"When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not. "
~Georgia O'Keffe 

TEAMS was formed to urge advocacy for the watercourses, riparian corridors, and the wetlands of southeastern Massachusetts. Water is one of the basic components of habitat for living things. Our watercourses - our streams, lakes and ponds- are all sources of water for living things and are nonrenewable resources. They need the highest amount of protection. Our riparian corridors are green ribbons of life found on the edges of these watercourses. They provide food, space, shelter, and water for various living things. They can be transportation corridors and serve as a sort of buffer zone between the uplands and the watercourses. The wetlands absorb and hold back flood waters, filter out pollutants, and provide food and shelter for various living things too.

See the Activities Page to read about the Commuter Rail Update as of April 30, 2008.

Grant #1: TEAMS thanks New England Grassroots Environment Fund

TEAMS was awarded a $500 grant for our second Green Fair from the New England Grassroots Environment Fund of Vermont.  There are nine major environmental catagories/issues that the NEGEF is tackling. Of these nine,TEAMS tackles most of them through education at the Green Fair.

Grant #2: TEAMS thanks Taunton River Watershed Campaign

TEAMS had just been awarded a $624 grant from the Taunton River Watershed Campaign to launch an offensive against invasive exotic plants.  Anyone who has walked with us may remember seeing Bittersweet, Autumn Olive, Japanese Barberry and Japanese Knotweed marching over and smothering native plant species. Our plan of attack is two fold.  To aid in the first line of attack, we are using our grant money to buy two tools called weed wrenches that enable even old ladies to yank sizeable Barberry or Autumn Olive bushes from the ground. Unfortunately many of the exotics are very difficult to eliminate by cutting and digging. Our second line of attack involves minimal and targeted use of herbicides:  cutting the stems and with a small brush dabbing full strength brush killer on the cut surface. However, even for such a limited use of herbicides, the state requires a pesticide applicators license for work on any but one’s own property.  We will be using the rest of the grant money to send one person to a training workshop and then to the exam for the pesticide applicator’s license.   

We have chosen three public-property sites for the actual work of invasives removal.  At one site we have hopes of completely eradicating Japanese Barberry along a stream; at another we have the same hopes for a population of Japanese Knotweed at the edge of a swamp.  At the third site, we will do our best but the Oriental Bittersweet is so rampant it will take a huge effort. We hope our work as we struggle there will serve to educate the public, drawing support for our effort and attention to infestations elsewhere.

We are grateful for the Taunton River Watershed Campaign for giving us this opportunity, and we are especially grateful to the Sheehan Family who have funded the Campaign’s grants.

GOING  BEYOND THE WETLANDS PROTECTION ACT

Existing laws are not perfect; as all laws, they are the product of political compromise. They do not protect all wetlands or all the values of wetlands.  For example, uncertified vernal pools are not protected. Aesthetics and recreation are not protected values. 

Actions of individual property owners may be violations but go unobserved.  

Conservation Commissions are volunteer boards that may lack resources.  The DEP is subject to underfunding depending on the current politics and fiscal situation.

As more is learned about wetlands, there may be a need for changes in how we treat them.  If more restrictive regulations are needed, there will be certainly resistance if property owners feel their rights are threatened.

What can we do further to make sure all public interests in all wetlands are protected?  
       
BE GOOD STEWARDS OURSELVES:

 Don’t dump lawn and other debris in wetlands.

 Check with Con Com before “vista” pruning.

 Keep a natural buffer separating lawns and paddocks from wetlands.

 Prevent chemicals, household or lawn from reaching wetlands whether through seepage or flow.  Better yet, stop using chemicals that could possibly add toxins or excess nutrients to wetlands

 Report suspected violations.  Better yet, educate your neighbors as to the beauty of wetlands, the fascination of the creatures that depend on them, and their important role in the health of the whole watershed.

 Support a local wetland-bylaw with vernal pool protection and an untouched buffer strip between all new projects and wetlands

 Support open space protection through open space zoning (cluster type), conservation restrictions, and a local land trust.

 Learn more about our local wetlands and what they may mean to you.

 Confront the hazards of wetlands: disease-carrying mosquitoes and ticks.  The risks are real, but so are the risks of spraying.  We cannot completely eliminate mosquitoes and ticks with spraying. So take responsibility for yourself:  cover up, use repellants, repair screens, empty containers of standing water near your house.

 Work to instill a love and respect for wetlands in the upcoming generation.

Last Updated: July 16, 2008.