The Wrack

Several weeks ago, a dedicated group of volunteers set out into the milkweed fields to rescue monarch eggs and caterpillars, just before the Reserve's annual mowing. This is the third annual Monarch Rescue effort, and this year the results were sobering. After nearly three hours of searching the undersides of milkweed leaves, our team of fourteen only came up with two caterpillars (and one already empty monarch egg case). In 2010, 37 eggs and 25 caterpillars were rescued by our team, and in 2012 we rescued 90 eggs and 22 caterpillars (we didn't have a Rescue in 2011).

Scientists in the monarch's wintering grounds in Mexico documented a 59 percent decrease in butterflies last year. Loss of habitat, drought, the use of pesticides, and climate change are all thought to play a role.

"We have the opportunity to re-invent the world." That was a final thought from one participant at the end of last week's Teachers on the Estuary (TOTE) workshop here at the Reserve. After four busy days of guest speakers, hands-on activities, and visits to field research sites, the eight middle and high school educators hailing from states along the east coast from Maine to Florida shared their ideas for i…

The nearly 40 people who attended Dr. Stephen Mulkey's "Crisis and Opportunity in the Environmental Century" Climate Stewards lecture in mid-May left with a clear message: We are out of time and we must act now.

Mulkey began his talk with a quote from David Orr, "All education is environmental education& by what is included or excluded we teach the young that they are part of, or apart from, the natural world." Mulkey spoke of his (incredible) work as President of Unity College, becoming the first college in the country to divest from fossil fuels, as well as recently integrating climate change education across the entire curriculum. Unity's students study the complexity of interactions among the economy, society, and nature--a framework for the future known as "sustainability science."

Sending a big thank you to the generous team of children and adults who participated in yesterday's Laudholm Beach clean-up! We found cans, bottles, cigarette butts, fishing/lobster gear, a brush, comb, dock float, rope, ribbon, styrofoam, plastic bits, and some beach stabilization debris.

Prior to the clean-up, some of us watched the public film screening of "Bag It" in the auditorium. I hope that everyone (we recommend ages 12 and up) on the planet sees this film! It really does a fantastic job of presenting a global picture of the effects that our plastic waste has on the environment...and inspires its viewers to take action!

Below are photos of the Laudholm Beach stewards doing their part yesterday&

Jennifer Hatch, Marketing Manager for ReVision Energy, provided an informative introduction to solar energy options for homeowners on Wednesday evening in Mather Auditorium. Over 40 people attended this Climate Stewards evening lecture, and one lucky winner, Mr. Jed Thomas, went home with the solar charger door prize (below)!

A 13-ton machine rolled down the "F field" to make habitat for a 2-pound rabbit. As the grassland greens up this spring, the evidence should fade quickly away.

Tom Twist, Sustainability Officer at The Chewonki Foundation, visited the Wells Reserve last week to present our very first Climate Stewards evening lecture. This series is funded by NOAA's Climate Stewards Education Project. The lectures aim to enable community members to develop a greater knowledge and understanding of climate change, thereby appreciating the impact of their choices more, reducing their carbon footprints, and becoming more impassioned stewards of the planet.Tom Twist's presentation sent us all down this path towards climate stewardship.

Tom began his talk with reasons to move away from fossil fuels: They run out, they pollute, they cause climate change, they fund tyrannical dictators, and they help widen the divide between the wealthy and the poor. Tom explained the inverse relationship that exists between freedom and the price of oil (learn more in Thomas Friedman's Hot, Flat, and Crowded), and echoed Bill McKibben in saying that Exxon Mobile is the "richest company in the history of money."

While spending my summer as a research intern at the Wells Reserve, I have had the opportunity to participate in a project monitoring how land development in southern Maine is affecting freshwater ecosystems that provide habitat for many macroinvertebrate and fish species like brook trout. Though it has been observed that the land development occurring here has not reached the scale of the degradation found in other areas along the east coast, like the Chesapeake Bay region, it is imperative that this does not change as future development occurs. When new homes are built in an area, there are simple steps local landowners can take to help preserve the existing natural ecosystems on or around their own property.

WELLS, Maine, July 25, 2012  A 34-acre woodlot in Wells is seen as a testing ground for managing timber for long-term gain while maintaining its value for wildlife, clean water, and recreation. The Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve will complete a partial harvest of its Yankee Woodlot this fall while hosting a series of four workshops that will encourage participants to get involved in the process.

David Word is?an 11th and 12th grade AP biology and environmental science teacher at St. Francis High School in Louisville, Kentucky. Thanks to his participation in Teachers on the Estuary last summer he has been very busy with his students this year, removing invasive species within a 200 square foot area of riparian forest along the Beargrass Creek. Species of invasives within the plot included?Bush Honeysuckle, English Ivy,?and Winter Creeper.

After the removal, the group planted 70 native plants within the same area. Native species planted include:?Great Blue Lobelia, Joe Pye Weed, Mistflower, Thimbleweed, Slender Mountain Mint, Wild Geranium, and Jack in the Pulpit.