Wildlife Biologist to Speak at January Berkshire Green Drinks Event

Print Story | Email Story

DALTON, Mass. — MassWildlife biologist Nathan Buckhout will present at the January Berkshire Green Drinks event on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025.

This free hybrid event will be held both online via Zoom and in person at The Stationery Factory, 63 Flansburg Ave, Dalton. The in-person gathering begins at 5:00 PM, with the presentation and Zoom session starting at 6:00 PM.

Buckhout will share insights on black bear behavior, his research on Massachusetts black bears, and ways to prevent human-bear conflicts. A Q&A session will follow, during which attendees can ask questions about all types of wildlife.

Nathan Buckhout, an Air Force veteran and wildlife conservation biologist, has worked in locations including Alaska, Yellowstone, and the Great Smoky Mountains. He has been with MassWildlife since 2014 and holds a Master’s degree in wildlife conservation biology from UMass Amherst.

Berkshire Green Drinks is a monthly gathering organized by the Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT), featuring discussions on environmental topics. Learn more and RSVP at tinyurl.com/Jan2025-Berks-Green-Drinks. For more information, contact Chelsey Simmons at chelsey@thebeatnews.org or (413) 464-9402.

 


Tags: BEAT,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Dalton Board of Health Updates Food Permit Fee System

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — Food establishments can anticipate a change to their food establishment permit fees. 
 
The board of health approved a new permitting system that shifts away from a flat fee to a categorized system that uses the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's risk-based food establishment categories. 
 
Rather than having an "arbitrary" flat price structure that focuses on the specific type of business, number of seats, square footage, and other factors, the new system categorizes establishments based on a risk assessment, Berkshire Regional Planning Commission Health Agent Jazu Stine said. 
 
Under this new system, an establishment's risk level category dictates how many times a year they need to be inspected, he said. 
 
The more inspections needed, the higher the permit fee should be to cover the cost of doing Inspections, Stine's proposal said. 
 
"[We're] trying not to lose money by doing a lot of inspections that you're not really getting paid for,"Board member James "Jimbo" Doucette said. 
 
"Unfortunately, I mean, I think we can all attest to just like everything in the world is getting rapidly more expensive in the past few years," Stine added. 
 
View Full Story

More Dalton Stories