Association to Preserve Cape Cod presents 'Cape We Shape' campaign to Falmouth Select Board
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Summary
APCC executive director Andrew Gottlieb described a Cape‑wide initiative to identify and protect remaining priority natural-resource lands, arguing that 86% of the Cape is developed or protected and that roughly 14% remains with varying protection status; the campaign focuses on public education, local coalitions and financing strategies.
Andrew Gottlieb, executive director of the Association to Preserve Cape Cod (APCC), briefed the Select Board on a new campaign called 'Cape We Shape' that aims to raise awareness and coordinate town-level strategies to protect priority natural-resource lands across Cape Cod.
Gottlieb walked through a series of maps showing historic development patterns and argued that while roughly 86% of Cape Cod is already developed or protected, the remaining 14% contains many priority natural-resource parcels that are important for drinking-water protection, habitat and storm resilience. “What that means is we have 14% left whose fate is undetermined,” Gottlieb said, urging towns to identify high-priority parcels and coordinate financing and conservation strategies.
The campaign’s first phase focuses on education and equipping local teams with tools to interact with town boards, land trusts and residents, Gottlieb said. He emphasized that APCC will provide tactical support, information and coordination but not direct top-down decision-making; the group plans to create town-specific maps and build coalitions to protect water-supply zones and other critical landscapes.
Board members asked about farmland inclusion, 40B interactions and local financing. Gottlieb said farmland preservation is important but that APCC’s mapping focused on undisturbed natural areas with critical water-supply and habitat functions; he also said the campaign seeks to identify lands to protect before they are targeted by 40B applications and that financing plans are under preparation.
