PACE (People of Ayer Concerned about the Environment)

06/18/2026

Come help out maintain one of our town’s lovely pocket forests!

We're hoping that the weather holds this time! Please join us!

06/16/2026

URGENT Action to Protect Wildlife 🚨

Speak up today: https://bit.ly/sgarvote

Tomorrow, the House of Representatives is taking up the Mass Ready Act, and Amendment #10 would phase out the use of anticoagulant rodenticides statewide.

Across Massachusetts, thousands of beloved pets and wildlife including owls, hawks, and foxes are being poisoned by these toxic rodenticides. And many die after suffering prolonged, painful deaths from ingesting rodenticides through contaminated prey.

Make your voice heard!

Contact your representatives today and urge them to support this amendment. We need them to hear from as many supporters as possible before they vote on June 17.


TAKE ACTION TODAY > https://bit.ly/sgarvote

Urge your state representative to support Amendment #10 to the Mass Ready Act.

06/05/2026

Important reminders if you need to help a turtle cross the road. Also, never pick up a turtle by their tail. If necessary, pick them up, as shown in the post, by picking up the lower 1/3.

'From mid-May to early July, thousands of female turtles across Massachusetts travel to lay eggs, commonly resulting in them crossing roads.' [Masswildlife]

Please slow down if you see one in the street and exercise some patience. It will cross. If it makes you 5 or 10 minutes late to work or to pick up your child from school, just tell those at your destination that you were yielding to wildlife in order to protect it and its offspring.

If you absolutely need to move it along, please:

🐢pick it up gently and grab the rear third of its shell, just above its back legs (to avoid being bitten if it should extend its neck), and also keep your eyes on its claws;

🐢stay low to the ground as you move it along, so that if it reacts or stresses, which may involve it kicking its legs, you don't drop it from an elevated height;

🐢only move it in the direction it is already headed, otherwise it will try to cross the street again-it has a planned destination.

Please understand that we cannot respond to every call about a turtle crossing the street. There are 'thousands' of these remember!

And we really don't enjoy responding when they've been run over so please try to avoid it!

Also, if a turtle appears to be nesting on your property, just let it finish-it won't be more than a few hours, and then it'll leave and shouldn't return again. The eggs will be so well burried that you'll probably never even know they are there. When they hatch, in Sept/Oct, the babies will head straight to a body of water on their own. You may never even see them at that time either (unless you're really lucky!)🐢

05/28/2026

05/28/2026

Guess what? Our Summer Photo Contest is returning for another year!

Starting June 1, NCLT is inviting photo submissions that celebrate the beauty of our natural lands and the special moments you experience outdoors here in north central Massachusetts. Whether it’s a stunning landscape, a favorite trail, or local wildlife, we want to see it.

Winners will be selected for each of the following categories by a panel of judges:

🌄 Landscapes
🏃🏻 People in Nature
🍄 Plants and Fungi
🐻 Wildlife
🐾 Pets in the Wild

Additionally, one photo will be selected as the “People’s Choice” winner, determined by the results of public online voting from September 1-15. Winners will be announced online and recognized at the Annual Gathering this October with their winning photo(s) on display.

All are welcome to participate. Read more and view last year's results at northcountylandtrust.org/photo-contest

📸: David Ammerman, “Barred Owl”, People’s Choice Winner, 2025

05/28/2026

A powerful read.

ACTON & BEYOND:
Biosphere Book Club May 27, 7pm via Zoom

"Braiding Sweetgrass" — join the discussion of this amazing book fusing science and indigenous knowledge!

You are invited to read the book, but it is not essential. A reflection guide with quotes and questions will be sent to those who register. Sponsored by EnergizeActon.org. Info and registration at: https://energizeacton.org/event/biosphere-book-club-may-title-braiding-sweetgrass/?fbclid=IwY2xjawSBPLRleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFQTTlhb3M2N2kwY09WMnpFc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHoR9rakUScZFfxlpHY-xa-aGjyS83QGdgrUNQWIPCbPoirPnoyV3Ck_PcLAM_aem_ZRk14nRIcYNly6q6lN84UA

05/28/2026

May 28th webinar on rodenticides

🐺🌿🐀 DON'T FORGET! Join us on May 28 for our FREE webinar, How Rodenticides Threaten Bobcats, Coyotes, & Urban Wildlife 🐀🌿🐱

Wildlife poisoning doesn’t stop with rodents.

When hawks, bobcats, coyotes, foxes, or mountain lions consume poisoned rats and mice, toxic rodenticides move up the food chain, weakening wildlife, disrupting ecosystems, and threatening the health of entire communities.

Join Project Coyote’s State Advocacy Manager, Kiely Smith, for a compelling conversation with Dr. Laurel Serieys, Conservation Biologist & Post-Doctoral Researcher, The Ohio State University Urban Coyote Research Project, and Lisa Owens Viani, founder and executive director of Raptors Are The Solution (RATS). Together, we’ll explore the hidden impacts of rodenticides on wildlife and discuss effective, non-lethal approaches to managing rodents while protecting the carnivores who help keep ecosystems in balance.

Webinar Details:
🐾 What: How Rodenticides Threaten Bobcats, Coyotes, & Urban Wildlife
📅 Date: May 28, 2026
🕒 Time: 11 AM PT / 2 PM ET
📍 Where: Zoom
🔗 Register: https://loom.ly/oBtqD10

📷 Nicole Wilde, Contributor

05/28/2026

Great news coming from Rhode Island. Let’s go, Massachusetts!

The Senate today approved legislation sponsored by Senate Health and Human Services Committee Chairwoman Senator Melissa Murray to phase out dangerous rat poisons that harm wildlife and create a pilot program to help communities with safer alternatives for rodent control.

The legislation would prohibit the sale of first-generation anticoagulant rodenticides to consumers in Rhode Island beginning March 1, 2027, and prohibit the sale of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides beginning Jan. 1, 2028.

Anticoagulant rodenticides kill by preventing blood clotting, and although users are targeting rats, there is no way to prevent consumption by nontarget species. Raptors, who are a natural predator of rodents, are particularly imperiled by their use.

“These products are meant to kill rats, but they do great harm to raptors and other wildlife, and they are a risk to children and pets. Their poison accumulates in the bodies of species who eat rodents who have consumed the products, and ironically winds up killing raptors, who are an important part of the food chain that controls the rat population,” said Chairwoman Murray (D-Dist. 24, Woonsocket, North Smithfield.)

Learn more: https://rilegislature.gov/pressrelease/_layouts/15/ril.pressrelease.inputform/DisplayForm.aspx?List=c8baae31-3c10-431c-8dcd-9dbbe21ce3e9&ID=376526

05/27/2026

Help remove invasive garlic mustard from Fruitlands!

Volunteer Opportunity! Join us for an invasive plant removal workday to reduce the spread and effect of garlic mustard. Garlic mustard is an aggressive invader of forest understories and disturbed sites that has negative effects on the ecosystem. Its seeds can remain viable for many years, so it is important to get a head start on removal in the spring before seeds have spread.

Shifts are available on May 30th and 31st from 10am-12pm. The full description and registration is linked here: https://volunteer.thetrustees.org/opportunity/a0CUk00004W55ts/invasive-plant-removal-workday-harvard-ma

Photo Credit: Saxifraga-Peter Meininger

05/27/2026

🌳 The Harvard Climate Initiative is offering Eco-Friendly Home Tours on Saturday, May 30th, 2-4 PM. 🏠

Visit five homes in Harvard to learn about heat pumps (ground, air, ducted, and mini-splits), solar installations, electric lawn equipment, and more.

Registration is helpful but not required.
Visit the HarvardMAClimateInitiative.org for more information.