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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">CIRenew Forum to Focus on
</b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">“Losing Cape Cod” and the Roles of Salt Marshes and Land Use in Adapting to Climate Change
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<font face="Calibri"><font size="3">The Cape and Islands Renewable Energy Collaborative will hold its next forum, “<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">"</span></font><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Losing
Cape Cod: Sea Levels, Salt Marshes, Land Use & Climate Change"</span></span><font size="3"> at 6:30 pm on Wednesday, January 23 at the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve Visitor Center.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
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<font face="Calibri"><font size="3">Featured speakers will be Tom Stone, research associate at the Woods Hole Research Center and Alison Leschen, manager of the Waquoit Bay Reserve who will share research from their respective organizations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Mark Robinson of the Compact for Cape Cod Conservation Trusts will also be on hand to inform attendees how they can get involved with their local conservation trust. Most people know salt marshes are important as fish and shellfish nurseries and to absorb
the power of storms but evidence is emerging that they may play an even more crucial role in protecting human interests.
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Tom Stone will set the stage with an update of the
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Losing</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">
Cape Cod</i> maps, which revealed the shocking decrease of open space on Cape Cod from 1950-1990. His newest maps bring these maps to the current day showing Cape Cod continues to lose open space at an alarming rate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>He will also share graphic representations of the rate of sea level rise locally, which puts an additional squeeze on coastal wetlands if building structures have been placed in the area where the wetlands would naturally move back. Tom poses the question,
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">"October's Hurricane Sandy brought the twin nightmares of sea level rise and a hurricane together on a coastline similar to ours and not far away. What's the message for us from this disaster?"</span><o:p></o:p></font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Alison Leschen will share results of a greenhouse gas audit done this past year that attempts to quantify the Reserve’s carbon footprint. The analysis included not only the
amount of carbon emitted by the Waquoit Bay Reserve’s operations, but also how much the Reserve’s nearly 1300 acres of lands can store and how the Reserve was able to cut emissions by 20% in the last eight years, which has implications for other land-holding
businesses and organizations. She will also introduce attendees to a multi-organizational, three-year research project at South Cape Beach in Mashpee that the Reserve is heading up, which includes quantifying the role salt marshes can play in storing carbon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Entitled “Bringing Wetlands to Market – Coastal Blue C and N, ” the project will supply the science, model and methodology to enable salt marshes to be part of world carbon markets. This knowledge and tools could lead to policies and economic incentives
to support wetlands protection. <o:p></o:p></font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Calibri">The program is free and open to all. Simple refreshments will be provided. Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve is located at 149 Waquoit Highway (Route 28) in Waquoit,
East Falmouth. For directions and other information, check </font><a href="http://www.waquoitbayreserve.org/"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">www.waquoitbayreserve.org</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"> or call 508-457-0495 x107.
Attendees are encouraged to bring a flashlight for walking from the parking lot to the visitor center.<o:p></o:p></font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Calibri">For more information about CIrenew (Cape and Islands Renewable Energy Collaborative) check
</font><a href="http://www.cirenew.org/"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">www.cirenew.org</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>. The program is co-sponsored by CIRenew, the Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts, and Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.<o:p></o:p></font></font></p>
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