Bob Ford, Land Protection Specialist
We’ve made big strides toward the permanent conservation of several private properties located on Great Neck in Wareham over the past week and a half.
Last week, Bob Wilber and I attended a meeting of the Wareham Conservation Commission and successfully obtained their signatures on a “municipal certificate” outlining the conservation values and public benefit that will be protected by the efforts of the Great Neck Conservation Partnership Initiative (a public/private partnership between Mass Audubon, the Wareham Land Trust, the Town of Wareham, and the state Department of Conservation & Recreation). Unlike many states, Massachusetts requires that the local Conservation Commission officially endorse and sign a municipal certificate acknowledging the conservation values and public benefits protected by a conservation restriction (CR) prior to its recording. The 300 acres fronting on Buzzards Bay to be protected has numerous conservation values including areas mapped as BioMap Supporting Natural Landscape and Estimated Habitat of Rare Wetland Wildlife by the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, to name a few.
Then this past Tuesday, Bob and I returned to beautiful Wareham to meet with the Board of Selectman and got their approval of the same private Conservation Restrictions as required by Massachusetts law. Obtaining municipal approval is what establishes the permanence of the CRs; without it they would expire in 30 years. Next, the CRs will be submitted to the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs for their final sign-off!
Take a look at the map below - the pending conservation restrictions will protect all of the land shown in orange. The land shown in blue, purple and green has already been permanently protected.
