Citizen's Petition to Clean Up and Protect Annex from Development

Summary: This article seeks to protect the Fort Devens Sudbury Annex from future residential and commercial development. The article directs the Maynard Board of Selectmen to support the environmental clean up and the Annex's designation as a Wildlife Refuge under the care of the U.S. Fisheries and Wildlife Service.

WHEREAS, the citizens of the Town of Maynard have taken action to demonstrate their intentions to protect the Fort Devens Sudbury Annex from development, including:

• the Town successfully acquired a portion of the US Government land in the 1970s to be used for well sites and recreation;

• the 1975 Maynard Master Plan recommended future use of the Annex for water supply, recreation, and open space purposes;

• 95% of citizens at the 1987 Annual Town Meeting voted to rezone this land from industrial to open space;

• 73% of the 1990 Maynard Master Plan Survey respondents supported protection of this land as open space;

• the 1990 Maynard Open Space plan recommended identification of and protection of the unique environmental, historical, groundwater, and cultural resources located in the Sudbury Annex; and

WHEREAS, the US Fisheries and Wildlife Service has documented extensive natural resources contained within the Annex including extensive and unique wetland and upland habitats which support migratory and resident wildlife species; and

WHEREAS, wetlands on this site are listed as a priority for protection under the North American Waterfowl Man- agement Plan, the Emergency Wetlands Resources Act of 1986, the US Environmental Protection Agency's Priority Wetlands of New England listing of 1987, and is included for protection under the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Bay Circuit Greenbelt Program; and

WHEREAS, this land has been identified by the US Fisheries and Wildlife Service as a priority for protection due to the extent and diversity of wetlands, diversity of plant and animal species, and the findings of rare, protected, and endangered species including the spotted turtle, the Blandings turtle, the blue-spotted salamander, the bald eagle, the red-shouldered hawk, and the great blue heron; and therefore

BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED that the Town of Maynard, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, instructs our Board of Selectmen and through them, our representatives in the United States Congress, that all of their efforts on behalf of the Fort Devens Sudbury Annex be directed to advocating for:

• complete and efficient environmental remediation;

• preservation and protection of the Maynard portion of the Fort Devens Sudbury Annex by inclusion in the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge; and

• preservation and protection of Maynard's water resources, environment, and other interests consistent with the intent of the Maynard Open Space zoning bylaw for the benefit and enjoyment of our future generations.