Boston – Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Maeve Vallely Bartlett announced that the Department of Fish and Game and its Division of Fisheries and Wildlife have acquired 597 acres of conservation land in Wareham and Plymouth from A.D. Makepeace Company. The $2.8 million land purchase conserves habitat for over 20 rare animals and plants and provides opportunities for public recreation including fishing, hunting, hiking, and bird watching.
“Under Governor Patrick’s leadership, the commonwealth has engaged in the largest land protection initiative in state history, acquiring more than 125,000 acres of conservation land,” said Secretary Bartlett. “This important partnership with A.D. Makepeace Company will protect some of Massachusetts’ richest habitats for generations to come.”
Using open space bond funds and approved for acquisition use by the Patrick Administration, the commonwealth acquired two properties in its latest phase of the conservation partnership with the company. In Wareham, 345 acres will become part of the Maple Springs Wildlife Management Area (WMA), and 252 acres in Plymouth will augment the South East Pine Barrens WMA.
“Over the past seven years, this partnership with A.D. Makepeace Company has protected over 1,300 acres of land, establishing three new WMAs and adding substantially to a fourth WMA,” said DFG Commissioner Mary Griffin. “These newly protected habitats are home to an incredible diversity of wildlife, including white-tailed deer, wild turkey, eastern cottontail, sea run brook trout, river herring and dozens of rare plants, insects, reptiles, and amphibians.”
“We at the A.D. Makepeace Company have a long history of responsible land stewardship,” said Michael P. Hogan, company president and CEO. “Our partnership with the commonwealth in land protection and preservation is a lasting legacy of which we can all be proud.”
Since 2008, DFG and DFW acquired a total of 1,311 acres from A.D. Makepeace Company. These properties helped establish the 473-acre Maple Springs WMA in Wareham, the 437-acre South East Pine Barrens WMA in Plymouth, and the 124-acre Halfway Pond WMA in Plymouth and helped expand the 683-acre Red Brook WMA in Plymouth and Wareham.
A.D. Makepeace Company and the commonwealth have worked cooperatively on a wide range of issues, including land acquisition, habitat restoration, review under the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act (MESA), smart commercial and residential development, renewable energy development (solar), and climate adaption.
