Anything but Barren

“Anything but Barren” is the State’s catchphrase for the Atlantic Coastal Pine Barrens Ecoregion of Southeastern Massachusetts. It is coined as a globally rare local treasure comprised of numerous smaller natural communities within the ecoregion. In fact, some flora and fauna require these specialized habitats exclusively.

How this relates locally is in the very nature of Chatham itself. Specifically the

Pitch pine-Scrub oak and coastal plain pond communities that are protected open space from the Town Forest including Mill Pond and Goose Pond Forest around the great ponds of Chatham to Frostfish Creek.

This remaining green belt, if you will, is the underpinning of quality of life within the community. It does this by promoting wildlife corridors and biodiversity, provides for groundwater recharge watersheds and for recreational public access.

Please consider supporting a Conservation Restriction to protect the last 19 acres of Goose Pond Forest in perpetuity. Give care for the next generation, like my local grandnieces Cora and Lydia Fulcher, 8 and 4 years old. And for future generations yet to come.

Todd Kelley

South Yarmouth