Williamstown Rural Lands To Host Sheep to Shawl| 07:59AM / Thursday, May 05, 2022 | |
 WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williamstown Rural Lands (WRL), a non-profit, member-supported land conservation trust, invites members of the community to the return of its Sheep to Shawl event on Saturday, May 7, from 11am to 3pm. Located at WRL's Sheep Hill headquarters, the festival will celebrate spring and New England heritage with time-honored crafts, local artisans, farm animals, and a focus on the region's historic fleece and fiber industry. Fred DePaul will spin stories and use traditional tools to shear sheep, while border collies from Tanstaafle Farm and Littlebrook Farm herd sheep in complex maneuvers around the hills. The Green Mountain 0 Comments
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Williams College Receives STARS Gold Rating for Sustainability| 08:00AM / Saturday, April 30, 2022 | |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williams College has earned a STARS Gold rating in recognition of its sustainability achievements from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). STARS, the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System measures and encourages sustainability in all aspects of higher education. Williams' STARS report is publicly available on the STARS website: https://reports.aashe.org/institutions/williams-college-ma/report "This is an exciting accomplishment," said Tanja Srebotnjak, director of the college's Zilkha Center for Environmental Initiatives that prepared the report. 0 Comments
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Earth Day Celebration in Merchants Park| 04:13PM / Monday, April 18, 2022 | |
 BENNINGTON, Vt. — The Earth Day celebration this spring will take place at Merchants Parks at 3:30 the afternoon of April 22, 2022. This will be the fifty-second commemoration of Earth Day which began in 1970. This Earth Day is sponsored by Climate Advocates Bennington, the MAUHS group Climate Change Initiative and Better Bennington Corporation. The celebration is open to the public and will have speakers, music, and skits with audience participation. According to a press release, Earth Day in the US, began after several major ecological disasters. In January of 1969 An oil rig leaked millions of gallons of oil on the coast of Santa 0 Comments
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Williamstown Net Zero Greenhouse Gas Task Force Seeks Community InputBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
05:06AM / Monday, April 04, 2022 | |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Select Board last week heard about two initiatives looking to make change on a regional and global scale and one proposal that would shake up the way the town taxes at the local level. At last year's annual town meeting, members overwhelmingly voted to commit the town to a "net zero greenhouse gas emissions goal" by 2050. Part of the resolution included a more immediate goal of forming a "comprehensive action plan" by next year. Last Monday, one of the residents on a 27-person task force working on that plan updated the Select Board on the group's activities. "What is a net zero community?" 0 Comments
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Williamstown Rural Lands Hires New Executive Director| 08:24AM / Thursday, March 31, 2022 | |
 WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williamstown Rural Lands (WRL) announced that Robin Sears has been selected as its new Executive Director. Sears is an interdisciplinary scientist whose previous work at the intersections of forests and people, farming and forestry, and science and policy positions her well to lead WRL. "I am thrilled to join the community of land stewards here at home after focusing for decades on forest management in the tropics," she said. I look forward to working with Williamstown residents, farmers, and community members to steward the rich natural and cultural assets around us for all to enjoy now and in the future.” Sears has 0 Comments
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Williamstown Rural Lands Working Land Series | 08:12AM / Wednesday, March 30, 2022 | |
 WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williamstown Rural Lands (WRL) program Working Lands Series will host site visits to Berkshire area farms and forests to meet the people who work them. On Saturday, April 2 at noon WRL will meet Averill Cook at Wendling Farm for "Get to know your forester" Participants can tour the forest with Cook and learn about the history of wood use for energy, paper, and building materials. Participants can find out about how our woodlands help keep air and water clean, learn about the ideal growing conditions, and how to measure trees for their energy and lumber value. The program is for all ages and will take place rain or shine; 0 Comments
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WRL: Looking Back To See Our Future| 08:13AM / Wednesday, March 02, 2022 | |
 WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williamstown Rural Lands (WRL) is hosting a talk by Tom Johnson "Looking Back to See Our Future." The lecture is one of a monthly WRL series Talks on the Hill; it is held as a zoom webinar and takes place on Thursday, March 3 from 7:00 -8:30 pm. A question and answer session will follow the presentation. Trained as a Geological Oceanographer, Tom Johnson will discuss forecasting climate change by looking back at climate history. What can be learned by 'hindcasting' when scientists compare analysis of tree rings, sediment cores from lakes and oceans, ice cores, and cave deposits. Professor Johnson was 0 Comments
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Community Garden Plots Available in Williamstown| 12:04PM / Wednesday, February 16, 2022 | |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williams College Community Garden is accepting applications for the 2022 growing season. Raised beds, measuring four by eight feet, are available to members of the college community and local community members regardless of affiliation with the college. Interested gardeners should complete an application at tinyurl.com/wmscommgarden. Applicants should read the community garden guidelines at tinyurl.com/wmsgardenguidelines before completing the application. Review of applications will begin at the end of February and applicants will be notified by the end of March. More information about the garden is 0 Comments
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USDA: Agriculture Counts! By King Whetstone, Regional Director, USDA-NASS, Northeastern Regional Field Office
02:49PM / Tuesday, February 15, 2022 | |
 As a new year kicks off, our agency reflects on major milestones achieved during 2021. The agricultural community gained two new geospatial decision support tools, and will soon have first-time data on hemp production, conservation practice adoption motivations, farmer demographics, and agroforestry practices. Also, throughout 2021, we conducted extensive research, development, and live tests of numerous core data collection — and dissemination-related systems. This ongoing work aims to increasingly modernize how we interact with the public, making it easier for farmers and ranchers to ensure their voice is counted and enhance access for all those seeking National 0 Comments
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Turtles Carry a Heavy LoadBy Tor Hansen, iBerkshires columnist
05:40PM / Sunday, February 13, 2022 | |
Turtle shells may be heavy too a turtle. Is that why sea turtles turned to inhabit the sea? Or did ancestral sea turtles inhabit the oceans before turtles invaded the land? Skeletal remains of gigantic sea turtles belie that size can expand without consequence as the turtle in the sea weighs less than on land, and thus the mobile home let alone trailer is less a burden in terms of sheer weight in the oceans, rivers, streams, and lakes. Where did the original turtle turn up, so known for carrying its armored shield on its back ? Thanks to a fossil recovered in Africa, scant records suggest turtles (genus Eunotosaurus) were among the first reptiles with a notable carapace 0 Comments
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