Protected Lands of Cape Cod

Protected lands, those legally set aside and removed from potential development, currently cover about 73,000 acres of Cape Cod. By far the majority of protected lands are in national and state parks but significant areas are held by the fifteen towns of Cape Cod and by private land trusts and conservation groups (e.g., the Massachusetts Audubon Society).

Protected lands preserve wildlands and natural habitats, provide recreation areas, and protect the Cape's fragile water supply. In recognition of these needs, the new Cape Cod Open Space Land Acquisition Program (the "land bank bill") was enacted to assist towns in acquiring new lands in the face of continuing development pressures.

This bill was enacted by the 1998 Massachusetts legislature and required approval of each Cape Cod town, which occurred Cape-wide in the November 1998 election. The land bank is now funded by a 3% surcharge on real estate tax bills.

The town of Falmouth, for instance, will gain about $1.3 million each year for the next 20 years for the purchase of land before the bill expires in the year 2020.

See Tables 1 and 2 for the current area of protected lands over all Cape Cod and on a town-by-town basis.

All maps have been generated in the Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System Laboratory (RS/GIS) of the Woods Hole Research Center from publicly available data.

©Woods Hole Research Center, 2005