Frances A. Crane Wildlife Management Area
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Frances A. Crane Wildlife Management Area
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| location | Falmouth , Massachusetts , United States | |
| surface | 7.6 km² | |
| Geographical location | 41 ° 38 ′ N , 70 ° 34 ′ W | |
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| Setup date | 1958 | |
| administration | Massachusetts Department of Fisheries and Game | |
Frances A. Crane Wildlife Management Area (Crane WMA) is a wildlife management area (WMA) in Falmouth , Massachusetts . The sanctuary is 1,883 acres (7.6 km²) and is administered by the State Department of Fish and Game .
geography
The sanctuary is located on the flat to hilly terrain of Cape Cod inland from Hatchville in the township of Falmouth in southwest Cape Cod. The area extends south of the Nathan Ellis Highway ( Massachusetts Route 151 ) and is in connection with the Coonamessett Reservation to the west, the Massachusetts Audubon Holly Wildlife Sanctuary and the Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge to the east. Most of the land consists of willow and conifer stands on sandy, dry ground.
In the north and west is the Joint Base Cape Cod with an area of 89.03 km² (22,000 acre), of which only the Otis Air National Guard Base is built on.
history
The land originally belonged to Charles Crane's family. Frances Cranes was his daughter, who was killed in a Falmouth car accident in 1954. Her sons sold the land to the state in 1958 with the aim of setting up a wildlife management area to promote environmental protection and create a closed hunting area. The state carried out restoration work by planting around 5,000 trees and planting 30 acres of native wild grass on the site of the former Falmouth Airport . Buildings were demolished and native wildlife reclaimed the habitat.
fauna and Flora
Most of the woodland is made up of pitch pines (Pinus rigida, pitch pines) and bush oak (Quercus ilicifolia, scrub oaks). The rare Nantucket rock pear (Amelanchier nantucketensis, Nantucket shadbush) grows in the lower grass areas . Pheasants and Virginia quails (Colinus virginianus) are released as game game every year. Otherwise, live in the reserve whitetail deer , eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus, eastern cottontail), gray squirrel , red fox and coyote , and ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus, grouse) and others. The smaller songbirds include black beak devil (Coccyzus erythropthalmus, black-billed cuckoo), common yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas, common yellow throat), Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus, Eastern towhee), sparrow (Spizella pusilla, field sparrow), Indigo Fink (Passerina cyanea , indigo bunting), rust- crowned warbler (Setophaga discolor, prairie warbler) and marsh swallow (Tachycineta bicolor, tree swallow). American woodcock (Scolopax minor, Woodcock), box turtles and numerous rare species of butterflies have also been identified.
Freetime activities
There is an extensive system of hiking trails in the reserve and opportunities for hunting, horse riding and mountain biking. The annual Cape Cod Trail Race , a racing competition organized by the Falmouth Track Club over a 10-kilometer course.
Individual evidence
- ↑ 2012 Acreage Listing . Department of Conservation and Recreation. April 2012. Accessed in 2018.
- ^ Frances A. Crane Wildlife Management Area . Retrieved March 15, 2016.
- ↑ a b About Frances A. Crane WMA . Retrieved March 16, 2016.
- ^ Frances A. Crane Wildlife Management Area . Retrieved March 16, 2016.