A Message from President Eisenbarth |
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I hope you all had warm and fun holidays with loved ones and that you are on your way to a happy, healthy 2023!
In November, two of us from the FCCNS Board of Directors, along with CCNS Superintendent Brian Carlstrom, attended a Park Partners conference sponsored by the National Park Foundation (NPF). The NPF is, to the National Park Service, what our Friends organization is to the Seashore….a philanthropic partner.
The purpose of the conference was to allow Friends organizations from National Parks all over the country to get together to share information and experience on how they approach their roles as park partners. I’m happy to report that we made several valuable contacts that we will explore in the coming months with the goal of making FCCNS an even more effective partner to the CCNS. We’ll keep you advised!
Speaking of that, our first two orders of business are to create the Friends’ 2023 budget and Annual Work Plan. Obviously, both of these will be done with the help of CCNS personnel who have already been working to establish Seashore priorities and goals for this coming year. We will match Seashore needs to Friends resources and keep you advised of that progress as well.
I trust you will enjoy the articles included in this E-News, as we have in previous issues. And, because one can never express this sentiment too often: I wish all of us…and I mean the great family of humankind…a peaceful, healthy and happy New Year, in 2023 and beyond!
Peter Eisenbarth, President
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2023 Board Member Update
We'd like to introduce a few of FCCNS board members to you our valued members.
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Pete Eisenbarth (left, with Superintendent Brian Carlstrom) is currently serving as President of FCCNS and is in his last year in that role. Pete and Nancy moved to Eastham in 2012. Pete enjoyed a career in aviation, first with the Air Force, then as a corporate pilot. On the Cape he has volunteered with Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary and FCCNS, while making time to pursue his love of watercolor painting. Pete feels that FCCNS will continue to evolve, becoming a stronger Park partner and an ever more effective steward of the treasure that is the Cape Cod National Seashore.
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Betsy Bray, our First Vice President and Communications lives in Chatham. A retired public library administrator, she came to the FCCNS Board because of her work with the Cape Cod Modern House Trust www.ccmht.org, a partner of the Seashore. She volunteers for the Chicago-based Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy. Betsy is also an internationally known authority of the children’s author, naturalist, and land preservationist Beatrix Potter and she enjoys giving talks about her all over the world.
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David Bernstein is 2nd Vice President of the Board. While he moved to West Yarmouth full time in 2015, he and his wife Angela live in a refurbished cottage that has been in the family since 1953. A retired high school English teacher, David volunteers his time at the Salt Pond information desk, Restore at Habitat for Humanity and is a member of Yarmouth’s Conservation Commission. He loves travel, and favorite activities on the Cape include bicycling, kayaking and hiking.
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Steve Munroe is a life-long visitor to Cape Cod, usually to Harwich where he and his wife bought a home in 2013 before retirement. For 35 years Steve was a professor of Biological Sciences at Marquette University, where he taught and did research. Since moving to the Cape Steve has volunteered with the Massachusetts Audubon Society and taught in continuing education programs. He is an avid cyclist and enjoys walking the winter beaches of Cape Cod.
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Park Partner: Provincetown Community Compact |
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Tribes of Flying Beings: The Compact's Dune Shack Journals
by Jay Critchley, Founder and Director, The Compact
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There is a collective mythology about the dune shacks that propels the mystique of this fabled place, physically and historically connected to Provincetown but far away in the imagination and the landscape. The Province Lands, the unceded lands of the People of the First Light, the Wampanoag Nation, have been brutally stripped of their forest but are now thankfully protected from development under the Cape Cod National Seashore.
In recognition of this, The Compact has offered a week's stay to a Native American in collaboration with the Native Land Conservancy. Also, we have initiated a voluntary Honor Tax from residents, payable to NLC. This is an opportunity to move beyond land acknowledgment and offer financial support for using unceded land.
The Compact offers stays at C-Scape and Fowler Dune Shacks from April through November for three artists and two writers' including the David Bethuel Jamieson Residency for emerging artists of color, named after this African American artist who died of AIDS in 1992. The two top artists, selected by a jury, receive $500 fellowships. Writers are offered two one-week residencies funded by The Compact, chosen by lottery. Two additional writers' weeks are available in collaboration with the Fine Arts Work Center.
For over two decades, The Compact has kept journals for residents to share their personal stories and art about the dramatic weather, the wildlife, the seasonal changes, and residents' reactions to this immersive environment. From a 2003 entry from "MM" entitled "Candyland," we read a list of activities: making cranberry jam, pumping the smelly water, gulls dive bombing for dinner, playing password, toad listening, singing, banging on the drum, building a fire, soup.
The residency application deadline has passed, but it is usually in early January. Check our website to read about our Think-ubator and Prayer Ribbons projects and the 36th Swim for Life (September 9, 2023). TheCompact.org
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Winter Film Festival
Once again, FCCNS is co-sponsoring the popular Winter Film Festival at Salt Pond Visitor Center.
"Documentary Films for Our Time"
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Join Seashore rangers to explore a variety of resources & stories during guided programs.
photo: NPS/French
Link to the Cape Cod National Seashore's
for details.
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BECOME A MEMBER
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When renewing, consider upgrading your level of membership.
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DONATE TODAY
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Gratitude
We are grateful to all of our generous members & donors listed annually on our website.
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"Creature Feature"
by Agnes Mittermayr, Ph.D. Marine Ecologist, Center for Coastal Studies and FCCNS Board member
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North Atlantic right whales, Eubalaena glacialis, are among the rarest of the baleen whale species and have been listed as critically endangered species since 2020. A combination of low birth rates (only 22 calves were born between 2017 and 2020), vessel strikes, and entanglements all contribute to the slow recovery of the species.
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As you are reading this, chances are that many of the 340 individuals left are in Cape Cod Bay, feeding on plankton! Try spotting the 50 ft giants from shore at Race Point Beach or Herring Cove Beach and make sure to bring binoculars. You can do your part protecting these whales by adhering to speed limits and by not approaching them! That includes boats, kayaks, drones and planes. If you want to learn more about the North Atlantic right whales, check out https://coastalstudies.org/right-whale-research
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Natural Resources in the New Year 2023
by Geoffrey Sanders,
Chief of Natural Resource Management and Science
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The Natural Resource Management and Science Division is planning for a busy 2023 with a variety of research, monitoring and restoration work planned for this year. There will be a lot to do but we are extremely excited to see what 2023 will bring! |
Our shorebird crews will be back on the beach this season establishing protective measures for nesting birds while also ensuring continued access to recreation on the park’s beaches. In addition to our regular monitoring efforts, the park initiated a study of the coyote population in the fall of 2022 to develop a better understanding of the size and habitat use of coyotes. This project will continue into 2023 and we hope to gain a better understanding of the predation pressures coyotes have on shorebirds. |
Our aquatic ecology team will be monitoring kettle ponds again this year and continuing to focus on cyanobacteria blooms and indicators of pond health. In addition, park staff will be monitoring the water quality of the estuaries along with the annual seagrass monitoring activities. We look forward to continuing our collaborative research on horseshoe crab use in the East Harbor system, as well as our studies on making salt marsh ecosystems sustainable throughout the 21st century.
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Since 2003, Cape Cod National Seashore has monitored salt marsh vegetation every five years and this will be repeated in 2023. Monitoring will take place in natural systems such as Nauset Marsh as well as tidally restricted systems like Hatches Harbor and East Harbor. In total, CACO monitors almost 600 plots across salt marsh ecosystems within the Seashore. This important coastal habitat is gravely threatened by sea level rise and crab herbivory. Experimental work investigating the potential to control herbivory by the purple marsh crab (Sesarma reticulatum) will continue in 2023. |
The Herring River Restoration Project reached several significant milestones in 2022 including the completion of permitting and funding to begin construction on the Chequessett Neck Road bridge. The park continues to work towards completing the design and engineering on a smaller water control structure on Mill Creek. We are also continuing to study tidal patterns, water quality, sediment dynamics and other ecological indicators to fully document the project's benefits. Working closely with project partners such as Ducks Unlimited and the Center for Coastal Studies, we are also planning to implement vegetation management and related research in the Duck Harbor area of Wellfleet. |
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PARK NEWS
by William Burke, Acting Chief of Interpretation, Education and Cultural Resource
Management, Cultural Resources Program Manager
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Great American Outdoors Act Award Announced
The park has received $8.338 million in project funding through the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) to remove excess structures and restore natural landscapes. Site preparation work for the project will begin this month, and most of the hazardous building material remediation, construction waste recycling, and demolition will be completed between spring 2023 and spring 2024.
The structures to undergo demolition include 44 non-historic structures that are derelict and dilapidated, posing serious threats to public safety as they contain hazardous building materials or are substantially deteriorated. The structures are exposed, their structural deterioration is accelerating, and some are heavily vandalized, while others are collapsing. Many of the structures were transferred to the National Park Service (NPS) when the former North Truro Air Force Station was decommissioned in the 1990s. The remaining structures were acquired by the NPS as Cape Cod National Seashore was established in the 1960s and 1970s.
Funding for the project is from GAOA’s National Parks and Public Lands Legacy Restoration Fund. GAOA is part of a concerted effort to address the extensive maintenance backlog in national parks. Supported by revenue from energy development, the fund provides up to $1.3 billion per year for five years to the NPS to make significant enhancements in national parks to ensure their preservation and provide opportunities for recreation, education, and enjoyment for current and future visitors.
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Herring River Restoration Work Has Begun
After years of scientific research, planning, and fundraising, the Herring River Restoration project has come to life. When completed, this 1,700 acre estuary restoration project will be one of the largest ecological restoration projects in park service history. In November, park staff, in partnership with AmeriCorps Cape Cod members and park volunteers, began the groundwork to clear freshwater vegetation that has encroached into the former tidal floodplain around the Herring River in Wellfleet.
Work crews from Americorps cleared thick and overgrown vines, shrubs, and small trees from about six acres along the Herring River in the area around High Toss Road in Wellfleet. The area has seen increased freshwater vegetation since 1909 when saltwater flow in the river was blocked by the installation of the Chequessett Neck Road Dike. Before the dike was built, most of the Herring River supported highly productive salt marsh, dominated by cordgrass and other native salt tolerant species. The lack of tidal exchange and saltwater input into the estuary led to the conversion of salt marsh to freshwater wetlands. All these freshwater wetland species will eventually die-back as the native salt marsh is revived by restored tidal flow.
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In addition to vegetation clearing around High Toss Road, the park is beginning a similar vegetation clearing process at Duck Harbor. Since January 2021, the 120-acre Duck Harbor floodplain has had periodic over wash of saltwater breaking over the dunes on Cape Cod Bay. Higher high tides occurring for 3-5 days during most months allowed saltwater to flow rapidly inland and slowly drain back out through the Herring River and into Wellfleet Harbor. The saltwater accumulation in Duck Harbor caused a massive die-off of upland and fresh-water trees and plants that had colonized the area after the 1909 diking of the Herring River.
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Boardwalk Repair Work at Beech Forest and Small’s Swamp Completed
Last summer, park staff began replacement work at the boardwalk at the Beech Forest Trail (pictured). The boardwalk was replaced with polyforce recycled material, known for its structural integrity and its environmental compatibility. This is the same material used in the reconstruction of the Red Maple Swamp trail boardwalk in Eastham in 2018 and the Atlantic White Cedar Swamp trail boardwalk in Wellfleet in 2020. The project was completed in October. The next phase of work will involve replacing the interpretive platform.
Smalls Swamp Trail in Truro also saw boardwalk rehabilitation with the same material used at Beech Forest. We are eternally grateful to our fantastic maintenance crew for a job well done. Get out there and check the trails out!
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Friends of the Cape Cod National Seashore, PO Box 550, Wellfleet, MA 02667 508-957-0729
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E-News Editor: Betsy Bray Layout: Marianne McCaffery
Unless otherwise indicated, all photos courtesy of the National Park Service
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