TEAMS Walk: TEAMS Walk: Sunday, February 14, 2010: meet at noon, at the Peach Barn on Betty's Neck, Long Point Road, Lakeville. Hot chocolate will be available throughout the winter on Sunday afternoons between 1-4PM inside the Peach Barn by Mike G.  After the TEAMS walk take some time to peek inside the Peach Barn to learn a little about Betty’s Neck and its history.  For directions to the Peach Barn, please email TEAMS at
TEAMS-info@hotmail.com.

March 20, 2010: 10am-4pm;  Green Fair 2010: will be held in the gym at the Old Colony Vocational Technical High School at 476 North Avenue in Rochester. Additonal information to come!

Participants wanted for 2010 Green Fair
TEAMS is seeking individuals and businesses that would like to display their environmentally friendly services or products at our 2010 Green Fair scheduled for Saturday, March 20, 10am-4pm at Old Colony Vocational Technical High School at 476 North Avenue in Rochester.  Space is limited.  Anyone interested, please contact TEAMS at teams-info@hotmail.com for additional details.
As an exhibitor you can have a positive impact on our environment. Join us as we focus on what we do in our own homes and back yards and the impacts our actions have on the health of our watersheds and the global environment.  

Volunteers to help plan the Green Fair or lend a hand on the day of the Fair are always welcomed. If you are interested, please contact us through the email provided above as well.

The Environmental Advocates for Massachusetts, Southeast (TEAMS) is holding its fourth annual photo contest.  The contest saw a fabulous response last year with 90 photo entries. For our 2010 contest, you are invited to share your two best photos that illustrate the theme, “Nature in Transition.”  Were you ever inspired by that moment as a butterfly emerged from a cocoon? Or as the ice began to glaze over in a cranberry bog? Show us what natural events inspired you and share that with others!  

The rules are simple: No more than two entries per person. Each entry must be an 8 x 10 photograph, un-framed and un-matted.  All images must be taken from in the communities of Southeastern Massachusetts.  Be sure to list your name, address, telephone number, email, where and when the photo was taken on the back of your photo.  TEAMS reserves the right to use any and all contest entries for educational  and promotional purposes only.  All photo publications will credit the photographer by name. 

Entries may be submitted through the deadline of March 3, 2010. You may mail your photograph to TEAMS, PO Box 898, Lakeville, MA 02347. Drop off locations are at the four following local libraries: Lakeville Public Library, 4 Precinct Street, Lakeville; Middleborough Public Library, 102 North Main Street, Middleborough; James White Memorial Library, 5 Washburn Rd. East Freetown; and the Joseph Plumb Memorial Library, 17 Constitution Way, Rochester.  If you are mailing your entry, we recommend you protect the photo(s). 

Photos will NOT be returned. 

The winning photo will be displayed prominently at the TEAMS Green Fair on Saturday, March 20, 2010 between 10am-4pm.  If you have any questions about the contest, please email TEAMS at teams-info@hotmail.com. 

Saturday, March 6, 2010: The State of the Birds, 18th Annual Mass Audubon Birders Meeting!  to be held at the LaCava Center, Bentley University, Waltham, MA. A full day of workshops, speakers, wildlife updates, vendors, and more. Lunch included! Co-sponsored by Mass Audubon and Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences In 2009, the Department of Interior produced The State of the Birds, a comprehensive synthesis describing the conservation status, threats, and recovery objectives for every major North American bird group. Since birds have long been litmus for environmental change, what’s happening to birds could portend what the future holds for mankind. In this not-to-be-missed event, two leading environmental organizations examine how science, technology, and birds could offer the key to some of the greatest challenges facing our planet in the future.  For more information about the Birders Meeting and to register, click here.

South Coast Commuter Rail to Fall River and New Bedford, Update August, 2009

At a press conference on August 6, Governor Patrick released the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' South Coast Rail Economic Development and Land Use Corridor Plan. The purpose of this Plan is to maximize the economic benefits of bringing commuter rail to Fall River and New Bedford, to create jobs, housing and to encourage new development in the right places to revitalize these gateway cities.

The Regional Priority Protected Area and Priority Developed Area Map, developed by SRPEDD and towns in SE Mass, was incorporated into the Corridor Plan. The Plan "calls for creating great places at the new stations - places full of vitality and diversity." In addition to "clustering jobs and homes close to the stations through transit-oriented development and 'greening' the stations by encouraging renewable energy on site…", the Plan also lists "…priorities for land protection, which will preserve the farms, fields, and forest in every city and town."   

Areas highlighted as Priority Protection of immediately interest to TEAMS are:  Assawompset Pond Complex, Nemasket River, the Greenway Connection from the Freetown State Forest to the Assonet Cedar Swamp, the Green Heart Corridor - an unfragmented corridor of green space that stretches from the Taunton River east through Rocky Woods and Middleboro to the Atlantic Ocean, the lower Taunton River Protection Area including Peace Haven and Mowry's Path, and the Acushnet Swamp.

TEAMS recognizes the importance of protecting of areas north of Taunton, e.g. the Hockomock Swamp, and supports all efforts to protect them. We have chosen to focus our attention on bringing awareness to resource areas south of Taunton where the active freight rail exists. These areas need special attention from the Commonwealth. For over 150 years these resource areas has been divided by rail lines that block wildlife passage and alter hydrology. TEAMS is a voice for these areas. Hopefully, they will not be forgotten or dismissed because the active freight line exists.

The Commonwealth is committed to the implementation of this Corridor Plan and considers South Coast Rail a 'green' project. They have made lots of promises to protect the environment. TEAMS is committed to follow the South Coast Rail through to its completion, and will work to see that the promises are kept.

All South Coast Rail documents are available at:  www.southcoastrail .com

To review your town’s PPA/PDA map, go to www.srpedd.org, click on Projects and Partnerships.

If you know of any upcoming activities which would benefit by being posted to this page, please contact TEAMS-INFO@hotmail.com.