Assabet River NWR Final CCP - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Volunteers removing the former obstacle course:
Photo by Marijke Holtrop
Chapter 3: Refuge and Resource Descriptions
management to the Chief of Ordnance, renamed the Maynard Ordnance
Test Station (MOTS) and maintained that name through at least 1957. The
principal use of the Annex from 1952 to 1957 was for ordnance research and
development activities (U.S. Army 1995).
In 1958, control of the Annex was transferred to the Quartermaster
Research and Engineering Center at Natick; and while troop training
activities continued, the Annex was now also available for field testing of
experiments developed by the laboratories at Natick. Other agencies and or
operators also were granted permission to use the Annex for a variety of
activities, primarily related to materials testing and personnel training. The
Capehart Family Housing Area was established by Natick Laboratories in
1962 for its employees. The designation for the Quartermaster Research
and Engineering Center was changed to Natick Laboratories in 1962 and to
United States Army Natick Research and Development Command
(NARADCOM) in 1976, but the same group maintained overall control of
the Annex until 1982 (U.S. Army 1995).
Custody of the entire Annex was transferred back to Fort Devens in 1982.
(Fort Devens is located some 15 miles to the northwest of the Annex). Until
the end of 1994, the mission of Fort Devens was to command and train its
assigned duty units and to support the U.S. Army Security Agency
Training Center and School, U.S. Army Reserves, Massachusetts National
Guard, Reserve Officer Training Programs, and Air Defense sites in New
England. The Annex was used primarily for personnel training activities
for active duty Army units, for the Army Reserve, as well as for the Army
and Air National Guard troops.
The Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-510), and
the subsequent decisions by the BRAC-1991 Commission and Congress
required the closure and realignment of Fort Devens. The Army
realignment action created the Devens Reserve Forces Training Area for
use by Army Reserve and National Guard forces.
The Sudbury Training Annex remained under the
management of the Devens Reserve Forces
Training Area while environmental investigations
and remediation were being completed. On
September 28, 2000, management of approximately
2,230 acres of the property transferred to the
Service for the formation of the Assabet River
NWR. At the time of the transfer of management to
the Service, the Sudbury Training Annex, exclusive
of the Capehart Family Housing area under the
control of the Natick Research and Development
Center, was approximately 2,305 acres in size. The
Army at the Devens Reserve Forces Training
Comprehensive Conservation Plan - 43 -