In December 2004, the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program sent town-specific reports, along with a large color town map, to Conservation Commissions, Planning Boards, Community Preservation Act committees, Community Development Plan committees, and town-based land trusts. Core Habitat maps and reports have been produced for the 336 Commonwealth towns that contain Core Habitat.

Click on the town map above for a larger image

Core Habitats have been identified as sites critical for the long-term survival of the Commonwealth’s biodiversity in the BioMap and Living Waters reports produced over the last 4 years by the Natural Heritage Program. The BioMap project identified sites critical for terrestrial and wetland biodiversity, the subsequent Living Waters project mapped key sites for freshwater biodiversity. These two conservation plans, based on 25 years of Natural Heritage data, were supported by special bond funding provided by the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs and by State Wildlife Grants from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The town maps and reports synthesize the information from both of these reports with the addition on the maps of undeveloped riparian areas adjacent to Living Waters Core Habitat.

Town Core Habitat Maps
You can order a large color Core Habitat map for your town-
for more information click here: Town Core Habitat Maps
Core Habitats and their associated identification numbers can be viewed for free by downloading the GIS shapefiles from MassGIS: www.mass.gov/mgis (this requires specialized free viewing software – see the MassGIS website).

Town Core Habitat Reports
The town Core Habitat reports provide a summary of the rare species, natural communities, and freshwater habitats found in the Core Habitats identified in 336 of the Commonwealth’s 351 towns. The town reports can be viewed and printed with Adobe’s free Acrobat Reader software – to view the list and to download a Core Habitat Report, click here: Town Core Habitat Reports

To download a copy of Adobe's free Acrobat Reader software click here:

Updated 12/8/04