WHISTLE PATH WOODS

This Management Plan is intended to provide guidelines for conservation and passive recreation uses at the Whistle Path Woods Conservation Area in Provincetown, Massachusetts. This Conservation Area consists of 7.05 acres, including 0.14 acre of wetland. The parcel is under the direct management authority of the Town of Provincetown Conservation Commission. The Whistle Path Woods parcel abuts the town-owned railroad right of way (8,700 feet long, 24.44 acres), of which about 17 acres (extending from Howland Lane to the easterly sideline of Whistle Path Woods) was dedicated to park, recreation and conservation use, under the control of the Selectmen, in 1996. This Management Plan, with its maps and appendices, is intended to comply with goals and objectives of the 1995 Provincetown Open Space and Recreation Plan and the "Land Use and Management Plan Guidelines" of the Massachusetts Division of Conservation Services.

Under Massachusetts statute, lands held by the Conservation Commission under M.G.L. c. 40, s. 8C are to be used for conservation and passive recreation purposes. This Management Plan is intended to reserve the Whistle Path Woods Conservation Area for quiet public enjoyment at a level of use appropriate to sustain the significant natural resources identified on the property as described in Section E of this Plan.

The Town of Provincetown acquired title to Whistle Path Woods in May 2001 after two years of planning and acting to reserve the property for conservation and passive recreation purposes by the community. By over a two-thirds majority vote at a special Town Meeting held on 3 April 2000 (see Appendix A.1), Provincetowners decided to purchase a parcel of land, Whistle Path Woods, to be set aside as protected open space for enjoyment by the townspeople. The property, purchased from the Locke Family Trust, becomes the second parcel purchased under the Cape Cod Open Space Acquisition Program (aka Cape Cod Land Bank), approved by the voters at a general election in November 1998. The land bank provides a 3 percent surcharge on property taxes to acquire land for open space purposes through the year 2020. The Town previously purchased a 7.5-acre property at Shank Painter Pond with Land Bank funds for $1.6 million in 1999.

The vote to purchase the Locke property for was contingent upon receiving partial reimbursement from the state Division of Conservation Services' access to Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund and/or private fundraising. Town Meeting approved no more than $752,000 net could be spent from the Land Bank. The Provincetown Conservation Trust agreed to conduct fundraising to bridge the gap between the $752,000 net approved from town funds and the eventually negotiated $1.48 million purchase price. The Provincetown Conservation Commission made a Self Help application in June 2000 and in October 2000, the state awarded $250,000 in reimbursement from its stewardship of the Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, which will be forthcoming after submittal of the project contract and the management plan contained herein. The final cost to local taxpayers out of the Land Bank for the 7.05 acres was $752,000. Grants from the International Fund for Animal Welfare ($50,000) and the Sheehan Family Foundation ($180,000) to the Provincetown Conservation Trust (PCT), and significant funds raised from the East End neighborhood enabled the Trust to complete the funding.

A conceptual subdivision plan prepared for the Lockes, showing as many as 18 house lots, might have moved forward if the town had not preserved the land. A discretionary referral as a Development of Regional Impact by the Town in 2000 was accepted by the Cape Cod Commission; it was rendered moot by the town purchase for open space in 2001.

The Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts, Inc., acting on behalf of the PCT provided valuable support for the purchase. With PCT funding, The Compact prepared this Management Plan in 1996. The Compact also drafted the perpetual conservation restriction to be held by PCT over the Town on Whistle Path Woods, to further guarantee that the land will be preserved for conservation and passive recreation uses.

The seven acres proposed to be acquired for conservation consists of rolling, wooded dunes and two small isolated wetlands. There is a distinct dune ridge running southeast-northwest through the property (generally, parallel to the property sidelines), which is clearly visible on a federal 1836 chart of Provincetown. This same chart indicates that this area was undeveloped then, and it is likely that this woodland has been that way up to today. The 1836 chart suggests that the wetland on the adjacent McCabe parcel may be the remnant of the head of the tidal inlet known as Junky's Harbor, which was presumably buried by accretion, then filled for Snail Road and its neighborhood. Snail Road was the major access way in the 1800s from downtown to the Life Saving Station at Peaked Hills on the Atlantic shore. The footpath now winding through the northwest portion of the Locke property is also sufficiently historic locally to deserve a name, "Whistle Path," so-called because its heavy use by cranberry pickers travelling from town to the dune bogs in the late 1800s required the trains to blow their whistles at the path crossing.

The Lockes, through their grandfather Max Bohm and heirs, have owned the locus since 1919 and have left it as woodland. It was part of an 80-acre tract that stretched from Cape Cod Bay to the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the acreage was taken previously for the Old Colony Railroad, US Route 6, and the Cape Cod National Seashore. Max Bohm was a renowned artist of the romantic impressionist school, whose large oil painting of the Pilgrims landing in Provincetown hangs in Town Hall. He settled in the East End after returning from studying in France through World War I. He died in Bronxville NY in 1923, leaving the property to his widow and eventually their daughters (Elizabeth Schwarz and Esther Bohm Locke). Ms. Schwarz died in 1999, leaving her half of the property to Roger Locke, who, with his siblings, proposed the 18-lot subdivision in 1999.

The Town Open Space Committee, designated as the recommending body to Town Meeting on Land Bank purchases, ranked the Locke property as its top priority for conservation in 1999. The ranking was based primarily on the tract being the largest (7 acres) remaining undeveloped upland parcel in single ownership in the town. The Committee also noted the property's significance as a greenway along the rail bed, wildlife habitat and corridor, forest cover, wetlands, and potential for walking trails. The land was considered important as abutting rare white cedar swamps and the water resource overlay district.

The Open Space Committee considers the Locke property to have values equivalent to the Foss Woods on the other side of Snail Road, which the Town purchased in 1995 as its first town conservation area, using Self Help funds in part. It is the intention of the Town to identify and mark a walking trail through these properties which could connect downtown with the Cape Cod National Seashore and could be incorporated in the Cape Cod Pathways walking trail network. The Town could explore a integrated parking area for Foss Woods and the Locke property at Snail Road.

Whistle Path Woods Conservation Area consists of about 7.05 acres, of which only 0.14 acre is freshwater wetland; the remainder is upland derived of dune deposits. Whistle Path Woods, like the rest of Provincetown, is composed of sands eroded off the Truro cliffs and reshaped by wind and waves over the past 5,000 years. The dunes closest to the Harbor, including the ridges on the Whistle Path Woods property, are older than the dunes closer to the Atlantic. The dunes rise in dramatic steep ridges along the eastern perimeter of Whistle Path Woods.

The parcel is located between Snail Road (town way) on the east and State Route 6A on the south, and the town-owned railroad bed on the north. A residential subdivision (Thistlemore Road) forms the western boundary of the parcel. The

7-acre parcel abuts the 80-foot wide layout for the defunct Old Colony Railroad, property acquired by the Town of Provincetown 30 years ago. In 1995 Town Meeting voted to dedicate this mile-long segment of the rail bed to park, recreation and conservation land, pursuant to Article 97 of the state Constitution (Nov. 6, Spec. TM, Art. 1). The railroad bed is directly contiguous along its northern boundary with the 300-foot wide layout for US Route 6, property owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (MassHighway). Route 6's northern boundary is directly contiguous with the Cape Cod National Seashore, property owned by the US Department of the Interior. The Locke property is 1,000 feet to the west of the 15-acre Foss Woods Town Conservation Area, purchased in part with state Self Help reimbursement funds in 1995, and is directly connected to it by the town railroad bed. In addition, a 12-foot wide strip running parallel to the Lockes' is owners unknown and could be acquired by the Town. Along Snail Road are two lots which are proposed to be donated to the Provincetown Conservation Trust. The town purchase of the Locke parcel, therefore, anchors the western side of this contiguous assemblage of protected open space parcels.

Only 12 percent of Provincetown (including the National Seashore) is forested and the Locke parcel represented the largest remaining unprotected forest area in town. While no specific habitat assessment has been conducted as yet, the forest composition is very similar to Foss Woods Conservation Area nearby. Rather than the typical immature pitch pine forest found elsewhere in town, deciduous trees are predominant. Oak, beech, sassafras, birch, tupelo and red maple are the primary trees found, with an understory of highbush blueberry, swamp azalea, shadbush, beach plum, bayberry, and huckleberry. There are no exposed boulders nor would they be expected on a dune deposit.

Local naturalists have found bunchberry (Cornus canadensis) , an uncommon flower, growing on the property. A member of the dogwood family, bunchberry is noted only in Mashpee and Provincetown on Cape Cod, according to Swenson and Pyle's The Flora of Cape Cod (1979). Mario DiGregorio, a botanist hired by the Lockes, reports that Broom crowberry (Corema conradii), a Species of Special Concern, is found on the proposed subdivision road layout near Route 6A, but not on the town-acquired part of the Locke property.

According to Birding Cape Cod, by the Cape Cod Bird Club and the Massachusetts Audubon Society (1994),

Outer Cape and, reluctant to cross the water, become concentrated in Provincetown, often in large numbers."

Local naturalists have confirmed the presence of the state-listed (Threatened) northern parula warbler (Parula americana) in the cedar swamps along the railroad bed across from the Locke property. Birding Cape Cod calls the parula "a rather rare and local breeder, a common spring migrant and an uncommon fall migrant. The only nesting parulas in the state are found on Cape Cod and the Elizabeth Islands." Given the proximity of the Locke property to the cedar swamp, it is reasonable to conclude that the parula uses this woodland at least for feeding, if not nesting.

No faunal inventory has been conducted, but the typical Cape Cod assemblage of upland mammals (rabbit, squirrel, fox, coyote, raccoon, skunk, etc.) can be expected to inhabit the area. The Locke property lies within the Estimated Habitats for Rare Wildlife and Vernal Pools (WH6) and within a Priority Site of Rare Species Habitats and Exemplary Natural Communities (S.USMAHP117), according to maps of the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program.

The wooded dunes inland from Bradford Street are the southern margin of the Provincelands dune system of the National Seashore. Provincetown has more incidences of rare species, primarily associated with the dune system, than almost any other town in Massachusetts. The Eastern box turtle, a Species of Special Concern, has been found (professionally) in Foss Woods and Shank Painter Pond forest, very similar in composition to the Locke property.

The Whistle Path Woods Conservation Area is located in a developed residential neighborhood on Route 6A (also known as the east end of Commercial Street at this location). Most lots are oversized (half-acre) relative to present minimum lot size (8,000 square feet) and are used primarily as year-round residences. Two motels are the only commercial uses in the neighborhood.

The Town of Provincetown Open Space and Recreation Plan, completed under the auspices of the ad hoc Open Space and Recreation Planning Committee in 1995, identified several conservation goals, which are furthered by the protection of Whistle Path Woods:

• Protect and enhance Provincetown's fragile environmental resources and unique habitats:

* Protect and preserve the value of identified lands for wildlife habitat, rare plants and animals, uncommon woodlands (such as beech forest or cedar swamp), and historic resources.

*Evaluate town-owned open space to dedicate portions to conservation use and develop management plans which ensure maximum natural resource protection, while enhancing recreational access for purposes such as hiking, fishing, and small-craft boating.

• Meet residents' and visitors' needs by providing a balanced, year-round recreational program with adequate facilities, while protecting sensitive natural resources and keeping maintenance costs within a limited budget.

Whistle Path Woods's importance is based on the following characteristics: wildlife habitat, open space linkage, forest significance, wetlands, scenic beauty and enhancement of existing open space properties. Management and use of the Whistle Path Woods Conservation Area should be designed to be compatible with the protection of these values.

The diversity of habitat types on the property promotes use by many different animal species. The mix of hardwoods and softwoods, upland and wetland areas, and steep slopes and flat areas provides varying niche habitat characteristics for many species.

Whistle Path Woods is the beginning of an almost unbroken woodland area that straddles Route 6 and continues into the National Seashore...[W]oodland is at a premium in Provincetown with so much of the land area being unwooded sand dune. The biodiversity of Provincetown depends very much on areas such as Whistle Path Woods...Furthermore the Whistle Path Woods begins a wooded dispersal corridor for migratory wildlife that stretches across town to the Clapps Pond and Shank Painter Pond wetland/woodland system. The protection of Whistle Path Woods and the larger wooded area (to the west) are essential to the many wildlife species that utilize this area as a refuge from the "heat" and openness of the dunes and the built up environment along Commercial Street.

Whistle Path Woods includes, along its western edge, half of an one-half acre red maple/tupelo swamp. This wetland, formed in a blowout depression in the old dunes, has saturated soil owing to its intersection of the water table. The wetland provides important habitat diversity, a water source for wildlife, and absorbs stormwater runoff. The steep banks are well vegetated and are not experiencing erosion. A possible vernal pool, habitat for breeding amphibians, may exist in a smaller wetland in the interior of the site, but it has not yet been documented.

Whistle Path Woods provides a natural wooded greenbelt along 342 feet of the public recreational corridor known as the old railroad bed. Many hikers, bikers and cross country skiers use this informal trail and enjoy the solace of the woods bordering either side of the corridor.

Whistle Path Woods' 7 acres adjoins the 24-acre town-owned railroad bed, is within 1,000 feet of the 14-acre Foss Woods Conservation Area, adjoins the 800-foot wide Route 6 highway layout (mostly wooded at this location), and connect to, across the highway, the Cape Cod National Seashore. This assemblage of adjoining properties increases the significance of each by enlarging the habitat and recreational potential of the area.

Whistle Path Woods itself is presently lightly used owing to poor access (primarily reached by walking along the railroad bed), lack of facilities (especially internal trails), vegetation (dense undergrowth, and topography (steep ridges.) Some visitors walk through the woods in an informal fashion, most unknowingly using the historic Whistle Path itself from Thistlemore Road.

The railroad bed is heavily used as a loose-surfaced recreational corridor for walkers, joggers, mountain bikers, horseback riders, and cross country skiers. Efforts to develop the old railroad bed into a formal paved bike trail have not been successful to date.

The Whistle Path Woods Conservation Area was acquired for conservation, open space and passive recreational uses only. It is protected from conversion to other uses by a combination of conservation restriction, statutory provisions (G.L. c. 40,

s. 8C and the Land Bank Act) and the Constitution of the Commonwealth (Article 97). The Town cannot simply decide to put Whistle Path Woods to other uses, such as housing, schools or cemeteries, or dispose of or sell the property. Some of the obstacles to conversion or development are noted below:

The Whistle Path Woods parcel is owned by the Town of Provincetown, but managed by the Conservation Commission under M.G.L. c. 40, s. 8C, the Conservation Commission Act. (See vote of Provincetown Special Town Meeting, April 3, 2000.) Conversion to uses other than conservation and passive recreation would require:

a) a majority vote of the Conservation Commission that Whistle Path Woods was no longer needed for conservation; and,

c) review under the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act and approval by the Secretary of Environmental Affairs; and,

d) a two-thirds roll call vote of the Massachusetts General Court (state legislature) and signature by the Governor;² and,

In addition, though its uses are not limited to passive recreation, similar protection is afforded to the 17 acres of the town-owned railroad bed that Provincetown Town Meeting dedicated to "park, recreation and conservation land" on 6 November 1995. Steps a) through d) listed above would have to be followed for any use conversion or disposal of this segment of railroad bed.

Finally, and as a separate matter, the conservation restriction held by the Provincetown Conservation Trust on the 7-acre Whistle Path Woods proper (to be recorded; see Appendix D) would have to be terminated, using steps outlined in paragraphs a) through d) above, plus a recorded vote of the majority of the then-sitting trustees of the Provincetown Conservation Trust agreeing to a release of the restriction.

The natural and cultural features that provide the environmental significance of the Whistle Path Woods Conservation Area are described in Section D. Management of the area is intended to protect and, where appropriate, enhance those characteristics. The Management Recommendations proposed in Section H are based on an overall goal of providing limited passive recreation that will not disturb significant features and avoid or minimize the threats listed below:

Threats to plants and wildlife include vehicle use, trampling, human overuse, collecting, and disease/infestation. No walking trails beyond the current internal ones are recommended at this time on the property in an effort to minimize wildlife disturbance, particularly to deer, which are known to use the woods regularly.

Hunting is explicitly prohibited at the site due to proximity to dwellings and roadways. Hardly any of the Management Area is greater than 500 feet from a dwelling or 150 feet from a roadway, setback distances prescribed by the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, which regulates hunting. It should be banned from the railroad bed as well owing to heavy use by other recreationalists. Plenty of in-season hunting opportunities are available in the nearby National Seashore.

Threats to the woodland include cutting, disease, and filling. There is no evidence now of brown-tip moth or other infestation affecting the pitch pines as they do elsewhere, particularly in North Truro nearby. No unauthorized cutting has taken place to date.

Threats to wetlands include dumping, filling, erosion, changes in water quantity and quality. A vernal pool suspected in the wetland needs documentation to prevent its displacement in the future.

Threats to the visual quality of Whistle Path Woods are the erection of permanent structures, erosion, cutting and litter. No structures are to be built except perhaps a bench along the trails. Litter along the existing railroad bed is minimal, except in areas near Snail Road, where occasional dumping has occurred in the past.

The dedication of much of the railroad bed to park, conservation and recreation purposes will prevent the disruption of the Whistle Path Woods parcel by inappropriate development of this corridor. The undetermined fate of the wide state highway layout is a future concern.

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1991 states that public facilities, including town lands, should meet federal guidelines for accessibility by handicapped persons. A 1994 evaluation by the Provincetown Disability Committee found that Provincetown's unique, steep dune topography renders many public lands unsuitable for full accessibility,³ a feature shared by Whistle Path Woods. In general, the experiences that an able person could enjoy at Whistle Path Woods should be made available to the disabled. Because no provisions for maintained foot trails are recommended for Whistle Path Woods at this time, neither able-bodied or disabled persons will be invited to tour the property. The experience of Whistle Path Woods is likely to be enjoyed primarily as it has been, by passing near it and looking into it from the 342 feet of public railroad bed along the perimeter of Whistle Path Woods.

The railroad bed lends itself better to handicapped-access considerations than the woodland. The rail bed is flat, ideal for all persons. Simple wooden benches could be placed at intervals along the path's border to enable strollers to catch their breath in the loose sand. Of greater concern than the slope of the trail for accessibility is its surfacing. The surface of the path could be hardened slightly (perhaps with bluestone dust or clay). The cost of the latter might prove prohibitive for such a long trail (1,600 feet). Wheelchairs can use hardened natural surfaces, but only 5% of the disabled are wheelchair bound. Asphalt paving could cost as much as $40 per foot and would disturb the natural setting.

Whistle Path Woods has an environmental integrity of its own, but there are opportunities to augment its value by increasing the size of the conservation area. Undeveloped properties to the west, north and east should be evaluated for acquisition or other means of protection from full development. The Route 6 right of way layout, owned by the Massachusetts Highway Department (MHD), is excessively wide at this location. There is approximately 500 feet from the road surface of the westbound lane to the railroad bed. The MHD could be approached for a commitment of part of the right of way to conservation purposes or outright deed to the town for conservation.

Lot 1-19 on map 18 is a 12-foot wide strip running adjacent and parallel to the Whistle Path Woods. It is considered owners unknown, though some research indicates it may have been in the Foss Estate. Though the Town has been reluctant in the past to acquire such property, it has little use otherwise and would provide the town with a walking access to Whistle Path Woods from Route 6A directly. PCT expects to receive the 3-acre Lot 1/21 on Map 18 as a bequest.

The only improvements associated with this management plan are simple (trail benches and, potentially, hardening of the railroad bed). They can be performed using existing manpower and equipment from the Provincetown Public Works Department. Work from this department is contingent upon operating budgets, available staff, season and scheduling.

The Town's Capital Outlay Plan includes monies for improving town lands and facilities, but none has been dedicated or assigned as yet to Whistle Path Woods.

Outside sources of funding for Whistle Path Woods improvements could be explored, through Urban Self Help reimbursement for recreational development (trail surfacing) or private fundraising.

On the railroad bed: walking, picnicking, bicycling, birdwatching, jogging, horseback riding, cross-country skiing, dog walking, nature study, photography, sketching, painting and other passive recreation.

On Whistle Path Woods proper: walking, birdwatching, horseback riding, cross-country skiing, dog walking, nature study, photography, sketching, and painting.

On the railroad bed: hunting#, discharge or possession of firearms, motorized vehicles (including all-terrain vehicles), all fires, alcoholic beverages, parking (except at Snail Road entrance), all other uses not specifically allowed in section (i) above.

On Whistle Path Woods proper: hunting#, discharge or possession of firearms, , bicycles, motorized vehicles (including all-terrain vehicles), all fires, alcoholic beverages, parking, all other uses not specifically allowed in section (i) above and (iii) below.

The following activities are allowed on Whistle Path Woods proper, subject to approval from the Conservation Commission:

All approved researchers must submit written findings of their studies, on a regular basis, to the Conservation Commission.

Active manipulation of existing on-site habitats is not recommended at this time. Dead trees or "snags" should not be removed unless they are diseased, block the railroad bed, or are likely to spread infestations to healthy trees. Dead wood is a primary source of food and shelter for many birds, such as woodpeckers.

The Town Manager will serve as the contact person for all inquiries and management coordination. Plan design and management is vested in the Conservation Commission on behalf of the Town, in consultation with the Recreation Committee, Public Works Department and others, such as the Open Space Committee, as needed. Actual implementation of many of these recommendations for should be undertaken by staff of the Provincetown Public Works Department or as supervisor of Americorps-Cape Cod. The Provincetown Police Department will respond to criminal complaints. In the event of conflicting interpretations regarding implementation, the Town Manager should be consulted.

The Provincetown Conservation Trust will conduct an annual inspection of the Whistle Path Woods Conservation Area to determine Town compliance with the terms of the perpetual conservation restriction granted to PCT by the Town in 2001.

Neighborhood volunteer stewards should be appointed to report misuse or suggestions for improved use of the Whistle Path Woods Conservation Area. As the persons most directly affected (both positively and, potentially, negatively) by the establishment and development of a town park in the area, abutters should be encouraged to get involved with the care of the Area. Volunteers for litter patrol could be those neighbors who take their daily "constitutional" along the railroad trail. Others could keep a daily tally of number of users, so the town can determine levels of use over the course of the season or year. These volunteers should be made official stewards reporting regularly to the Conservation Commission, so their investment in the project is recognized.

Parking can be made available at the Snail Road entrance, or, farther afield, at the Howland Road entrance to the railroad bed. In the event that abuse of the no-vehicle rule is documented, other avenues of security (such as police patrols) should be instituted. All breaches of the rules of the Conservation Area should be reported to the police and logged, so that conservation officials can determine the extent of documented abuse, rather than depend upon anecdotal information.

The goal of a fire plan is to ensure safe and adequate access for emergency vehicles to suppress fires at Whistle Path Woods, with particular aim to protecting surrounding homes. The Fire Chief should submit a plan designating staging areas and proposed firefighting access and methods and water availability. In consultation with abutters, ConCom should evaluate the amount of tree deadfall near its property's perimeter to determine the neighbors' desired balance between continued assurance of wooded privacy versus fire hazard.

This management plan should be reviewed every year by the Provincetown Conservation Commission. In advance of an annual public meeting on this plan, the Commission should confer with other town departments to determine their concerns. The Commission should update the plan as necessary. The Commission should report to the Selectmen any problems in compliance with the management plan. New or modified components to the management plan can be adopted by the Commission at any time after a publicly-advertised public meeting.

As promised to Michelle Jarusiewicz, I am sending a draft of this plan, commissioned by the Town and funded by the Provincetown Conservation Trust, to you for distribution and review and, I hope, approval by the ConsCom at its April 26th meeting. I will attend and answer any questions. This plan is very similar to the one I prepared for the Town in 1996 for Foss Woods. I hope you will vote to approve it contigent upon any changes that you or the Selectmen might want to make. This plan is required for the Town to receive its $250,000 state Self Help grant in June. We need to submit it in May to the state.

I will also be available to answer your questions about the conservation restrictions I drafted for the Locke and Shankpainter conservation areas, previously submitted for your review by the Manager's office. I hope you can approve those documents at that time as well. Finally, I hope you can get me out of Provincetown and back to Barnstable before midnight (or as early as conviently possible with your scheduled heraings, I mean.) Thank you for your consideration.

This Management Plan is intended to provide guidelines for conservation and passive recreation uses at the Whistle Path Woods Conservation Area in Provincetown, Massachusetts. This Conservation Area consists of 7.05 acres of woodland, 0.14 acre of wetland. It abuts 17 acres of former railroad bed, owned by the town and used as the access for the Conservation Area. The woodland and wetland parcels are now under the direct management authority of the Town of Provincetown Conservation Commission. The railroad bed is managed by the Board of Selectmen for conservation, park and recreation uses. The Conservation Commission's goal is to provide limited passive recreation that will not disturb significant natural features and avoid or minimize threats to the conservation values of the site. This management plan is intended to satisfy the requirements of the state Self Help Program.

The Town of Provincetown acquired Whistle Path Woods in May 2001 after two years of planning and acting to reserve the property for conservation and passive recreation purposes by the community. Cost to the town of the $1,480,000 property, purchased from the Locke Family Trust, was offset by a $250,000 reimbursement grant from the state open space Land and Water Conservation Fund Program and $478,000 in funds raised privately by the Provincetown Conservation Trust. In November 1995, Town Meeting dedicated the town-owned railroad bed abutting Whistle Path Woods to park, conservation and recreation purposes. In 2001 the Town granted a perpetual conservation restriction on the Whistle Path Woods property to the Provincetown Conservation Trust, in accordance with Town Meeting instruction.

• In order to maximize wildlife protection, do not construct a woodland trail system at this time. Also, owing to safety issues, no hunting should be allowed.

• Provide handicapped access along railroad bed by installing benches and perhaps hardening the surface.

• Enhance values of site by protecting adjacent properties, especially Route 6 ROW.

At the request of the Town of Provincetown, this plan was prepared by The Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts, a regional non-profit service bureau for land trusts, with an office in Barnstable MA. The report was funded through private contributions to the Provincetown Conservation Trust, a non-profit local land trust.

² In 1972 the General Court added a provision to the state Constitution, Amendment Article 97, which specifically forbids the sale or conversion of all lands owned by the state or towns for conservation purposes, unless there has been a two-thirds roll call vote of the state legislature. This provision would apply to all of Foss Woods (and the portion of the railroad bed dedicated to park, conservation and recreation use in January 1996) owned by the Town.

³ Open Space and Recreation Plan, Town of Provincetown MA, 1995, p. 75.