Links of Interest
Buzzards Bay Focused Organizations
The Buzzards Bay Action Committee Home Page
The “BBAC” began as an offshoot of the Buzzards Bay NEP’s “Citizen Advisory Committee” in 1987, and in 1991, after the Buzzards Bay Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan, the became a ‘501(c)3’ organization, with its board of directors composed of municipal officials representing each Buzzards Bay municipality. The mission of the Buzzards Bay Action Committee is to improve collaboration among watershed municipalities and to expedite the exchange information and ideas that will enhance the region’s ability to implement sound environmental regulations and by-laws to protect and enhance our mutual resource, Buzzards Bay.
The Buzzards Bay Coalition Home Page.
The Coalition is a nonprofit citizens group that spun off from the Buzzards Bay NEP in 1987. It is the largest NGO in the Buzzards Bay watershed, and its offices are located in the City of New Bedford. Go here to learn more about them and their programs.
The Westport River Watershed Association Home Page.
The WRWA is the second largest watershed organization in the Buzzards Bay watershed.
The Lloyd Center for Environmental Studies Home Page.
The Center, located in Dartmouth, provides educational programs to students and their parents about our unique and fragile coastal environments and our special responsibility to them. The Lloyd Center also conducts and fund research on rare and endangered species.
Key State and Regional Agencies
Executive Office Of Energy and Environmental Affairs
Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management.
Learn about other great programs and initiatives at Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management.
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
The principal environmental regulatory agency in Massachusetts.
Division of Marine Fisheries.
Includes information about shellfish bed closures.
Department of Fisheries and Game.
The name says it all. This is also the parent agency of the Division of Marine Fisheries, the Public Access Board, the Riverways Program, and more. They also do boat registrations.
Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Created in 2004 by the merging of the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and the Metropolitan District Commission, (MDC), the new DCR is the umbrella agency responsible for everything from state parks and facilities, to fish an wildlife permits and management, to boat registration, to environmental law enforcement.
Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (WBNERR),
WBNERR is part of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Southeastern Regional Planning & Economic Development District
Visit our regional planning agency “SRPEDD” for all sort of great information about Buzzards Bay watershed communities along the Western shore of Buzzards Bay.
Cape Cod Commission
Visit our other regional planning and regulatory agency, the “Cape Cod Commission” for all sort of great information about Buzzards Bay watershed communities along the Eastern shore of Buzzards Bay.
Major Regional Federal and Educational Institutions
US Army Corps of Engineers, New England Division
US Army Corps of Engineers, Cape Cod Canal Office
The UMass Dartmouth School or Marine Science and Technology
USGS Buzzards Bay Page.
The US Geological Service prepared this Buzzards Bay page. Included at this site are several project-funded initiatives and a comprehensive bibliography of research papers about Buzzards Bay including many funded by the Buzzards Bay NEP. Highly recommended.
Sea Grant Program at Woods Hole.
The Sea Grant Program in Woods Hole has funded a wide range of programs and research that may interest you. Click on this link to learn more.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
A world renowned oceanographic institution that borders Buzzards Bay. Jump to this link to learn more about WHOI.
Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole.
A world renowned marine biological laboratory that borders Buzzards Bay. Jump to this link to learn more about MBL.
Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
The Massachusetts Maritime Academy educates men and women to serve the maritime industry as licensed officers and “to serve the transportation, engineering, environmental, and industrial interests of the Commonwealth and the Nation.”
Local and Regional Environmental Non-Profits
Watershed Action Alliance of Southeastern Massachusetts.
The mission of the Watershed Action Alliance (WAA) is to protect and restore the watersheds of Southeastern Massachusetts through strategic collaboration and grassroots efforts.
Falmouth Association Concerned with Estuaries and Saltponds (FACES)
Nature’s Circle: A Falmouth Environmental Group with regularly scheduled field trips and lectures.
National Estuary and Environmental Organizations and Agencies
The Buzzards Bay NEP is one 28 National Estuary Programs in the United States and its territories. These NEPs have become a model for watershed management and planning around the country. For more information about the National Estuary Program, visit the US EPA National Estuary Program home page.
These NEPs have also joined to form a collaboration called the Association of National Estuary Programs. “ANEP” is a non-profit organization that represents the public interests of National Estuary Programs around the US. Go to the ANEP website for more information about the goals and mission of that organization and their current activities.
The Coastal States Organization
Although CSO most often focuses on issues relating to state CZM and NEERs programs, it has great info on legislation affecting all marine programs and issues affecting the states.
Miscellaneous
Massachusetts Coastal Orthophotos server from MassGIS
An Internet Geo-Image Library for the Massachusetts Coast.
Massachusetts MIT Sea Grant
A clearinghouse for data and information sponsored by the MIT Sea Grant College Program and the USGS.
Massachusetts Coastal Training Program (CTP)
Provides support, training, and information to communities so they can better manage the coastal resources so vital to their economies and way of life.
The EEA Alphabet Soup
EEA: Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (EEA)
1. Secretary’s Office
a.CZM: Coastal Zone Management (CZM)
i. BBP: Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program BBP NEP
ii. MBP: Massachusetts Bays Program MBP NEP
b. DCS: Division of Conservation Services (DCS)
c. MEPA: Mass Environmental Policy Act (MEPA)
d. MET: Mass Environmental Trust (MET)
e. MassGIS: Massachusetts Geographic Information Systems (MassGIS)
f. MWRP: Mass Wetlands Restoration Program (WRP)
g. DLE: DWFLE-Division of Law Enforcement (DLE, Environmental Police)
h. OTA: Office of Tech Assistance and Technology (OTA)
i. WRC: Water Resources Commission (WRC)
2. DAR: Dept. of Agricultural Resources (DAR)
a. Bureau of Animal Health (DAR-BAH)
b. Bureau of Dairying (DAR-BD)
c. Bureau of Fairs (DAR-BF)
d. Bureau of Farm Products (DAR-BFP)
e. Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) Program(APR)
f. Bureau of Markets (DAR-BM)
g. Bureau of Milk Marketing (DAR-BMM)
h. Bureau of Pesticide Bureau (DAR-PB)
3. DCR: Dept. of Conservation and Recreation (formerly DEM and MDC which were combined) (DCR)
a. Division of Water Resources Protection (DWSP)
4. DEP: Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP)
a. DEP Service Center part of Bureau of Resource Protection (BRP)
b. Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup BWSC
5. DFWLE: Dept. of Fish and Game (Fish and Game)
a. Riverways Program (Riverways)
b. DMF Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF)
c. Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW-Mass Wildlife)
d. Public Access Board now called Fishing and Boating Access PAB