Santuit Woodlands
4609 Falmouth Road, Cotuit
Background:
Home to nearly six acres of mostly deciduous trees like oak, cherry, maple, beech, occasional holly and pine, the Santuit Woodland property abuts BLT conservation land and sits squarely in the Zone II water protection zone for the Cotuit Water District.
After a proposed 40B development was withdrawn, Barnstable Land Trust worked with the Cotuit Water District and Town of Barnstable Community Development Committee to secure local funding for the purchase, to be matched by a MA Conservation Partnership grant, which was awarded in September. The property will allow for trails from the BLT Servis property on Santuit-Newtown Road to connect through to the new six-acre site. The forested parcel is an effective natural water filter. Land conservation remains the single best way to protect water quality in perpetuity.
Rachel Jones
Conservation Value:
The property is a thickly wooded undeveloped lot, and conservation of the parcel will protect the mostly deciduous trees and a vernal pool
The land is a connection to existing BLT land to the south
The property is a Zone II Wellhead Protection Area
The parcel is South of Priority Habitat and BioMap (across Route 28), of Prime 2 Forest and Forest of Statewide Importance and Prime Farmland Soils
The parcel is located within the Santuit Historic District
