Here's a great way to start off 2025! Get outside by participating in one or two nature walks being led by the Brewster Conservation Trust (BCT). These walks are free and suitable for adults and children over the age of 12. 

• 9 AM walk: 1-mile, flat trail at Eagle Point (approximately one hour)
• 1 PM walk: 2.5-mile, hilly and rocky trail at Calf Field Pond (approximately two hours)

To register for the walks, click here or visit the BCT website, www.brewsterconservationtrust.org.

There will be additional free outdoor activities across Cape Cod sponsored by other conservation land trusts and conservation-related nonprofit organizations. To find them, type "First Day Hikes 2025" in your browser or click here. On January 1, 2024, 18 free events across the Cape attracted over 750 participants.  

Out of shared concern for the protection of our community's water resources, the joint Boards of the Brewster Ponds Coalition (BPC) and the Brewster Conservation Trust (BCT) voted to approve a resolution, sent to the Select Board on September 28, 2024, which:

• Advocates for a town-wide feasibility study to identify the best locations in Brewster for attainable and affordable housing, and
• Resolves that the BPC and BCT will only support the development of affordable housing on the Long Pond property if the wastewater management plan for the development is expanded to result in a substantial net improvement of water quality in the Long Pond, Herring River, and Zone II watersheds. 

Click here to see the final draft of the resolution sent to the Select Board. 

BPC President Susan Bridges and BCT President Charlie Sumner attended the Sea Camps Property Advisory Commission meeting on September 30, 2024, during which this resolution was mentioned. You can read more here about the comments made in this article written in The Cape Cod Chronicle.

Prior to the resolution, the BPC Board of Directors sent a letter to the Select Board on August 14, 2024, outlining its concerns regarding the plan to build 40+ units of affordable housing on the Long Pond Sea Camps property. The main points of that letter (available here) are:

• The BPC continues to support the acquisition of the Sea Camps properties, particularly the Long Pond property, to help protect water quality in the Long Pond, Herring River, and Zone II watersheds.
• Now that the plan includes 40+ affordable housing units on 10 acres of the property, the BPC Board reminds the Select Board that the final plan included assurances that wastewater treatment planned for the affordable housing would be expanded to result in a substantial net improvement of water quality in the above-mentioned watersheds.
• A request to be kept informed of the details regarding the wastewater management plan and implementation. 

The BCT and BPC are currently developing a communications plan to educate Brewster residents about our concerns. In the meantime, we hope you will join us in support of a town-wide feasibility study to identify the best locations for housing and in closely monitoring proposed plans for managing wastewater related to development of affordable housing on the Long Pond property.

The Citizen Science Program, now in its 8th year, is testing 20 Brewster ponds for cyanobacteria bi-weekly from May through October. Fifty-three volunteers divided into teams of two to three people grab water samples every other Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning. Posted here are the most recent test results. This chart will be updated bi-monthly until the end of our testing cycle in October. A year-end report of the season will be available in January 2025.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Marty Burke via email:
[email protected]

Summer is quickly drawing to a close and the BPC has planned its last ride of the season! Don't miss this chance to join the fun on Thursday, September 26.

We will head west on the Cape Cod Rail Trail (CCRT) through Harwich, Dennis, and into Yarmouth, passing Sheep, Seymour, Long, and Hinkley's ponds, the West Reservoir, and riding over the new Bass River bridge. This will be a fun ride on a fairly new spur of the CCRT.

To get ready and chat about the ride, please plan on meeting no later than 9:15 AM at the CCRT parking lot on Route 137 across from Ferretti's Market. Be sure to read the BPC Cycling Group "Rules of the Road." The notes will tell you all you need to know from clothes to wear, how to ride safely in a group, simple cycling terms, and safety thoughts and tips. The ride is limited to 12 participants.