PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

March 12, 2020

Contact:  Matt Patrick, 508-524-4161

Waquoit, The Citizens for the Protection of Waquoit Bay (CPWB) has reorganized with a new Action Plan that will address several sources of pollution in the Waquoit Bay watershed.  The Action Plan includes: mapping road run, installing dog waste bag dispensers, educating home owners about over fertilization of lawns, recruiting trail stewards in coordination with WBNERR, publicizing information about eco-toilets and denitrifying septic systems and organizing the Red Brook River restoration.  These are all within CPWB’s capabilities being a volunteer run and funded non-profit, advocacy organization.

CPWB’s storied past includes saving Washburn Island, South Cape Beach and the Quashnet River Area from environmentally devastating development.  These areas were targets for developers in the 1980’s who wanted to build hundreds of luxury condo units. CPWB was also one of the lead organizations in the Coalition for the Cape Cod Commission Act providing personnel and money capability.  Since that time, it has buckled down to the difficult business of protecting and restoring water quality in the Waquoit Bay Watershed.

We are looking for volunteers for each one of our action items.  For example, Red Brook is the last major tributary to the bay that hasn’t been restored or in the process of being restored.  The Quashnet River has benefitted from restoration by the Cape Cod Chapter of Trout Unlimited since the 1970s. As a result of TU’s work, the original strain of sea run brook trout (along with many other species) have repopulated the Quashnet.  The Childs River is being restored by the Falmouth Rod and Gun Club. Red Brook would benefit greatly from a similar restoration that would remove the dams from the old cranberry bog and get the river back within its banks. This would make it possible for all the anadromous fish to find their way back up the stream to spawn and repopulate.  The Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Reserve, the Massachusetts Division of Fish and Wildlife and CPWB want to engage the neighbors of Red Brook in the process.

Anyone interested in volunteering, becoming a member or donating to CPWB can go to our website www.protectwaquoitbay.org our Facebook page at Citizens for the Protection of Waquoit Bay or call: 508-540-0981.