With its picturesque farmland, rich wildlife, clean waters, and acres of wetlands, Dartmouth is a jewel of healthy natural resources along Buzzards Bay. For the past year, the Coalition and the Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust (DNRT) have worked together to protect a stretch of land that safeguards all of these resources in one place: Apponagansett Bay Farm, owned by the Webb family and operated as a vineyard for the last 40 years. Preserving this property will nearly complete the protection of natural lands surrounding the Dike Creek salt marshes, creating an extraordinary contiguous area of conservation land.
For over half a century, old cars and shipping containers have been a visible landmark on a patch of land on the east bank of the Acushnet River, bordering acres of salt marshes off Beech Street. Today, because of efforts by the Buzzards Bay Coalition, this former auto salvage yard holds only clamshells and grass.
This summer the Coalition, working in close partnership with its subsidiary the Acushnet River Reserve, Inc., acquired this property, previously the site of Riverside Auto Sales and Salvage, and took the first step towards making it part of a publicly accessible waterfront park and natural preserve.