ANEP: About Estuaries - Massachusetts Bays

About Estuaries:
Insights on the NEPs - Massachusetts Bays

The Massachusetts Bays Program (MBP) is a partnership of local, state, and federal governments, as well as citizens, scientists, educators, and businesses, all united behind a principal mission: to protect and enhance the coastal health and heritage of Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays. The Massachusetts Bays region covers over 800 miles of coastline from the tip of Cape Cod Bay to the New Hampshire border, and serves 50 coastal communities.

Since the program’s beginnings in 1988, we have made significant strides towards accomplishing our mission. How have we done it? By setting specific, measurable goals for restoring and protecting water quality and the diverse natural resources of the Massachusetts Bays; by promoting regional problem-solving to protect and manage shared natural resources; by developing and implementing locally-based solutions to some of our most intractable environmental problems.

Today, the MBP’s staff and resources are entirely committed to implementing the actions called for in our Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP), finalized in1996. We do this in a number of ways:

Building partnerships: The CCMP identifies dozens of organizations, both governmental and non-governmental, that are responsible for taking the steps needed to protect and restore the Bays. The MBP works to build partnerships and promote coordinated action among organizations who share a common goal or whose responsibilities overlap.

Promoting local and regional solutions: The unique structure of the MBP enables us to identify and remedy environmental problems that require a local and regional focus. To implement actions at the local and regional level, we depend heavily on the Commonwealth’s Regional Planning Agencies and on the MBP’s five Local Governance Committees (LGCs).

Developing models that work: Throughout our history, the MBP has acted as an innovator, generating locally-based models for addressing environmental challenges, initiating and nurturing programs based on these models, then working with our partners to replicate local successes region-wide.

Driven by local and regional goals, the MBP partnership set its focus on seven priority CCMP action plans: protecting coastal habitat, restoring shellfish beds, managing municipal wastewater, preventing stormwater pollution, managing local land use, preventing marine invasive species, and monitoring the marine environment.

As we move further into the 21st century, we will use our unique regional partnership, local technical assistance, and public outreach and education to focus on protecting public health, reducing and preventing stormwater pollution, and managing local land use and growth to restore a healthy Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bay ecosystem.

Please visit our website at http://www.mass.gov/envir/massbays