Massasoit National Wildlife Refuge

Massasoit National Wildlife Refuge
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Map of the United States
Location	Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States
Coordinates	41°53′19″N 70°38′43″W / 41.8885°N 70.6452°W / 41.8885; -70.6452
Area	195 acres (0.79 km)
Established	1983
Governing body	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Website	Massasoit National Wildlife Refuge

Massasoit National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1983 to conserve the federally endangered Plymouth Red-bellied Turtle, as well as other wildlife and plant species. The Refuge encompasses 195 acres (0.79 km) in Plymouth, Massachusetts. It is made up of two parcels; the Crooked Pond parcel abuts the Myles Standish State Forest, the second largest State forest in Massachusetts, and the smaller parcel is located on the shoreline of Island Pond. Massasoit National Wildlife Refuge is located within a 3,269-acre (13.23 km) area designated as critical habitat for the Plymouth Red-bellied Turtle. It is closed to the public.

Wildlife and habitat

The Plymouth redbelly turtle subsists primarily on submergent vegetation, and requires good water quality and suitable basking, nesting, and overwintering sites free from disturbance.

The turtles spend most of their lives in these freshwater coastal ponds in Plymouth and Carver, coming on land to bask (sun themselves) and breed in sandy soils. In addition to providing habitat for this endangered species, Massasoit NWR also provides habitat to a variety of birds that nest in the uplands and amphibians, reptiles, and fish that utilize the ponds. In addition, a variety of invertebrate species, many of which are rare, are found on nearby Myles Standish State Forest and may be present on the Refuge as well.

Crooked Pond is a typical coastal plain pond occupying a depression connected hydrologically to an underground aquifer; hence, the water level of the pond changes with the water table. The water level is usually high in winter and spring, and generally much lower by late summer, exposing the shoreline. Three other ponds, Island, Gunners Exchange and Hoyts, are within 0.6 miles (1 km) of Crooked Pond. The southeastern corner of Gunners Exchange Pond and parcels on Island Pond are part of the Refuge. The upland habitat surrounding ponds on the Refuge is a mix of pitch pine — scrub oak and coastal oak/heath forest. Common species include: red maple, pitch pine, white pine, and scrub oak. The under-story consists of highbush blueberry, low sweet blueberry, bearberry and greenbrier. Pitch pine scrub oak communities need fire to maintain the community structure and diversity. The resinous, waxy cutins in the leaves of many of the plant species found in this community are highly flammable and easily ignite during dry periods. Today the area is generally protected from fire, resulting in a closed-canopy pine forest.

References

"Massasoit Area National Wildlife Refuge (Fws)". protectedplanet.net.

Refuge website

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

Protected areas of Massachusetts

Federal

National Historical Parks	Adams Blackstone River Valley Boston Lowell Minute Man New Bedford Whaling
National Historic Sites	Boston African American Frederick Law Olmsted John Fitzgerald Kennedy Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters Salem Maritime Saugus Iron Works Springfield Armory
Other National Park Service units	Appalachian National Scenic Trail Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area Cape Cod National Seashore
National Wildlife Refuges	Assabet River Great Meadows Mashpee Massasoit Monomoy Nantucket Nomans Land Oxbow Parker River Silvio O. Conte Thacher Island
Wild and Scenic Rivers	Assabet Concord Sudbury Taunton Westfield
Other protected areas	Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve West Hill Dam (USACE)

State parks

Parks	Alewife Brook Ames Nowell Ashland Bash Bish Falls Blackstone River and Canal Heritage Borderland Boston Harbor Islands Bradley Palmer C. M. Gardner Callahan Castle Island State Park Chicopee Memorial City Square Clarksburg Cochituate Connecticut River Greenway Demarest Lloyd Dighton Rock Dunn Ellisville Harbor Fall River Heritage Gardner Heritage Governor Thomas Dudley Great Brook Farm Greycourt Halibut Point Hampton Ponds Holyoke Heritage Hopkinton Lake Lorraine Lake Wyola Lawrence Heritage Lowell Heritage Lynn Heritage Massasoit Maudslay Moore Mount Holyoke Range Natural Bridge Nickerson Pearl Hill Pilgrim Quinsigamond Robinson Roxbury Heritage Rutland Skinner South Cape Beach Wahconah Falls Webb Memorial Wells Western Gateway Heritage Whitehall Wompatuck
Reservations	Beaver Brook Belle Isle Marsh Blue Hills Breakheart Charles River Chestnut Hill Cutler Dorchester Shores Elm Bank Fort Phoenix Hammond Pond Hemlock Gorge Horseneck Beach Jug End Lynn Shore Middlesex Fells Mount Everett Mount Greylock Mount Sugarloaf Mount Tom Myles Standish Mystic River Nahant Beach Nantasket Beach Nasketucket Bay Neponset River Pope John Paul II Purgatory Chasm Quincy Quarries Quincy Shore Revere Beach Rumney Marsh Salisbury Beach Sandy Point Scusset Beach Stony Brook Upper Charles River Wachusett Mountain Walden Pond West Island Weymouth Wilson Mountain
Other	Appalachian Trail Ashuwillticook Rail Trail Cape Cod Rail Trail Fort Revere Lake Dennison Recreation Area Lower Neponset River Trail Mass Central Rail Trail—Wayside Nashua River Rail Trail Norwottuck Branch Rail Trail Quabbin Reservoir Southwest Corridor Park Squantum Point Park Streeter Point Recreation Area Sudbury Reservoir Wachusett Reservoir Ware River Watershed Area

State forests

Wildlife management areas

Wildlife
management areas

Wildlife
sanctuaries

The Nature Conservancy
Black Pond Bog Boat Meadow Francis Newhall Woods Grassy Pond Greene Swamp Halfway Pond Island Hawley Bog Hockomock Swamp Hoft Farm Homer-Watcha Katama Plains McElwain-Olsen Miacomet Moors Reed Brook Roger and Virginia Drury Sandy Neck David H. Smith Preserve and Fire Trail Stacy Mountain Tatkon

Trustees of Reservations

Audubon Society wildlife sanctuaries

Other
Concord Land Conservation Trust Harvard Forest Lincoln Land Conservation Trust Lloyd Center for the Environment Lynn Woods Reservation Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary Old Harbor Wildlife Refuge

Category
Boston
Emerald Necklace
Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
[REDACTED] Commons

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