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NEWS AND NOTES

NOVEMBER MEETING REPORT. Members who attended the November 6 meeting were treated to a most enjoyable presentation of nature slides by Mary Beth Harris. The slides, including many of Island coast and beach scenes, showed the members just what can be accomplished by heading out into the field with

wide open eyes and camera in hand.

NATURE ESSAY CONTEST REMINDER. A reminder to students 18 or under of the December 31 deadline for entries in the national nature essay contest sponsored by the Canadian Nature Federation. For further information contact the Newsletter Editor or refer to the October issue of the Newsletter.

SLIDE CONTEST REMINDER. For the past several years the Natural History Society has been sponsoring a nature slide competition for pictures taken by members. Anyone planning to submit slides for next spring's contest is reminded that eligible slides must have been taken on P.E.I. by the entrant and not entered in a previous competition.

SCIENCE FAIR PRIZE. In a move aimed at encouraging Island high school students to a greater interest in natural history and environmental issues, the Natural History Society will be donating prizes to the Provincial Science Fair for the best projects submitted on an environmental theme. The Science Fair will be held at U.P.E.I. in the Spring and prizes will be awarded to the winning entry in Grades 7-9 and 10-12.

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL TIME. In order to ensure uninterrupted newsletter delivery, members should act now to renew NHS membership for 1980. Particulars on rates and how to renew are given inside the front cover of the newsletter.

EROSION REPORT RELEASED. The long-anticipated report on soil erosion in this province has recently been released by government. The study, prepared by U.P.E.I. biologist Ian MacQuarrie, identifies erosion as a long-standing and persistent problem on P. E. I. and states that improved land management practices will be the key to its control. As a premise to the eleven recommendations which follow, Dr. MacQuarrie establishes erosion control as a 'social problem' whose overall costs cannot be expected to be borne by individual landowners. The report recommends that the Technical Services Branch of the Department of Agriculture assume leadership in erosion-control activities. Departments of Forestry, Environment and Highways, as well as individuals and groups are also expected to become involved. Government should implement changes in agricultural policy to promote use of organic techniques, soil conserving tillage machinery, and livestock production in comparison to cash cropping. On-site monitoring of highway and construction projects is also recommended.

Erratum. Among the answers to the KNOW YOUR GRASSES quiz which appeared in the November newsletter, numbers 2 and 15 were inadvertently interchanged. The answer to question 2, a wiry grass named for a seashore animal, should be crabgrass (Digitaria sanguinalis). The answer to question 15, dune grass, should be marram grass (Ammonhila breviligulata).