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By BILL DANIELSON

It was a beautiful morning in late April and I was out exploring a trail around a quiet pond. The trail around the pond was well maintained and because it was so early in the spring there were no leaves on the trees. This is what allowed me to notice a large number of Eastern Painted Turtles that were sunning themselves on the trunk of a fallen tree and it was thoughts of photos that diverted me off the trail and closer to the water’s edge.

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — Solar panels have been installed on Fisher Hill Elementary School’s roof, another step in a renovation project that began nearly five years ago.

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

GREENFIELD — After a year of planning, Mayor Ginny Desorgher will join community members and the environmental nonprofit Greening Greenfield on Saturday to start planting trees along the perimeter of the former Wedgewood Gardens mobile home park on Colrain Street.

By DOMENIC POLI

WENDELL — The citizens group that formed in 2023 in opposition to a since-withdrawn proposal for a 105-megawatt battery storage facility plans to present clean energy siting suitability findings to state policymakers in Holyoke on May 5.

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

GREENFIELD — In recognition of Arbor Day, the city’s Tree Committee and the Department of Public Works will plant a honeylocust tree near Kostanski Funeral Home, a business that has been a key supporter of the Tree Committee for roughly 20 years.

By DOMENIC POLI

Four weeks before the real Mother’s Day rolls around, a bunch of local environmental organizations are leading an online giving day to honor Mother Earth.

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — To celebrate Earth Day, the Energy Committee is helping to organize free, family-friendly activities at Fisher Hill Elementary School on Tuesday, April 22.

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

GREENFIELD — A 25-acre portion of the city’s downtown will soon be home to dozens of trees through a state grant-funded effort to combat extreme heat with shade.

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — The city’s celebration of Earth Day isn’t new, but the parade is.

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

COLRAIN — The Connecticut River Conservancy and the town of Colrain have been awarded $224,100 from the Barnhardt Manufacturing Co. sulfuric acid spill settlement fund to support removing the Colrain Lower Reservoir Dam as part of efforts to restore the North River.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

LEVERETT — A proposed donation of a 147-acre working forest in North Leverett, which would continue to be actively managed under town ownership and open for hunting, will be decided by voters at the May 3 Annual Town Meeting.

By CHRIS LARABEE

CONWAY — With a 65-acre conservation restriction enacted in mid-March, 74 acres of land on Reeds Bridge Road have now been permanently conserved by a local family and the Franklin Land Trust.

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

GREENFIELD — Officials at the Greenfield-based Connecticut River Conservancy are left waiting amid the freeze of $13 million in federal funding that had been awarded to the environmental advocacy nonprofit, including $11.5 million for river restoration in New Hampshire.

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

BOSTON — The state Department of Environmental Protection is fining Falls Farm, which has property in Montague and Sunderland, for violating the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act and Massachusetts Clean Water Act.

By MADISON SCHOFIELD and CHRIS LARABEE

Four Franklin County towns have received Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Planning 2.0 (MVP 2.0) grants totaling $350,000 for climate change planning projects.

By EMILEE KLEIN

HADLEY — The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Department Service’s Northeast regional headquarters in Hadley is proposed to close on Aug. 31 as part of the federal General Services Administration initiative to end leases for 164 federal office spaces nationwide, according to a list leaked by a government whistleblower.

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

Stella Verlander, a Greenfield High School senior who plans to study political science in college with an eye toward an environmental law degree, is president of the GHS Sustainability Club. Verlander revived the club following pandemic interruptions, with the aim of educating people about issues related to conservation, climate crises, and political action. “Any obstacles are not about lack of interest,” she said. “The real problem is ignorance.”

GREENFIELD — Greening Greenfield’s next event in its series on supporting birds will take place Monday, Feb. 24, at 6:30 p.m. at the Second Congregational Church, located at 16 Court Square.

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

ASHFIELD — Tighe & Bond engineers are proposing the town take on a year-long study of the effectiveness of different methods to control the buildup of vegetation and invasive species on the Ashfield Lake Dam.

By CHRIS LARABEE

WHATELY — Residents with thoughts on where they would like to see pollinator-centered landscape projects are encouraged to join town officials for a community forum on Thursday, Feb. 27.