Hyannis Ponds Wildlife Management Area, Barnstable County, Massachusetts

Hyannis Ponds WMA covers 357 acres north of the Barnstable Municipal Airport on lower Cape Cod. Several kettle ponds occupy low areas on the rolling landscape, with pitch pine and scrub oak cloaking the hills. Historic records of New England cottontails nearby make this area a prime candidate for enhancing habitat for that species; management activities should also benefit woodcock, whip-poor-wills, towhees, indigo buntings, and other young-forest birdlife, as well as several moth species. Managers plan to use clearcutting and mulching techniques to transform and improve this area starting in 2011. Partners: Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, Ruffed Grouse Society, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, Wildlife Management Institute.