. ::;:::,,.,::>: -:,:· . ·,. •. -:- >:-: :: : : i . ···-.-~ > ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::>.•••••••••••••••• U.S. Department of the Interior • ' • REPORT TO CONGRESS: COASTAL BARRIER RESOURCES SYSTEM VOLUME 3 Recommendations for Additions to or Deletions from the Coastal Barrier Resources System MASSACHUSETTS Mapped, edited, and published by the Coastal Barriers Study Group United States Department of the Interior William P. Horn, Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks 1988 TABLE OF CONTENTS ~ Introduction........................................................................................................................ 1 Background........................................................................................................................ 1 Coastal Resource Management........................................................................................ 2 Existing CBRS Units.......................................................................................................... 4 Table: CBRS Units Established by Congress, 1982................................................... 5 Recommended Additions and Modifications.................................................................. 9 Table: Summary of Recommendations........................................................................ 10 State Comment Letter......................................................................................................... 14 Other General Comment Letters Concerning Massachusetts....................................... 15 Index to Existing and Proposed CBRS Units.................................................................. 20 Table: Maps Depicting Existing and Proposed CBRS Units...................................... 21 Table: Maps Depicting Otherwise Protected, Military, and Coast Guard Lands on Undeveloped Coastal Barriers.................................................................... 22 Map Key............................................................................................................................. 23 Individual Unit Comment Summaries, DOI Responses, and Maps............................... 24 . -- MASSACHUSETTS INTRODUCTION ( 4) an analysis of the effects, if' any, that genera 1 revenue The Coastal Barrier Resources Act (CBRA) of sharing grants made under section 1982 {Public Law 97-348) established the 102 of the State and Local Fi seal Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS), a Assistance Amendments of 1972 (31 system of undeveloped coastal barriers along U.S. C. 1221) have had on undevel­ the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts. This oped coastal barriers. atlas of coastal barriers in Massachusetts has been prepared in accordance with Section Under the direction of the Assistant Secre­ 10 of CBRA (16 U.S. C. 3509), which states: tary for Fi sh and Wildlife and Parks, this report has been prepared by the Coastal Sec. 10. Reports to Congress. Barriers Study Group, a task force of pro­ fessionals representing the National Park (a) In General.--Before the close of Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. the 3-year period beginning on the date Geological Survey, and other Departmental of the enactment of this Act, the offices. Secretary sha 11 prepare and submit to the Committees a report regarding the This volume of the report contains delinea­ System. tions of the existing CBRS units in Massa­ {b) Consultation in Preparing Report.-­ chusetts and delineations of additions to The Secretary sha 11 prepare the report and modifications of the CBRS in this State required under subsection (a) in con­ which the Department of the Interior recom­ sultation with the Governors of the mends to the Congress for its consideration. States in which System units are located and with the coastal zone management agencies of the States in which System uni ts are 1ocated and after providing BACKGROUND opportunity for, and considering, public comment. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts occupies (c) Report Content. --The report re­ only 8,257 square miles, but with over 1,200 quired under subsection (a) shall con­ miles of coastline, its beach length ranks tain-- second in New Engl and. Most of the State's 6 million people are concentrated in the (1) recommendations for the con­ coastal strip between Cape Anne and Cape Cod servation of fish, wi l d"I ife, and with Boston and its suburbs containing the other natural resources of the greatest number of people. System based on an evaluation and comparison of all management alter­ The State's economy is based on manufactur­ natives, and combinatfons thereof, ing, fishing, and farming. The Connecticut such as State and local actions Vaney was, and remains, one of the best (including management p 1 ans ap­ agricultural areas in New England. Recently, proved under the Coastal Zone Man­ "high-tech" industries have joined the agement Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1451 traditional manufacturing ones. Education is et seq.)), Federal actions (includ­ also a major industry in the State; ing acquisition for admi ni strati on Massachusetts has more colleges and universi­ as part of the Nat iona 1 Wildlife ties per capita than any other region of the Refuge System), and initiatives by country. Recreation and tourism are growing private organizations and individ­ industries in the State, especially in the uals; Berkshires and along the coast. {2) recommendations for additions Massachusetts contains mountains in the west to, or deletions from, the Coastal (the Berkshires with Mt. Greylock at 3,491 Barrier Resources System, and for feet, the highest point), a major river modi fi cations to the boundaries of valley (the Connecticut), uplands in the System units; central region, and a coastal plain in (3) a summary of the comments re­ the east and southeast made up of glacial ceived from the Governors of the deposits of sand and gravel. Offshore from States, State coastal zone manage­ the mainland are two large islands, Nantucket ment agencies, other government and Martha's Vineyard, which share their officials, and the public regarding glacial origins with Cape Cod. They are the System; and composed mostly of sand and gravel. The II wave action of the Atlantic has produced program was the first to be approved on the magnificent beaches and protected bays and Atlantic coast. In 1978, the Wetlands Pro­ harbors. The vegetation of Cape Cod and the tection Act was enacted; it specifically islands is similar: salt marshes, coastal ·included barrier beaches and dunes within its dune strands, scrub thickets, oak-pine j uri sdi ct ion. Many other acts designed to forests on the up 1ands, and beech-red map 1e protect and regulate activities on the coast forests on old dunes and north-facfog glacial followed. This movement culminated on August slopes. In the past, southeastern Massachu­ 8, 1980, when the Governor issued Executive setts was covered by extensive heathl ands. Order No. 181 on Barrier Beaches. It was Today, Nantucket is st i 11 covered in heath- the ffrst order of its kind in the country 1ands, but only remnants of this coastal and created a State policy discouraging heath remain on Cape Cod and Martha's further government funding of new or old Vi neyarct. development on barrier beaches in the State. In 1981, the Governor also issued Execut·ive The coastal region is extensive and has many Order 190, Relocation of Off-Road Vehicle Use salt marshes, bays, sounds, rocky shores, on Public lands Containing Coastal Wetland beaches, dunes, and marine b 1 uffs. Some of Resources, to exclude off-road vehicle use the largest salt marshes in Massachusetts are from sensitive environmental areas, specifi­ found behind Plum Island and Crane's Beach in cally dunes, salt marshes, and tidal flats. the northeastern part of the State. Both barrier beaches and their associated wetlands The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has an resulted from erosion of the glacial ridges active and effective Coastal Zone Management common in that region. Rocky shores are (CZM) Program including 28 State 1 aws and found between Cape Anne and Mi not, and some programs. These are coordinated by the CZM areas look much like Maine and Nova Scotia. Office, located in the Executive Office of Most of the southeast coast, however, con­ Environmental Affairs, and established by tains sandy or gravelly beaches, either on Section 13 of the 1983 Acts and Resolves, barriers or at the foot of eroding gl aci a 1 which amends Chapter 21a of the Massachusetts up 1ands. Along the State' s 1,200 mil es of General laws. The purpose of the legislation coastline, there are at at least 157 major "shall be to secure for the inhabitants of barrier beaches affected by winter storms or the Commonwealth the objectives and benefits hurricanes (S.M. Humphries and J.R. Benoit, of the federal Coastal Zone Management Act, [1980], unpubl. MS.). 16 u.s.c. 1451.'' The great fishing fleets that sailed to the The fo 11 owing State laws app ·1 y to management Grand Banks are largely gone, but fishing is and protection of coastal barriers: still an important part of the resource base. Shellfishing is important for both commercial Areas of Environmental Concern (MGLA Ch. and private interests. The natural resource 21a). The Secretary of Environmental Affairs base that brings the greatest source of developed a process for designating Areas for income to the State today is unquestionably Preservation Restoration (APR's), or in the the coastal system. nomenclature of Massachusetts, Critical Areas of Environmental Concern. As a result of this