APCC Plans Citizen Campaign To Protect Cape Cod

 HARWICH – Only about 14 percent of the land on Cape Cod remains undeveloped. With development continuing to place a burden on the health of the environment, the Association to Preserve Cape Cod has initiated a conservation campaign designed to protect priority natural resource land. 

 The nonprofit introduced its The Cape We Share program to approximately 100 people at the Cultural Arts Municipal Building on June 17. The program focuses on the importance of residents in the communities across the Cape getting involved in land conservation initiatives and working closely with conservation trusts to preserve land.

The health of water bodies are of major concern, with 90 percent of the estuaries and 33 percent of the ponds on the Cape having unacceptable water quality, according to Association to Preserve Cape Cod (APCC) Executive Director Andrew Gottlieb. 

Of the 14 percent of undeveloped land remaining, 80 percent is identified as priority natural resource land, areas that need to be preserved to protect drinking water, healthy ponds, coastal waterways, critical habitats and protection against rising sea level, according to APCC.

Local land trusts have been working for decades to conserve land in towns across the Cape, but a broader effort is necessary to build public support for these trusts, said Gottlieb. 

 “Public investment is required to get things done. You need political clout,” he said. “Our goal is to give you the tools to build a stronger environmental movement.”

The Cape We Share campaign is about providing the knowledge, tools, and technical support for residents to work within the communities to accelerate land use protection. The program is being launched to draw awareness and attract attention to the environmental challenges on the Cape, Gottlieb said.

Several directors of conservation trusts spoke about ways to work with the community to protect open space.

William Mullin, president of the Provincetown Conservation Trust, said when he took over in 2019, there was reluctance to contribute to the trust because people in Provincetown believed the Cape Cod National Seashore protected enough open space.

He began providing educational programs centered around ponds and trails for nature walks. He drew attention to the greenway between the center of town and the national seashore, and the effort paid off with contributions to the trust. He said the organization just purchased a $250,000 parcel.

 “It was just donor money, and it’s all attributed to nature programs and education,” said Mullin. 

 “Land trusts are one of the most effective ways to protect land and Cape Cod,” said Brewster Conservation Trust Executive Director Amy Henderson. She stressed the importance of building strong relationships with land owners, building trust and working with them to be stewards of properties.

Orleans Conservation Trust Executive Director Stephen O’Grady emphasized the importance of working with land owners to place conservation restrictions on properties and working with people to donate, or sell land with conservation restrictions. Properties can even be transferred with lifetime use provisions, he noted.

Harwich Conservation Trust Executive Director Michael Lach cited several town conservation trusts that have worked to preserve land around properties that include structures. He spoke of a historic church tied to conservation land in Truro, a parcel in Orleans with a house on it and agricultural land associated with open space in Dennis.

Lach related the HCT partnership with the Harwich Fire Association that resulted in the restoration of the former Bank Street firehouse. The station now provides three affordable apartments, a public meeting room and a small fire museum. The trust shared in the acquisition of the former town property to provide a suitable parking location for the adjacent 66-acre Robert F. Smith Cold Brook Reserve.

 “We must work to preserve our sense of place,” said Lach. 

Several citizen panelists spoke about their success in putting provisions in place to protect environmental health. Orleans Select Board member Michael Herman spoke about putting together home rule petitions relating to the control of fertilizers and pesticides in his community which were approved by town meeting and the legislature. Other Cape towns have approved similar measures.

 “Do your homework, engage groups and committees and work your way through the town,“ Herman said. “It takes a lot of perseverance.”

Patrick Otton is persistent. He has been filing petitioned articles for the Harwich annual town meeting since 2018, some two or three times before passage. Otton won town meeting support for a fertilizer ban in May, and he has been successful in putting bans in place on the use of lighter than air balloons and plastic water bottles.

 “I’m trying to make Harwich a better place to live,” he said. “Citizen petitions can make valuable contributions.” 

 “APCC is not trying to get into the land business,” said APCC Advocacy Director Christy Johnson. “It’s exemplifying the work of the land trusts.”

Gottlieb urged those present to join APCC’s Team SOS to receive updates and action alerts, and encouraged people to share information with neighbors and on social media. APCC will conduct monthly meetings as it pursues community involvement through The Cape We Shape program.

 “No one is coming to rescue us with our environment on Cape Cod. It’s what we do,” Gottlieb said of APCC.