Stewardship Plan - the Town of Dennis

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I. Executive Summary Crowes Pasture Conservation Area consists of seven parcels purchased over several years through the receipt of a National Coastal Wetland Grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (obtained via the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation), Massachusetts Self-Help monies, and the purchase of perpetual conservation restrictions by the Dennis Conservation Trust. In addition, private funding and in-kind services were contributed by Save the Crowe (a grassroots organization), the Association for Preservation of Cape Cod, the Orenda Wildlife Land Trust, and The Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts. The Crowes Pasture/Quivet Creek area, which includes properties preserved within the Town of Brewster, encompasses approximately 570 acres of contiguous lands. Over 300 acres of these lands have been classified as nationally declining wetland types. This area is identified as a coastal barrier by the federal Coastal Barrier Resources System and is part of the southern lobe of the Massachusetts Bay system and the National Estuary Program as designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Gulf of Maine Program identifies this area as having significant habitat for a number of species of federal concern. Management Plans have been developed for individual parcels as each piece was acquired. In 1998 a Management Plan was developed for ORV use on the barrier beach habitats. In 2003, approximately 250 acres of the Crowes Pasture area was approved as a District of Critical Planning Concern (DCPC). In 2004 the Sears Property and Coles Pond Management Plans were finalized. Subsequently, a Baseline Documentation Report was completed for the Department of Conservation and Recreation on 138 acres of the property. There are significant water resource areas within the Crowes Pasture Conservation Area, including both coastal and freshwater resources. Quivet Creek is located along the southeasterly border. This creek system includes a large marsh area and a herring run to its headwaters at Bound Brook Pond. Water quality in Quivet Creek is excellent. Freshwater resources include Coles Pond and Little Coles Pond. These ponds represent ten (10) acres of kettlehole ponds which support rare plant habitat. The ponds are solely dependent on groundwater. An ongoing restoration project to restore the open field/meadow habitat will continue but management activities must be scheduled to avoid conflicts with hunters, hikers and bird monitoring. Likewise, ORV beach use and dog walking must be balanced with piping plover nesting activities. Input from the Crowes Pasture user survey and the Crowes Pasture Users Group will be utilized to develop management guidelines. This land stewardship plan will help guide the current use and future development of public use facilities to balance the needs of the public while protecting the existing resources. Existing uses will be maintained and management needs for each use will be defined. The goal of the land stewardship plan is to identify the Crowes Pasture resources and to develop ways to protect and restore those resources while insuring this Conservation Area will be developed in accordance with the conservation restrictions. A management plan which
identifies specific management units has been established. Each unit has goals which are dependent upon its needs, strategies for accomplishing these goals, a timetable for the completion of the goals, and standards to measure the accomplishment of the goals. Continued public support will be required to balance all the uses at Crowes Pasture Conservation Area.
Page 1 and 2: Crowes Pasture Conservation Area St
Page 3 and 4: Vision Statement IT IS THE VISION O
Page 5: IX. Appendices 37 A. DCT Conservati
Page 9 and 10: III. Location and Site Description
Page 11 and 12: IV. Natural Resources Description A
Page 13 and 14: As summarized in the ERT Study, sur
Page 15 and 16: Soils Map (http://www.pilgrimrcd.or
Page 17 and 18: Natural Plant Communities Natural C
Page 19 and 20: and black cherry. Also present is c
Page 21 and 22: Natural communities Map 3 in Append
Page 23 and 24: Table 2. Listed Species Federally a
Page 25 and 26: group. Representatives from the Use
Page 27 and 28: View of the grasslands, looking eas
Page 29 and 30: Stewardship Plan is intended to res
Page 31 and 32: ORV Regulations Walking Trails As t
Page 33 and 34: e lifted to allow wheelchair access
Page 35 and 36: Dog walking Many visitors, in addit
Page 37 and 38: prohibiting harvesting in the fores
Page 39 and 40: Education/Information The installat
Page 41: VII. Literature Cited 1. Guidelines

Stewardship Plan - the Town of Dennis

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