One Ocean, One Island

Two key decisions landed in the public arena this week relating to wind turbine development in ocean waters off the Vineyard. One came at the state level, as Gov. Deval Patrick’s Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan was released. The other was at the federal level, where the National Park Service, siding with an earlier opinion late last year of the Massachusetts Historic Preservation Officer and the Wampanoag tribes of Mashpee and Aquinnah, ruled that Nantucket Sound is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

Both issues deserve careful scrutiny by Islanders, who all have a future stake in the matters at hand.

The Ocean Management Plan

“The sea has sustained the Bay State for generations,” writes Ian Bowles, state secretary of energy and environmental affairs, in the preface to the ocean plan which he authored. “With this plan we deepen and formalize the commonwealth’s commitment to managing its ocean resources with the best science and strong environmental protections.”

Hailed by The Boston Globe as a pioneering blueprint for balancing competing uses of the sea, in fact the densely written hundred-page-plus plan reads more like a technical manual for ocean development. Wind turbines, sand and gravel mining, pipelines and cables are the main chapter headings, while the plan skates only lightly across protection of fragile ecosystems, including fish and bird populations.

That said, the plan is a necessary step. Secretary Bowles wins no prizes for literary excellence or readability but predictably has written the state’s first ocean management plan in his own voice, the voice of a bureaucrat.

The essence of the plan lies in its chapters on wind turbines and the siting of them. As has been well reported in recent months during discussion about a draft version of the plan, two areas are targeted as the only places suitable for commercial wind development in the commonwealth: one off Noman’s Land and the other off Cuttyhunk, at the westernmost end of the Elizabeth Island chain. The final plan adds some regulatory clarity: commercial wind development in the area off Noman’s will be subject to review by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, but the area off Cuttyhunk will be excluded from commission review, “even if the commission is found to have jurisdiction,” the plan states. This extra language is clearly a nod to Gosnold, which expressly asked to be excluded from commission review in a letter to the state, outlining its willingness to host a wind farm, providing there are enough environmental and other safeguards to meet its standards. And good for the people of Gosnold. They have admirably high standards and will no doubt put the ocean plan to the test when it comes to a wind farm off Cuttyhunk.

And at this juncture the people of the Vineyard would do well to take a page from Gosnold’s book and zero in on the future commercial wind farm at Noman’s. The time for railing against Mr. Bowles, however flawed his policies may be, is over. It is time for action, beginning with the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, which has wisely voted to designate a district of critical planning concern over waters around the Vineyard, triggering a one-year moratorium on ocean wind farms. The one year is intended to allow time to develop rules and regulations.

So the real work begins now and in earnest. The Island has an opportunity to show leadership in the development of regulations for wind farms, both at Noman’s and in areas designated for community wind projects. It is imperative that Islanders of every stripe who are free from special interests get involved this time around. Educate yourself; attend the commission meetings; listen; speak out. It’s your Island, your commonwealth, your world. What can you contribute?

Nantucket Sound on National Historic Register

There is relief in the declaration by the National Park Service because it spells a certain end to the nine-year standoff over Cape Wind, the controversial giant commercial wind farm planned for an area on Horseshoe Shoal, in federal waters. Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar has called a meeting between spokesmen for Cape Wind and the two tribal branches, seeking common ground and setting a date of March 1 for some kind of resolution. It is deeply gratifying to see recognition given to the American Indian traditional stakeholders and not just the money-backed developers of Nantucket Sound. But now the dialogue must be about the best way to move forward, and to recognize legitimate claims on both sides of the table. The Cape Wind developers have never demonstrated much willingness for compromise; this is their chance to change that. And for their part the Wampanoags, whose culture is rooted in a deeply felt stewardship of Nantucket Sound that goes back for thousands of years, must show that they too are willing to compromise, in the very name of stewardship as climate change threatens their sacred lands.