Contact:
Linton Harrington
Bioreserve Outreach and Education Coordinator
The Trustees of Reservations
508 679-2115 ext. 12

The Trustees of Reservations Opens New South Coast Property to Public

Wareham, Plymouth, Bourne, Mass. - September 17, 2004 - For the second time in as many years The Trustees of Reservations, a statewide conservation organization, is celebrating the grand opening of a publicly accessible property along the South Coast. Following the opening of Copicut Woods at the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve in Fall River last fall, this year The Trustees will officially open the Theodore Lyman Reserve, which consists of 210 acres in, Wareham, Plymouth and Bourne, on Sunday, September 26. Opening day activities will take place between 1 and 4 pm and will include: canoeing and kayaking; guided tours of walking trails, Red Brook, and the old Lyman fishing cottage; children's activities; a fly fishing clinic; music and refreshments. All opening day activities are free and open to the public.

Formerly a private fishing camp dating back to 1867, the Lyman Reserve sits at the mouth of Red Brook on Buttermilk Bay. Red Brook is a 4.5-mile spring-fed, freshwater stream that flows from White Island Pond to Buttermilk Bay. It is home to one of the last remaining native sea-run brook trout (known as "salters") fisheries in the eastern United States. The brook gets its name from the red-tinted color of its waters that are influenced by the iron-rich soil deposits near its source.

In addition to Red Brook, the Lyman Reserve features freshwater wetlands, forested uplands, a sandy beach, and a scenic stretch of coastal shoreline with views of Buttermilk Bay and the iconic Cape Cod Canal vertical lift railroad bridge. The remains of a mud clam and oyster shell midden, taken together with the property's valuable water resources and landscape characteristics, suggest that the Reserve was an important encampment for Wampanoags.

The property honors the naturalist who, in 1867, first experienced Red Brook during a site visit for the Massachusetts Board of Inland Fisheries. For the next 30 years, Theodore Lyman III (1833-1897) worked to protect Red Brook by purchasing parcels of land on both its sides from source to mouth. His legacy is preserved in the form of the 638-acre Red Brook Reserve, which is comprised of the 210-acre Lyman Reserve owned by The Trustees of Reservations and the 428-acre Red Brook Wildlife Management Area owned by the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game. The Trustees of Reservations, Mass DFG, and Trout Unlimited cooperatively manage the entire Reserve.

"The permanent protection of this landscape is great cause for celebration," says Steve Sloan, South Coast and Cape Cod Area Manager for The Trustees. "The natural beauty of the Lyman Reserve and the fishery at Red Brook will be here for the public to enjoy for generations to come. The Trustees is profoundly grateful to the Lyman family whose gift has made this possible."

The Lyman Reserve opening will take place at 1009 Head of the Bay Road, Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. For more information call The Trustees of Reservations at 508 679-2115 x10, email bioreserve@ttor.org, or see "Events" at http://www.thetrustees.org.