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- Public
Meeting on Meadow Restoration at Arlington's Great Meadows – July 14th
- New
Land and Water license plate from Massachusetts Environmental Trust
- FEMA
revised draft flood zone maps available
Public
Meeting on Meadow Restoration,
Arlington's
Great Meadows
Tuesday,
July 14th 2009 7:30-9 PM
Follen
Community Church
755
Massachusetts Avenue, East Lexington
Friends of Arlington's Great Meadows (FoAGM) is
holding a public meeting to present a proposal to restore upland meadow
areas in Arlington's Great Meadows.
The main speaker will be Jeff Collins of the
Massachusetts Audubon Society's Ecological Extension Service. Collins is an
expert in the ecological management of natural lands. The purpose of the
meeting is to solicit public input for the development of a final plan by
this Fall.
Arlington's Great Meadows (AGM) is a 183-acre
area of natural landscape owned by the Town of Arlington, but located in
nearby East Lexington. The land was used by Arlington for its water supply
over a century ago. About three-quarters of the area is wetland, but the
rest is uplands which surround the wetland areas.
In the past, much of the upland area was dry,
open grasslands. Over the past 20 years or so, trees and shrubs have begun
to grow aggressively in the grasslands. These upland areas will change into
woodlands without human intervention. This means that many current inhabitants
such as the American Woodcock will no longer have a home there. The
proposed upland restoration areas at AGM are less than six acres.
The Mass Audubon report entitled Recommendations for Restoration
of Meadows Habitat at Arlington's Great Meadows, Final Draft Report,
May 14, 2009 is available for
download here
(1.9mb file).
Comments or questions can be submitted in person
at the public meeting or sent to Mike Tabaczynski at mjt1@rcn.com or by sending them to 12 Essex
Street, Lexington, MA 02421.
New Land and Water license
plate from Massachusetts Environmental Trust
You
can help fund land conservation in Massachusetts by signing up for the new
Land and Water license plate from the Mass. Environmental Trust
(M.E.T.).
Like
the other Trust plates (right whale, fish & wildlife, Blackstone
Valley) whose proceeds fund important environmental work, this plate will specifically
fund the permanent protection of watershed lands in the Commonwealth.
To
get the plate issued, 3,000 people must order a plate (numbers 1 to 3,000!)
and actually send a check before the Registry will produce the plates. (And if M.E.T doesn’t get to 3,000
orders, your check will be returned.)
So
please, go to www.masslandandwater.info – print the application – mail it
in with your check – and get your friends to do it too. These great-looking license plates are
the Trust’s primary source of revenue, and through them M.E.T. has
distributed $16 million to hard-working environmental organizations across
the state for projects that enhance and protect water quality. This Land & Water license plate will
allow the Trust to fund its new land conservation program in wetland &
watershed communities across the Commonwealth.
And
your vehicle will proudly display your commitment to the environment, with
a cool, low-number plate!
FEMA draft
flood zone maps
The
Federal Emergency Management Agency has released in draft form its revised
maps of the areas subject to flooding in the Mystic River watershed. The new maps affecting Arlington are
available at the links below, together with useful information for those
property owners affected by the revised maps.
Town
of Arlington FEMA web page
For other
questions please contact ALT
President Clarissa Rowe at 781-643-3156 or email info@arlingtonlandtrust.org
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