TRURO — Since the once-thriving salt-marsh ecosystem called East Harbor was partially reopened to tidal flow in 2002, ocean organisms have been rapidly recolonizing the estuary. Researchers now hope to understand its changing ecology by documenting the success of horseshoe crabs, which have recently been found spawning in East Harbor (sometimes called Pilgrim Lake). Scientists […]
Environment
CIVICS
Bylaws Would Ban Plastic Bottles, Bags
Town meeting may vote on prohibiting sales at local retail stores
EASTHAM — At any beach cleanup, the haul of trash is fairly predictable: plastic, in the form of beverage bottles, shopping bags, straws, netting, and more. Because much of the litter on beaches and roadsides involves purchases from retail stores (and single-use plastic bags to carry them in), the conservation commission is backing two bylaws […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the seven days preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Jan. 21 included the following, compiled at Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, based on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird website and other sources: The Arctic subspecies of black guillemot continued at MacMillan Pier in Provincetown with at least […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Rare Bird Sightings
Confirmed rare bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the seven days preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Jan. 14 included the following, recorded on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird website: Pacific Loon, Gavia pacifica. Two scoped at Race Point on Jan. 13. Short-eared Owl, Asio flammeus. One at Race Point on Jan. 13. […]
ENVIRONMENT
Wellfleet Resident Challenges Shark Mitigation Study
Says visual detection technology was improperly evaluated
WELLFLEET — Kristian Sexton, who says he is developing an aerial imaging system using drones to detect sharks, claims that there are “a number of serious problems” with the Woods Hole Group (WHG) Shark Mitigation Study that was presented at a public forum in October at Nauset Regional High School. After the forum, which was […]
BUDGETING
DPW Proposal Causes ‘Sticker Shock’
The price per square foot is well above average
TRURO — The select board went into “sticker shock” at the price of a proposed dept. of public works facility next to the police and fire station: $20 million. While officials have been aware that the hodgepodge collection of DPW sheds and garages by town hall are inadequate, they were not pleased on Dec. 5 […]
Tide Charts
Know when to hit the flats
NATIONAL SEASHORE
Truro Ghost Town Still Inspires
From the Cold War to the Highlands Center to now
NORTH TRURO — In the Outer Cape’s collective memory, the fear associated with living and working at an Air Force station built to listen for incoming Soviet atomic bombs has faded. Besides being part of America’s mid-century air defense network, the place was a neighborhood. With bingo, a bowling league, softball games, and cheap drinks […]
FACT CHECK
Claims on Nitrates by Town Official Don’t Hold Water
A second look at Cloverleaf project opponents’ arguments
TRURO — Some statements made at the Dec. 5 zoning board of appeals hearing related to groundwater nitrogen levels expected to be produced by the proposed “Cloverleaf” housing development did not pass a fact check conducted by the Independent this week. The planning board’s Peter Herridge, an opponent of the plan to build 40 units […]
CLIMATE
Wolf Sees Future of Cape Air in All-Electric Planes
The Alice, under development, could fly 50 percent faster and farther than gas-powered aircraft
PROVINCETOWN — Cape Air founder and CEO Dan Wolf says he is excited about the future of his fleet. At the same time that his company is replacing its aged Cessna 402s with a sleek new Italian model, the Tecnam P2012 Traveller, he is also looking ahead to an entirely new generation of all-electric planes […]
CLIMATE
Another Winter Without a Dune Protecting Gosnold St.
Shifting sands and legal tangles lead to temporary measures
PROVINCETOWN — The Jan. 4, 2018, nor’easter brought a storm surge with it that seemed to lift water out of Provincetown harbor and pour it down Gosnold Street like a river. Salt water rose up over the beach and flowed along Gosnold to Bradford Street, where it formed a deep pool around the Bas Relief […]
ENVIRONMENT
Herring to Be Protected From Big Trawlers
Local fishermen are hopeful about new NOAA rule
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) moved to protect herring on Nov. 19 when it approved a new rule restricting the operation of trawlers. Amendment 8 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan, developed by the New England Fishery Management Council over the past several years, prohibits the use of mid-water trawl gear year-round […]
CIVICS
Consultants Will Help Decide Who Is on Walsh Land Panel
Housing and environmental preservation are seen as competing interests
TRURO — Town officials have hired a Cambridge consulting firm to help figure out what to do with the 70-acre Walsh property, whose purchase for $5.1 million was approved by town meeting in May. The Consensus Building Institute (CBI) of Cambridge will set up a process to guide the Walsh property plan. Stacie Nicole Smith, […]
FOWL PLAY
Hunters Take Aim at Phaseout of Pheasant Stocking
National Seashore may halt practice within five years
As upland game season wraps up on Nov. 30, many local hunters worry that a longstanding tradition of pheasant hunting will soon be ending. Following a 2002 court challenge by animal rights groups, the National Park Service is expected to begin phasing out the state’s practice of pheasant stocking, in which non-native ring-necked pheasants are […]
SPECIAL TOWN MEETING
New Station or Housing? The VFW Parcel’s Long, Winding Road
Six years of town meeting votes led to the current moment
PROVINCETOWN — The 1.3-acre parcel of town-owned land that was the former VFW post is once again the subject of debate. A petitioned article from Fire Chief Mike Trovato and 203 voters has triggered a special town meeting in the town hall auditorium at 6 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 2. The petitioners want the parcel […]
