Waquoit Bay Reserve
The following mission statement and goals is taken from their website.
The mission of the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve is to promote science-based decision-making that leads to healthy coastal ecosystems.
Our Goals
Improve the understanding of coastal ecosystems and human influences on them.
Improve environmental literacy in our communities to enable environmentally-sustainable decision making.
Demonstrate sustainable stewardship of the land and water ecosystems within the Reserve to serve as a model for community stewardship in the region.
Foster dialogue and development of coastal ecosystem management solutions through sustained community engagement.
Improve the operations, infrastructure and stature of the Reserve.
To accomplish these we:
practice long term resource protection in this representative area,
sponsor applied research on the natural and human processes within the Waquoit Bay Watershed,
translate research results to policy-makers and the public to encourage informed decisions on coastal management issues,
promote stewardship and estuarine awareness through outreach activities designed to inform and involve the local citizenry.
As you can see in the map below, this reserve is very large. We only went to the area around the Headquarters.
The view from the grounds around the Headquarters
A Sweat Lodge???
The headquarters house and the surrounding 23 acres was once the estate of Ignatius Sargent, a wealthy Bostonian. It sits on a 30 foot bluff over looking the Bay. The "cottage" was a 16 room mansion. It has changed hands several time since being built in the 1880s.
The Sargent Estate, nearby Washburn Island, South Cape Beach, Abigail Brook, a tract of uplands protecting the Quashnet River, and a variety of other areas comprise the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. The reserve operates with support from the Department of Conservation and Recreation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
We seem to have a knack for finding these old cemeteries. This one is circa 1832.
A lot of Captains are buried here, so we assume it was a seafarers' cemetery.
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