image description — BEAT Staying Connected Initiative Coordinator Mikael Cejtin, left, and Executive Director Jane Winn show off their locally-made stewardship awards, presented by Patricia Cramer, director of the Wildlife Connectivity Institute.

BEAT Receives International Stewardship Award

05:17PM / Monday, July 10, 2023Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Environmental Action Team received a stewardship award for its work protecting and re-connecting wildlife habitats in the Berkshire Wildlife Linkage area.

The award was presented June at the International Conference on Ecology and Transportation.

The local environmental organization's habitat effort is part of a larger Staying Connected Initiative: a partnership of many conservation organizations that work together to maintain landscape connectivity across the Northern Appalachians in the Acadian Region of the United States and Canada.

Tags: BEAT, recognition event,

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Lanesborough ZBA Member Mark Siegars Resigns

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
04:44PM / Tuesday, March 10, 2026

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Heated Zoning Board of Appeals meetings, which have already led to two lawsuits against the town, have now resulted in the resignation of a board member.

The board's former chair, Mark Siegars, resigned from his position on Monday, after being removed as chair by the Select Board for his conduct a month prior, The Berkshire Eagle reported.

iBerkshires has reached out to the town administrator for confirmation.

Emotions have run high following contentious ZBA meetings held over the past several months, culminating in both businesses involved filing lawsuits against the town. More information here.

The rift started to develop in January during a meeting to determine whether the Lanesborough Local Country Store's sign on its vintage pickup truck violated town bylaws. The board ultimately voted to uphold the building inspector's citation.

The meeting resulted in two complaints to the town, following the nearly 40-minute discussion that had short bursts of yelling in between.

The meeting was not recorded by the board or by LCATV and the town requested iBerkshires share its recording to provide the Select Board additional context surrounding the few complaints.

It is not iBerkshires.com's policy to share unpublished recordings or meeting notes. However, iBerkshires.com did write an article outlining the argument.

According to The Eagle, all Zoning Board of Appeals meetings will now be recorded to ensure transparency.

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