Carlisle Book

AVAILABLE AT LOCAL BOOKSTORES
The Story of Friends of Chatham Waterways: Decades of Dedication by the late Robert D. B. Carlisle
Photo Editor: Gordon Zellner

A compelling account of how one organization of committed volunteers can help assure a high Quality of Life for all of a town's citizens.

Front Cover
Back Cover

Blue Pages

When we think of Cape Cod, we think of water. Water dominates our landscape and our history. The region’s landscape was shaped by multiple glacial ice ages. Humankind’s history on the Cape traces back through the Monomoyics and Wampanoag Tribes to over 10,000 years ago.Archaeological evidence of shoreline campsites, extensive shell mounds and water-centered legends attest to the central importance of water in the lives of the Cape’s first inhabitants.   Early settlers from Europe built their villages around harbors or along freshwater streams that provided water for livestock, shallow wells, and dams that harnessed the water’s energy for mills. Like the Native Americans, they depended heavily on fish and shellfish harvested from the freshwater ponds, estuaries and the ocean. In later years, marine commerce, fishing, boat building, and whaling became the Cape’s economic mainstays. Chatham has 66 miles of coastline, one of the longest in the Commonwealth.  Perhaps the single most obvious and widely cherished feature of our waterways is their beauty. Our many embayments, tidal rivers, marshes, freshwater ponds, and beaches all have their own character and natural beauty.

Green Pages

The Friends of Chatham Waterways - Pond Study Group - inspired this second 2015 edition of The Green Pages. The purpose is to increase reader’s ability to identify invasive plants growing in Chatham ponds and landscapes and to further the effort to control or destroy these invasive plants. Both knowledge and action are key elements in mitigating the spread of these harmful plants. This printing includes information about why planting native trees and shrubs is a win for Chatham residents and our environment. In the summer of 2014, pond stewards collected water quality data from Stillwater, Lover’s, andEmery, White, Schoolhouse and Barclay ponds. Stewards will continue recording data so that historical comparisons can be made. Recommended best practices and readings that promote protection of our natural environment are also included. FCW hopes that all who love the natural beauty of Chatham will promote environmentally friendly ways to design and care for their landscape. This booklet is meant to be a helpful reference guide to expand your knowledge regarding actions you can take to help maintain the health of our fragile environment.

Shorelines Then & Now

Friends of Chatham Waterways joins in celebration of Chatham’s Tercentennial by publishing this collection of sketches, maps, charts and photographs depicting a story about Chatham waters and shorelines from Chatham’s beginning to the present.

This pictorial account of the Town’s waters and shorelines, going back over 400 years, reinforces our present-day experience of shifting sands, shoaling, of new and closed inlets. Readers will see patterns and repetitions that may guide us in suitable actions.

This booklet is being distributed to all Chatham households because it is not only the shore side residents who have interest in and impact on our waterways; it is all of us who live in Chatham