Park Planning

Salt Pond, Eastham

NPS

In 1961 the U.S. Congress established Cape Cod National Seashore as a unit of the national park system. Congress recognized that the Outer Beach of the Cape Cod peninsula was nationally significant for ecological, historical, and cultural reasons. The variety of Cape Cod's resources, and the many ways in which people experience these resources, are the key to its charm. But protecting the resources and at the same time providing for their continued use present significant challenges for all residents and land managers on the Cape.

The National Park Service prepares a variety of planning and environmental documents to help guide management of park resources. These documents also provide the opportunity for the public and other agencies to engage in the management and planning issues that face the seashore today.

Contact: Lauren McKean, AICP, Park Planner 508-957-0731

Major Planning & Design Projects and Compliance

Find major initiatives and National Environmental Policy Act documents through the following links:

National Park Service Planning, Environment and Public Comment website

• Cape Cod NS Dune Shack District Preservation and Use Plan / Environmental Assessment
• Comprehensive Shorebird Management Plan and Environmental Assessment
• Herring River Restoration Project
• Outer Cape Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan
• Regulatory Oversight Group: Herring River Restoration Project Meeting 12/12 (meeting materials)

Sustainability: CCNS as a Climate Friendly Park

Explore what we are doing to make park operations more sustainable.

Land Protection

An 11-minute video describing the partnership between private landowners and the National Park Service to create the Cape Cod National Seashore, emerging threats and the work of non-profit land trusts to save land in the National Seashore. Produced by Augusta Rose for the Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts, Inc., 2012

For a copy of the 1985 Cape Cod National Seashore Land Protection Plan, please email the park.

 

Important Documents

• Application for Certificate of Suspension
• Cape Cod National Seashore Zoning Standards

Private Properties Guidance

There are about 600 private properties within the park, which have unique guidance, including specific zoning and certificates of suspension from condemnation.

For further information, please see town zoning bylaws for the particular town in which the private property is located. Town zoning and general bylaw links can be found on each of the 6 Outer Cape town webpages.