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<TITLE>Talk and walk by Author and geologist Robert Thorson on kettle ponds</TITLE>
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<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B><FONT FACE="Calibri">For Immediate Release: Contacts: </FONT></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B> </B></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">September 9, 2009 Melissa Lowe (Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary): 508 349-2615</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B><U></U></B></SPAN><B><U><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></U><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Arial">The History and Importance of Kettle Ponds is subject of a FREE lecture by “Beyond Walden” author Robert Thorson</FONT></SPAN></B></P>
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<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=4 FACE="Arial">Talk is co-sponsored by Cape Cod National Seashore and Mass Audubon. </FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">South Wellfleet, MA</FONT></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">. – While</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Cape Cod is best known for its saltwater environments, there is more to the Cape than just ocean, bay, and beaches. Tucked away among the pine-oak woodlands are deep and clear freshwater ponds. These quiet hollows with their lenses of still water reflecting the surrounding landscape are a quintessential feature of the old coastal sandplains. Many of them can be classified as coastal plain ponds. No doubt many people have spent the blissful hours along the shores of these globally rare habitats, completely unaware of their significance. But these</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> ponds’ importance and geologic history will be the subject of a talk on September 26 by Robert Thorson, author of the new book</FONT></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B><I></I></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B><I></I></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B><I> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Beyond Walden: The Hidden History of America’s Kettle Lakes and Ponds</FONT></I></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">.</FONT></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B> </B></SPAN></P>
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<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">When the Laurentide ice sheet began receding over 15,000 years ago, it left a string of “kettle” lakes and ponds from Cape Cod to the High Plains. Unlike the Great Lakes, classic kettles have no inlet or outlet but are natural wells fed by groundwater. Walden Pond, that icon of transcendentalism and environmentalism, was one such. The fictitious Lake Wobegon exemplifies the mythic lake culture created by kettles in the last century. Thousands of others dot the landscape, with several hundred on Cape Cod, and though they may be lesser known, still represent valuable ecological and spiritual oases, each unique in their own way.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Thorson will be speaking on</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Saturday, September 26 at 7 p.m</FONT></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">. The program, co-sponsored by Cape Cod National Seashore and Mass Audubon, will be</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">held at the Salt Pond Visitor Center</FONT></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> in Eastham. It is</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">free and open to the public</FONT></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">. During the talk, Thorson will focus on Thoreau’s observations on the kettles of the Outer Cape, compared with the famous Walden; ponder why there is a high concentration of kettles on the Cape and why they are so pure; provide insight into the glacial story of Salt Pond; and discuss the sensitivity of kettle ponds to degradation.</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">As described in his book</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I></I></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I></I></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I> <FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Beyond Walden</FONT></I></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">, kettle ponds are fragile ecosystems that are in constant tension with human overdevelopment. In essence “fossil icebergs” (the melted remnants of ice blocks) they are also repositories of ancient flora and fauna beneath the surface. Kettles reveal an enormous amount about who we are and where we came from. Preserving them has never been more important.</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">And on</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Sunday, September 27 at 10 a.m</FONT></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">., Robert Thorson will lead a</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">guided walk</FONT></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> along the Wellfleet ponds. Cost for the walk is $12 for Mass Audubon members, $14 for non-members. Group size is limited for this walk; registration is required. Call 508-349-2615 for details or to register.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Robert Thorson</FONT></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">is a professor of geology at the University of Connecticut and an environmental columnist for the</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I></I></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I></I></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I> <FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Hartford Courant</FONT></I></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">. He is the author of</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I></I></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I></I></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I> <FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Stone by Stone</FONT></I></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> and</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I></I></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I></I></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I> <FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Exploring Stone Walls</FONT></I></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">, and lives in New England. Visit</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I></I></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I></I></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I> <FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Beyond Walden</FONT></I></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">’s Web site:</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> </SPAN><A HREF="http://www.kettle.uconn.edu/"><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B><U><FONT COLOR="#235698" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">www.kettle.uconn.edu</FONT></U></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">For more information about the program please call Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary at 508-349-2615.</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR ALIGN=CENTER><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR ALIGN=CENTER><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=1 FACE="Arial">###</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I></I></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I></I></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I></I></SPAN></P>
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<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Calibri">**********************************************<BR>
</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Melissa Lowe, Education Coordinator</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri"><BR>
</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Mass Audubon's Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri"><BR>
</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">PO Box 236, South Wellfleet, MA 02663</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri"><BR>
</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">mlowe@massaudubon.org</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri"><BR>
</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">508-349-2615, ext 107</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri"> </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Protecting the Nature of Massachusetts</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri"><BR>
</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">www.massaudubon.org/wellfleetbay</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri"> </FONT></SPAN></P>
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