costa Rica.  I had tapped sugar maples while teaching environmental education in Minnesota, so it seemed natural as we settled into our new life in West Newton to scout around for maple trees.  This proved as easy as falling off a log. Our neighbors on the right have a gnarly old sugar maple that may someday grow so big it will displace part of our driveway.  And the neighbors on the left have a towering Acer saccharum (the scientific name) that has grown straight as an arrow for 100 plus years, and is now one of the tallest trees for miles around.  Permission was secured to tap at will, by our first spring in Newton, we were collecting sap and making syrup.

You can do this for under a nickel per tree (not counting the energy cost to run the stove), but first a word of caution.  The growing and consumption of any urban plant foods raises concerns about soil contaminants. Heavy metals like lead and arsenic were used as pesticides in Newton’s apple orchards long ago.  Lead was also an ingredient in gasoline. We were proposing to get sap from big trees right on Watertown Street, aka Route 16.  And just steps away from several houses, where lead was typically used in the paint.  Heavy metals are elements so unlike DDT and most other synthetic chemicals they simply never break down.  Recent research at Dartmouth has confirmed that old orchards now used as suburban housing tracts contain worrisome levels of these chemicals.   

We found a local testing lab to analyze our saps and syrups for residues of these toxins.  The results were favorable — lead was detected, but far below Vermont’s maximum permissible level in maple syrup.  We broke out the pancake mix as soon as we opened the envelope from the lab!  Our results should not be taken as a green light for all of Newton, however, since it is the exact location of orchards that determines the presence of lead in the soil today. Testing is essential. 

Here are the steps involved in sugaring.

First, find a big sugar maple, using a field guide to trees.  Norway maples will not do at all, and silver and red maples make a much less concentrated sap.  Sugar maples are handsome trees with a distinctive leaf shape (think Canadian flag) and big, gray, platy bark. The leaves turn brilliant orange in the fall.

The author’s son Eli Olson presents the two-spout sugar maple on Watertown Street, tapped by the family each spring

Next make a spile.  Take a 3/4 inch dowel, drill a hole about 3 inches deep into one end with a 1/4 inch drill bit, then saw off the drilled piece.  You should have a perfect little wooden tube that you must taper a bit at one end with a sharp knife.  The whittled end must be perfectly round, so you may need to make a few of these before you get it right.  

Now locate a brace and bit (a kind of old drill).  The bit diameter must be a little smaller than the wide end of the dowel, but a little larger than the tapered end.  On an early spring day, sometimes as early as February, when the days are just above 32 F but the nights are still cold, drill a hole no more than three inches deep into the bark of the tree, pointing the bit slightly upwards as you go so that the sap drips out well.  Pick out stray bits of sawdust and bark, and firmly tap in your wooden pipe, but not so hard that you split the bark. The spile must be snug or sap will leak out around it.  About 1 inch of spile should go into the hole, with two inches protruding.  If it’

s warm a few drops of sap will fall from the tube within minutes. Cut a hole in the side of an empty clean one-gallon plastic milk jug, set it on your spile, and secure it snugly with wire around the tree.  Taste the cold sap, a slightly sweet refreshing drink.

Finally, transfer your sap to pots on the stove and boil away for a long while.  Check the Cornell University maple syrup website for details. It takes 40 cups of sap to make one cup of syrup.  Watch closely once the sap boils down and starts to brown, so as not to fill your house with smoke and a charred sugar smell.  Use a candy thermometer. When it’

s syrup, the boiling liquid will make a tan foam of very fine bubbles. If you boil too long at this point you will have maple sugar when it cools—you just need to experiment some.

At best, we get a couple of quarts of syrup from our two weeks of urban sugaring, with two taps in each of those two big trees.  Its not volume that counts, though, but the good fun of getting an amazing sweet food from nature at a time of year when our backyard garden plots are barely emerging from under crusty old snow. 

Sugar maples are found only in the northeastern part of North America as far west as Minnesota, and their range will shift northwards as the planet warms, so enjoy this tradition while you can.

By Susan Bellerose

Much has been written about climate change caused by the build up of carbon dioxide and other “greenhouse” gases that are the by-products of burning fossil fuels such as oil and coal.  Many of us have read about the melting of the polar ice caps, and the increasing incidence of insect-borne diseases and extreme weather-related events such as droughts, floods, fires and hurricanes that have been attributed to global warming.  A less well known but important local by-product of global warming is the reduction in maple syrup production in New England due to the northern migration of forests.

Over the next thirty to fifty years, the optimal growing range for many tree species is expected to migrate northward by as much as 100 to 300 miles to higher altitudes in response to the predicted doubling of greenhouse gases.  Trees can “migrate” to cooler, more tolerable growing climates when their seeds are spread by the wind or by animals.  Trees that have seeds that are spread by birds, such as oak trees, are able to migrate northward at a faster rate than those trees whose seeds are spread by the wind, such as maples.  Some tree species will have difficulty thriving in their current environment but may not be able to migrate quickly enough to survive, which will result in a reduction in biodiversity of both plants and animals.

In the Northeast, warmer, drier winters combined with other factors such as air pollution and pest infestations are putting stress on the sugar maple.  The sugar maple is not able to migrate quickly to adapt to the warmer climate because its seeds are spread by the wind.  Some scientists are hypothesizing that sugar maples may nearly die out in New England over the next century.  This will not only affect the brilliant colors that we see on the mountains in northern New England in the Fall, but will also have consequences for one of America’s favorite foods:  maple syrup. 

We are already seeing the effects of global warming on maple syrup production.  In the 1950’s, the U.S. produced 80% of the world’s maple syrup, and Canada produced the remaining 20%.  Due to climate warming combined with technological changes in how syrup is collected, this ratio has reversed.  Now Canada produces 80% of the world’s maple syrup, and the U.S., primarily New England and New York, produces only 20%.  Vermont in particular has been affected, as it has a sizeable seasonal workforce devoted to syrup production and relies on the income from sales of syrup and related products.

An explanation of how maple syrup is produced helps to understand how climate change is affecting the syrup business here in the U.S.  Maple syrup flows best when the temperature is below 25 degrees Fahrenheit at night, and above 40 degrees Fahrenheit during the day.  As air temperatures drop below freezing, the sugar maple pulls sap out of its branches and into the roots.  When temperatures move above freezing, the cycle is reversed, and sap flows out of the roots back into the branches, and out of any “wound” in the tree, such as the tap hole cut for syrup production.  In order for the tree to convert stored starch to sugar in the sap, there needs to be an extended period of below freezing temperatures.  As the climate in the Northeast has continued to warm, this has reduced the number of freeze-thaw cycles that are needed for sap to flow.  When the transition from winter to spring is accelerated with early spring warming, this causes the sugar maple buds to open early, resulting in bitter sap, and less syrup production overall due to a shorter sugaring season. 

It will be a pity if the sugar maples in New England die out because they are unable to adapt quickly enough to the warming climate.  Hopefully the next time we pour syrup over our pancakes or waffles, we will be reminded of how easily climate change can affect our everyday lives and the “sweet” pleasures in life that we take for granted!

Susan Bellerose holds degrees from Mt. Holyoke College and Columbia Business School and is a resident of Newton.

By Florrie Funk

Many of Newton’s residents are not aware of the crisis threatening biodiversity in our parks and their own back yards. Although there is no easy solution to the problem of invasive plants, here are some things that citizens can do to help:

·       Learn to identify invasive plant species and remove them from your property.

·       If your property abuts a park or wooded area, be sure that your non-native landscaping materials don’t spread beyond your property line. 

·       Never dump yard waste into parks or conservation areas.  Many common landscaping plants, especially ground covers such as English Ivy, Winter Creeper, Pachysandra and Vinca, reproduce vegetatively, so cuttings can root and spread aggressively. Walk along the boundaries of Newton’s conservation lands to see what happens when homeowner are careless about this.

·       Learn about native plants and use them in your landscaping. Your yard can be part of the solution to ecosystem fragmentation.

·       Encourage city officials to develop a plan to remove invasive plants and to reintroduce native plants on city property.  Learn from other communities how they trained personnel, organized volunteer efforts, and obtained funding.

·       Be aware that cautious and strategic use of herbicides may sometimes be necessary.  Many species resprout with renewed vigor even when they are cut down to ground level.  Removal of root systems can be impractical and destructive to soil structure and other organisms, and soil disturbance usually increases germination of invasive plant seeds. There is a small risk of unwanted side effects in the use of herbicides, but the alternative may be a devastating and irreversible loss of species. Check the National Park Service’s Fact Sheets (nps.gov/plants/alien) and The Nature Conservancy’s “Weed Control Methods Handbook” (tncweeds.ucdavis.edu)

Florrie Funk, florriemfunk@aol.com assisted with the 2006 Newton comprehensive plant survey. This article is a follow up to her March 2007 article “The importance of removing invasive plants”.

By John Linehan and Brooke Wardrop

The howl of the Mexican gray wolf has not been heard in more than 30 years in the forests and fields of the Southwest. Once common throughout western Texas, southern New Mexico, central Arizona and northern Mexico, the Mexican gray wolf, the rarest and most genetically distinct subspecies of the North American gray wolf, was completely eliminated from the wild, surviving in only small captive populations.

Thanks to successful conservation programs throughout the past 27 years, a brighter future has been procured for these wolves, and their howl is beginning to be heard once again.

In a unique partnership between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, state agencies, several zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and other partners, Zoo New England is participating in a reintroduction program to release captive-reared Mexican gray wolves in remote parts of Arizona and New Mexico.

Zoo New England began participating in the Mexican Wolf Species Survival Plan (SSP) in 1998. The SSP is a consortium of institutions working together to breed captive Mexican wolves for reintroduction and recovery in the Southwest. Last year, a pair at Stone Zoo in Stoneham produced eight pups, all of which are thriving. The SSP has now reached its captive population goals, and soon Zoo New England will be translocating some members of its pack to other zoos.

In captivity, close bonds between wolves and keepers are avoided because of the reintroduction program. Their survival ultimately depends on active avoidance of human contact. The animals cannot become reliant on people for food. While in captivity, the wolves do not lose their natural instincts, but hunting skills need to be honed before being released into the wild. Wolves that are slated for release are sent to large pre-release centers with native prey. Typically, these wolves and their offspring are released into the wild together as a pack.

In 1976, the Mexican gray wolf was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Today, there are approximately 300 Mexican gray wolves in existence. Most were born in zoos and wildlife sanctuaries in the US and Mexico, and more are being born in the wild each year. The recovery of these animals has been given the highest priority.

Based on experience gained from other wolf recovery programs, scientists are optimistic about the program’s eventual success. Captive-reared wolves have learned to survive after release and successfully form groups, reproduce and raise their pups. They are also forming new pairs on their own, indicating a healthy wolf population.

There are still challenges. At the 2006 Mexican Gray Wolf SSP Annual meeting held in Alpine, Ariz., the heart of the wolf release area, attendees discussed the opposition to the reintroduction program by some area residents, particularly ranchers concerned that the program will increase predation on livestock and family pets.

The task of locating the radio-collared wolves is daunting. Biologists track the wolves in rugged, often steep, terrain. U.S. Fish and Wildlife agents must deal with wolves that leave the approved recovery areas, which do not have fenced boundaries. Sometimes it is possible to recapture and return the animals to the recovery area, but lethal removal is sometimes necessary to ensure the species’survival in the wild.

The Mexican gray wolf’s role in the ecosystem is filled by no other predators. Black bears and cougars roam these areas of the Southwest, but they don’t fill the wolf’s niche. Elk are a major source of food for the Mexican gray wolf. As the wolves disappeared, some areas suffered from an overabundance of elk, which led to environmental degradation. Keeping a balance between elk and wolves is crucial to the environmental health of those areas.

Mexican gray wolves weigh between 50-80 pounds and are about 5-feet long with a relatively large head. The coat is often mottled or patchy and varies from gray and black to brown and buff. They have complex social behavior, living in tightly organized packs and communicating through howling vocalizations, body posturing and scent marking. These animals work effectively together to adapt to most environments where there is prey, which includes deer, jackrabbit, mice and peccary.

As a critical predator, wolves have a profound effect on the ecosystem. When an ecosystem is out of balance there are a host of negative effects. Returning the wolves to their natural habitat helps to restore the environmental health of these areas.

John Linehan is President & CEO, Zoo New England and Brooke Wardrop is Publications & Grants Manager, Zoo New England

By Karen Shilo

This past decade, natural disasters have become more frequent and devastating, and they are setting new records.  In 2002, natural disasters caused $85 billion in economic losses worldwide, an increase of 36 per cent from 2001.  During the summer of 2002, Western Canada suffered its worst drought ever recorded.  In 2003, earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, droughts, storms, fires and landslides killed about 83,000 people, 30,000 more than the number of deaths 13 years earlier.  There were 337 natural disasters in 2003, 76 more than in 1990, according to the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. In 2003, I stood on the picturesque shoreline of Phi-Phi Island off the coast of Thailand. In 2004, the Indian Ocean Tsunami completed decimated the region with the longest reported undersea faulting ever observed.

Global warming, or the average increase in temperature in the atmosphere near the earth’s surface, involves severe disruption of the complex global climate system. We now know that this is because human activity has led to dramatically increased concentrations of CO₂ in our atmosphere.  According to Scientific American, seven billion tons of carbon are released into the atmosphere each year.  By 2056, unless we make some dramatic changes, population growth and corresponding consumption of energy will double the emission of carbon into the atmosphere, placing it at 14 billion tons each year.  There is almost unanimous agreement in the scientific community of the direct relationship between the growth of greenhouse gas emissions and the dramatic rise in average temperature that has occurred over the past several decades.  Al Gore recently presented data that “2005 was the hottest year ever measured, and the 12 months ending this past summer, June of 2006, was the hottest 12-month period ever measured in the United States of America.”

The exponential increase in the average temperature of the earth’s surface is having devastating effects.  The retreat of glaciers, thinning of Arctic ice, and in turn, rise in sea levels, is increasing the threat of damaging floods to humans and wildlife.  Skiers and others are at increasing risk of avalanches, as rising temperatures release giant blocks of snow and ice in mountainous regions.  Rising temperatures are increasing the rate of droughts and causing famines, the most recent being the 2005 famine in southern Niger.  Wildfires are increasing in hot and dry regions across North America, Australia, and southern Europe.

Global warming will very likely lead to a rise in the number of hurricanes, which are formed in warm waters.  Although land heats up more quickly, water requires longer periods to cool down.  The combination of warm water and water vapor can create a grouping of thunderclouds that are set spinning by the rotation of the earth and polar winds.  2005 saw record average sea temperatures in the tropical Atlantic. The 140 mph winds of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 grew in strength over warmer waters, creating a storm surge that was the most destructive and expensive natural disaster in U.S. history.

Of course, understanding the workings of the climate system is only the prelude to finding solutions to global warming and addressing the rise in natural disasters. Some problems must be addressed quickly, such as the lack of efficient communications and disaster warning systems in undeveloped and other areas of the world.  When the Indian Ocean Tsunami struck in 2004, no warning system in the Indian Ocean was in place. Thousands of deaths could have been prevented if people had had even a few minutes of advance warning.  Much work still needs to be done to develop better emergency response systems, community disaster relief programs, government risk reduction programs, and a global tsunami warning system.

We cannot prevent the occurrence of natural disasters that are due to changes that have already been set in motion. But we can begin to alter the adverse imprint that the human population has on nature. In the meantime, we will be coping with more and more severe floods, droughts, and storms.  Even as the number of humans on the planet continues to increase, we can modify coastal development projects, reduce energy consumption and pollution, and make our coastal areas less vulnerable.  After all, we humans have only one life-sustaining planet.

Karen Shilo, a recent graduate of Brandeis University, is a Newton resident. 

By John Broderick

In 2006, Massachusetts was ranked 48th out of 50 states in per capita spending on parks and recreation.  After adjusting for inflation there has been a 33% decline in the urban parks budget since 2001, and the Department of Conservation and Recreation has been forced to cut 20% of its staff in the last five years.  Funding and performance go hand-in-hand, and due to fiscal constraints, state parks have suffered serious problems concerning the upkeep of what is becoming a decrepit infrastructure.

Our state parks serve as the wellsprings of a healthy, active community and are a physical embodiment of democratic ideals. Newton residents’ lives are enriched by the recreational and aesthetic benefits offered by Hemlock Gorge, Hammond Pond, the Upper Charles, and the Chestnut Hill Reservoir.  Parks offer many environmental benefits, including encouraging biodiversity and mitigating the effects of pollution and climate change.  Parks also help protect water quality, particularly by reducing stormwater runoff and limiting the quantity of harmful fertilizers that run into streams from suburban lawns. Massachusetts has long been at the vanguard of land protection and conservation, and state government has a duty to protect and improve green spaces throughout the Commonwealth. 

In 2003 Governor Romney decided to merge two existing agencies to create the DCR, thereby consolidating Massachusetts’ state park administration under one umbrella.  Unfortunately, since then, there has been a steady trend of reduced funding.  Advocacy groups have attempted to bridge fiscal gaps and have played an important role in publicizing the need for increased park funding and environmental stewardship, but these efforts, while commendable, cannot stand alone: without an active citizenry and government support, the efforts of advocacy groups can only serve as stop-gaps.  As in any democratic process, active citizen participation is crucial. One important resource available to citizens who want to protect and improve our state parks is the DCR Stewardship Council.

The Stewardship Council is a 13-member citizen advisory council appointed by the Governor to oversee the DCR and work with the agency to provide well-maintained and well-managed parks.  It is composed of environmental advocates, business leaders, and academics working to provide accountability in agency oversight and to set up long term goals in the fields of resource management planning, capital planning, and policy development.  They work as impartial advisors. Recognizing that the current DCR budget is “bare-boned” the Council has acknowledged the need for better planning and more fiscal discipline.  It examines budget allocations, and has applauded some decisions, such as the allotment of 1.5 million dollars for stormwater management remediation, while criticizing other decisions, such as the idea of giving the Urban Parks and Recreation the responsibility of maintaining 166 new acres (the Central Artery/Tunnel Parks and Spectacle Island) with no increase in budgeting. The latter decision was revised by the DCR due in part to the council’s criticisms. 

The DCR Stewardship Council is truly democratic.  All of the meetings are attended by DCR Commissioner Priscilla Geigis and are open to the public, giving an invaluable forum for citizens and advocacy groups to voice their opinions directly to the government administrators on policy issues that shape our parks.  Public comments are welcomed and recorded.

In addition to participating in the Stewardship Council, there are many opportunities for citizens to become active stewards for our parks, by volunteering with local advocacy groups, including the Charles River Conservancy, which has a large Volunteer corps. CRC volunteers have been improving the riverbanks through shoreline restoration, invasive species removal, and overall park maintenance. Charles River Watershed Association volunteers are working to improve water quality in the watershed. The Friends of the Hemlock Gorge and the Conservation and Recreation Campaign are other groups that welcome volunteers.  All of us should let our local officials know that we feel that parks are important and should be adequately funded.   It is up to us as citizens to take part – to “check back in”, as Governor Deval Patrick says – in the great democratic process of taking responsibility for our parks and finding viable solutions to their problems.

John Broderick is the Stewardship Program Assistant for the Charles River Conservancy. He can be reached at  jrb@thecharles.org.