WCT held its 37th annual meeting at the Chequessett Club in Wellfleet on August 17, 2022.
It was a celebration of a very successful year. President Denny O’Connell related the history of the WCT and reviewed recent WCT activities, including land acquisitions.
The Wellfleet Conservation Trust will have its first in person annual meeting in three years. Please join our Trustees Wednesday, August 17, 2022, 4-6 pm, for informal discussion, hors d’oeuvres, and a cash bar on the deck of the Chequessett Club (680 Chequessett Neck Rd, Wellfleet).
The reception will be followed by our Annual Meeting, which will include a presentation by Denny O’Connell – President of the Wellfleet Conservation Trust (WCT), who will speak about the history of the WCT. Denny will also review recent WCT activities and land acquisitions followed by Q&A.
Our previous post and email notification failed to include the meeting date and time.
When: Wednesday, December 15, 2021 at 5-6 pm, Eastern time
Please pre-register at info@wellfleetconservationtrust.org. We will give you the Zoom connection details via email.
Please join us for a focused Annual Meeting on your Wellfleet Conservation Trust. Due to pandemic concerns, we have not been able to meet in person since our August 2019 Annual Meeting, but we have some statutory requirements, so we hope you can join us via Zoom. There will be a brief review of recent activities, a video presentation of our new Herring River Overlook site, and election of Trustees for terms ending in 2023 and 2024.
We miss meeting in person but plan for a regular, in-person annual meeting in the summer of 2022.
The Wellfleet Conservation Trust (WCT) just held its 34th Annual Meeting.
Ms. Heather McElroy, the Natural Resources/Land Protection Specialist for the Cape Cod Commission, delivered the keynote address. She described work of the Commission, with a special focus on the Commission’s work in Wellfleet.
In a presentation entitled, “Planning to Keep Wellfleet Special,” Ms. McElroy helped the audience understand the challenge for the Commission, first in terms of Cape geography, with its 560 miles of coastline, 15 towns, and a population of 216,000, which more than doubles in the summer, and a single freshwater aquifer. The Commission’s mission, “…to protect the unique values and quality of life on Cape Cod by balancing environmental protection and economic progress,” proceeds in a context of sea level rise and changing climate.
She then described the various strategies that the Commission uses to address these challenges, including helping to develop adaptation strategies and providing decision support tools. In Wellfleet, the Commission has worked on affordable housing and historical preservation. In addition there are Cape-wide projects, such as the Outer Cape Bike Plan. As an example, see “Buy Fresh, Buy Local,” an award-winning story map.
There was a lively Q/A session, in which the audience asked about the Commission’s work in detail, discussed political resources and constraints, and explored the relationship of the Commission to other organizations, such as the WCT.
The Annual Meeting began at 9:30 AM, with coffee and a spread of delicious pastries. It was called to order at 10:00 AM. During the business meeting, President Denny O’Connell presented an historical overview of the group’s actions and achievements. A key point was that the all-volunteer Trust now has 385 acres in Wellfleet under its protection. There was also a Treasurer’s report, an invitation to the upcoming Annual Walk, the election of new Trustees, and a tribute to the late Don Palladino.
Annual Meetings are open to the public; no reservation needed.
Mr. Peter Trull, Cape Cod Naturalist, author and educator, delivered the keynote address, based on his recent book entitled The Gray Curtain – The Impact of Seals, Sharks and Commercial Fishing along the Northeast Coast, at the Wellfleet Conservation Trust (WCT) Annual Meeting and Review at the Wellfleet Council on Aging.
Mr. Trull showed, through discussion and vivid photographs, the relationship between commercial fishing, expanding gray seal populations and great white sharks along the beaches and in the waters of Cape Cod. This “Gray Curtain” has come about after geologic and environmental changes, as well as animal migrations and population increases. Each has had an effect on the location and, though daily and seasonal changes are accepted as normal, there are great transformations taking place that may go unnoticed, some, unexplained.
“Mr. Trull’s presentation is of current interest, in light of the public’s adoration of seals, the recreational and commercial fishers’ frustrations with the seals and the growing public awareness of increases in great white shark sightings in Wellfleet and other parts of the Cape,” says WCT President Dennis O’Connell.
The WCT Annual Meeting began at 10:00 AM at the Wellfleet Council on Aging, 715 Old King’s Hwy in Wellfleet. Annual Meetings are open to the public; no reservation needed. Light refreshments are provided. Prior to Mr. Trull’s presentation, the Trust held its short annual business meeting and presented a historical overview of the group’s actions and achievements.
Wellfleet Conservation Trust 
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