Almost every day, wetlands are drained, vernal pools are filled, and rivers are polluted. Fortunately, bureaucratic government agencies are not the only actors capable of environmental protection— through a little research, a few phone calls, and a lot of tenacity, individual citizens can stand up for the environment on their own. Bruce Winn, president and co-founder of Berkshire Environmental Protection Team (BEAT), has been speaking up on local environmental issues all his life. At Friday’s Log Lunch, Mr. Winn shared his stories and encouraged students to become activists themselves.
As inspiration, Mr. Winn recounted his battle with the Pittsfield Mosquito Board to save a local wetland. Citing an exemption in the Massachusetts Wetland Protection Act, the Mosquito Board planned to remove a beaver dam and drain a 30-acre wetland. A skeptical Mr. Winn read the law himself and found that the purported exemption did not even exist. Furthermore, Mr. Winn found a serious lack of scientific and statistical evidence to support to the Mosquito Board’s claim of increasing mosquito populations. Following a series of phone calls and town meetings, Mr. Winn emerged victorious. Today, the wetland sits unscathed as a home for several of Massachusetts rare and endangered species and a testament to the power of grassroots activism.
Jane and Bruce Winn at The Log