Stats for the State of Massachusetts Certified Signature Sanctuaries: 2

Bay Club at Mattapoisett

Located in a seaside community snuggled along the shoreline of Buzzards Bay in Massachusetts, this peaceful and serene area inspired the Wampanoag Indians to call it Mattapoisett, meaning “a place of resting.”  Before the Civil War, the town’s principal business was shipbuilding and whaling, with four shipyards in operation before the year 1800.  Timber from the Bay Club site was harvested for shipbuilding and dragged by horses the one-quarter mile to the harbor’s edge. The shoreline still offers access to Newport, Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.  Designed by Brad Booth and PGA professional Brad Faxon, The Bay Club encompasses 690 total acres with 150-acres of golf course, 10-acre  practice facility, 105 bunkers and  435-acres of habitat set aside as preserves.  About 50% of the site is forested wetland with associated streams and vernal pools. 

The property has two ridges that run approximately north-south with wetlands bordering  the ridges.  Uplands are mixed oak woodland, with dominant oak species being red oak (Quercus rubra), white oak( Quercua alba), and black oak (Quercus velutina).  The forest and isolated wetlands are dominated by red maple (Acer rubrum ) in the overstory and sweet pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia) and highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) in the understory.

Bay Club at Mattapoisett became the first Certified Silver Signature Sanctuary in Massachusetts on May 23, 2007. To learn more about the town of Mattapoisett and about Bay Club, check out their website at www.bayclubmatt.com

Red Tail Golf Club
Located in the southeastern corner of the former Fort Devens Military Reservation in the Town of Harvard, Worchester County, Massachusetts in central New England,   is the Red Tail Golf Club.  On property now administered by the state of Massachusetts,  developers entered into a ground lease agreement with Mass Development for the construction and operation of an 18 hole golf course at the former military base at Fort Devens.     The former Fort Devens, served for nearly a century as the largest active duty military installation in New England.  Red Tail Golf Club, designed by Brian Silva,  represents significant land use within the Devens  Reuse Plan  for which open space  was a lynch-pin land use pattern which allowed the  enhancement of  the regional value of the former military facility and the Nashua River corridor.  The site lies within the eastern portion of the Nashua River watershed.    The large 194 acres of development envelope surrounds two large conservation restricted parcels and is bisected by two streets.  The course layout generally surrounds the area of the former ammunition supply point and its associated wetlands leading to the Cold Spring Brook, which flows between the front and back nine holes of the course and off the property.  The golf course envelope consisted of previously undeveloped mixed, predominately deciduous woodlands covering over 80% of the parcel.  White pine hardwood forest is the dominant upland plant community with common species such as white pine, red oak, scarlet oak, and white oak   Virtually all low lying wetland areas and surface waters were avoided in the layout of the course with holes generally following the ridge lines and upland areas.   For a closer look at Red Tail Golf Club, go to its web site at www.redtailgolf.net