To the Editor: 

The Buzzards Bay Coalition is pleased to support the Town of Wareham’s request for Community  Preservation funding to purchase and preserve the Little Harbor Country Club as open space.  

The Buzzards Bay Coalition is a regional conservation nonprofit dedicated to the restoration,  protection and sustainable use and enjoyment of Buzzards Bay. We work to ensure clean water  for all and are supported by more than 10,000 members. A key method that we use to protect  the Bay is proactive land conservation both through direct ownership and by Conservation  Restriction and we currently protect and manage 199 acres in Wareham. We also operate the  Onset Bay Center where we build personal connections with our local environment through  activities such as sailing, paddling, shellfishing, and shoreline ecology explorations.  

Little Harbor Country Club’s 54-acres provides a number of important conservation values as it  lies adjacent to sensitive coastal marshes and connects to hundreds of acres of other already  preserved lands creating a corridor for wildlife, protecting water quality, and defining the scenic  character and beauty of Great Neck.  

As use of CPA funding requires the placement of a permanent Conservation Restriction on the  property, your support will ensure that this land will forever provide the public recreational,  wildlife, and storm-impact mitigation benefits that it provides today. Were the land not to be  purchased with CPA funds, the maintenance of this land as open space could not be guaranteed.  

We also offer our assistance to the CPA committee and the town as you looks to craft and  monitor an appropriate Conservation Restriction that is protective of water quality and wildlife  while allowing for golf course management to continue and thrive.  

Thank you, 

Mark Rasmussen 

President of the Buzzards Bay Coalition