The Division of Ecological Restoration has an ambitious pledge in the works when it comes to the state’s many cranberry bogs.
From the article:
Massachusetts is home to 13,000 acres of cranberry bogs, making it the second-largest cranberry-producing region in the U.S. and the third-largest in the world. The bright, red berries are the state’s moneymaker, contributing over $1.7 billion to the state's economy annually.
But a good chunk of that acreage is taken up by defunct cranberry bogs that have been rotated out of cultivation.
Fortunately, a new program by the state’s Division of Ecological Restoration is on a mission to convert them back into natural wetlands.
In November 2024, the DER funneled $6 million in grants to the restoration plan. According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, more than 500 acres of retired cranberry bogs have already been converted into wetlands — with hopes of restoring 1,000 acres in the next decade.
“These projects will transform degraded former cranberry bogs into thriving wetlands that will provide habitat to important species, flood control in time of storms, and access for all to beautiful natural areas,” Governor Maura Healey said in a statement.
Which of the following do you have regular access to? As in, you could easily go to it every day if you wanted?
A forest
A lake/river/marshlands
A field
A mountain/cave
A beach
A park
A desert
Several of the above
None of the above
Voting ended onJun 8, 2024
I want to see how many people have easy access to nature, as I assume most of tumblr lives in urban areas such as cities or large suburbs, and a lot of people seem to not know much about the native species of plants and animals in their area. If you answered several, please reblog with which ones! And if the natural area is not mentioned, add it in a reblog or comment :)
The Solarpunk "fantasy" that so many of us tout as a dream vision, converting golf courses into ecological wonderlands, is being implemented across the USA according to this NYT article!
The article covers courses in Michigan, Pennsylvania, California, Colorado, and New York that are being bought and turned into habitat and hiking trails.
The article goes more into detail about how sand traps are being turned into sand boxes for kids, endangered local species are being planted, rocks for owl habitat are being installed, and that as these courses become wilder, they are creating more areas for biodiversity to thrive.
Most of the courses in transition are being bought by Local Land Trusts. Apparently the supply of golf courses in the USA is way over the demand, and many have been shut down since the early 2000s. While many are bought up and paved over, land Trusts have been able to buy several and turn them into what the communities want: public areas for people and wildlife. It does make a point to say that not every hold course location lends itself well to habitat for animals (but that doesn't mean it wouldn't make great housing!)
So lets be excited by the fact that people we don't even know about are working on the solutions we love to see! Turning a private space that needs thousands of gallons of water and fertilizer into an ecologically oriented public space is the future I want to see! I can say when I used to work in water conservation, we were getting a lot of clients that were golf courses that were interested in cutting their resource input, and they ended up planting a lot of natives! So even the golf courses that still operate could be making an effort.
So what I'd encourage you to do is see if there's any land or community trusts in your area, and see if you can get involved! Maybe even look into how to start one in your community! Through land trusts it's not always golf course conversions, but community gardens, solar fields, disaster adaptation, or low cost housing! (Here's a link to the first locator I found, but that doesn't mean if something isn't on here it doesn't exist in your area, do some digging!)
Like these weekly compilations? Tip me at $kaybarr1735 or check out my Dandelion Doodles!
1. Florida city installs Pride bike racks after being forced to remove rainbow crosswalks
“The city of St. Petersburg recently announced that it has installed 11 Pride-inspired bike racks along Central Ave and 25th Street, funded through the City’s long-standing public bike rack program. The move allows a public display of LGBTQ+ Pride while complying with the state and federal government's orders to keep crosswalks undecorated. [… T]he bike rack installation is only one of the actions Welch's administration has planned in response to the removal of public art.”
2. Indian Buffalo Management Act Affirms Trust Responsibility, Food Sovereignty for Indigenous Peoples
“The bill directs the Department of the Interior to consult and collaborate with Tribes and Tribal organizations in the restoration of the species and underscores the significance of buffalo as a subsistence right for Tribes. “Buffalo are a treaty right afforded to Tribes in support of food sovereignty and self-determination. This bill recognizes the federal government’s trust obligation to build capacity and access to buffalo on Tribal lands[….]””
3. Hope for tigers grows as Thailand safeguards a key link in their habitat
“Since [2010], the population has rebounded to an estimated 5,574 as of 2023[….] The largest remaining tract of forest in mainland Southeast Asia, WEFCOM encompasses 17 contiguous protected areas that span an area roughly the size of Kuwait. […] The region’s tiger population has more than tripled in response [to habitat conservation], increasing from a low of just 40 tigers in 2007 to more than 140 of the big cats prowling WEFCOM today.”
4. California hospital will continue youth gender-affirming care after families protest
“The largest hospital system in Northern California […] quietly informed those receiving the care […] that the treatment would stop as of December 10. […] Rainbow Families Action, a collective of families in the Bay Area who have trans children, [rallied] outside a Sutter facility on December 8. Less than a week later, Sutter Health has reportedly reversed its decision, and rescheduled the appointments that were canceled.”
5. Congo’s communities are creating a 1-million-hectare biodiversity corridor
““The corridor is about conserving a block of forest between the two protected areas, allowing species to move safely from one place to another,” Bikaba says. […] To establish these community-managed forests, […] communities that have customary ownership of lands, [are helped to] formalize this into a community forestry concession (CFCL) — a formal arrangement that grants lands to communities in perpetuity.”
December 8-14 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)
Since the Regent Honeyeater Project kicked off in the 1990s, tens of thousands of volunteers have helped to regenerate farmland in order to
"In short:
Victorian farmers and volunteers have planted 750,000 trees to restore habitat for a critically endangered bird.
The Regent Honeyeater Project has brought together volunteers from all walks of life since it was launched in the 1990s.
What's next?
An ornithologist says the project is working wonders for the species and other wildlife.
--
John Paul Murphy is not an ecologist, but he knows a thing or two about trees.
The young cattle farmer from Winton in north-east Victoria has helped plant more than 750,000 trees as part of the Regent Honeyeater Project.
"Our involvement as a family goes back to the early 1990s, when the project first kicked off," Mr Murphy said.
The regent honeyeater is a critically endangered bird known for its black-and-bright-yellow colouring.
"Back in the day, millions of these birds would darken the sky from Adelaide up to Queensland," ornithologist Maggie Watson said.
"They're quite large compared to other honeyeaters, are highly nectar-dependent, and are one of the main pollinators of eucalypt trees."
Dr Watson, based in Burrumbuttock, New South Wales, said habitat fragmentation was a major reason the bird was threatened.
"When people started clearing farmland as part of colonisation in the 1800s, they removed all the productive, nectar-producing trees," she said.
"So that essentially wiped out the regent honeyeater's main food-base."
'Great for all wildlife'
Benalla cattle farmer and Regent Honeyeater Project president Rob Richardson said agriculture had claimed its share of the environment.
"We've destroyed a lot of habitat to create grazing and cropping land to the point where there are less than 500 wild regent honeyeaters left in Australia," he said.
"So now we're trying to restore the balance.
"We propagate all the trees in our plant nursery, and then plant them across the landscape to establish vegetation corridors."
Dr Watson said the project would significantly benefit the regent honeyeater population.
"The birds need to have 'roads' to get to flowering trees like eucalypts, and those roads happen to be other trees — so the more you plant, the better," she said.
"Tackling habitat fragmentation is great for all wildlife."
Huge volunteer effort
Mr Richardson said local volunteers were at the heart of the project.
"Over the last 30 years we've had many farmers donate land to be revegetated and over 40,000 volunteers help plant all the trees," he said.
Mr Murphy said the volunteers came from all walks of life.
"At our planting days, I've met university students, doctors, lawyers, biologists … and many of them come back year after year," he said.
Mr Murphy said it was nice to have a chance to get to know with people he may not otherwise have met.
"Farming can be pretty isolating," he said.
"But when you're planting, learning, and just getting your hands dirty together, the conversations you have are really unique.""
