Dogtown Common Forest: Introduction

This case study explores Cape Ann's Forest Landscapes through the Dogtown Common site. The analysis is informed by existing reports and resources that have been written to describe and understand Dogtown Common.

The research consists of an analysis of Dogtown's habitats as interconnected systems, a list of existing species, and an exploration of the landscape's changes over time.

The analysis informs the recommendations made in the next section, Forest Scenario Plans.

Habitats

“Though parts of Dogtown lie just beyond backyard swing sets and raised garden beds where bees cling to bright flowers, the rest of Cape Ann feels far away. The region may fill the geographical center of the island, but it is cut off from Gloucester and Rockport. Its elevation and awkward and sometimes impassable terrain add to its aura of remove, but the region’s colonial ruins easily give one the impression that Dogtown is separated from society by time as well as geography.” —Elyssa East, 2009, Author of Dogtown: Death
and Enchantment in a New England Ghost Town

Dogtown Ecosystem Composition

The Dogtown Ecosystem has been modified by humans for hundreds of years. Since the Common settlement was abandoned in the 1830s, and people moved away from Dogtown, the ecosystem has been undergoing rapid ecological succession. Ecological succession is the episodic process by which the mix of species and habitats in an area changes over time. The rocky barrens of Dogtown that were deforested in the 1700s were succeeded by pioneering forest species, which replaced grass and healthland species that thrived in open areas with ample sunlight.

Each of these habitats host flora and fauna that have evolved to survive in these environments. These descriptions are elaborated in an overview of existing literature in the subsection Changes. This subsection explores Dogtown's habitats as individual components, noting their dominant species and the percentage of the area they occupy. While this analysis is beneficial, it is important to remember that Dogtowns's habitats are interconnected and impact one another. For example, while small reptiles and amphibians are solely dependent on the existence of vernal pool habitats, pollution that occurs on roadways at a higher elevation threatens vernal pool health.

 

Freshwater: 4.5%

Roger W. Babson donated over one thousand acres of land to the City of Gloucester to protect the City's freshwater drinking supply. Today, the Babson and Goose Cove reservoirs are the primary water supplies for the East Gloucester system. The Goose Cove and Babson Reservoir watersheds lie within the boundaries of Dogtown Common, and are connected by a transfer pumping station. These reservoirs have a larger collection area, and more natural organic matter, than reservoirs in west Gloucester. These watersheds include the reservoirs as well as the springs and brooks that feed them. Currently, Babson Reservoir is operated as a detention basin to prevent flooding Alewife Brook. The City's water demand fluctuates throughout the year. Water demand is highest in the summer months when supply is limited compared to the winter and spring. In the near future, the greatest risk to Cape Ann's water supply will come from periods of drought, when the reservoirs cannot recharge as quickly as they currently do. While Babson Reservoir is the fastest reservoir to recharge in the Gloucester water supply system, the Goose Cove Reservoir is significantly slower, and will have reduced opportunities to refill in the future. Reducing evapotranspiration by planting buffer vegetation and shading water supplies are critical management activities, as well as routine dam maintenance. Forested watersheds can build resilience. Forested watersheds absorb rainfall and snow melt, slow stormwater runoff, filter pollutants, and provide habitat for various creatures.
 

Deciduous Forest: 57.6%

Dogtown was deforested by the 1700s. The trees growing across the rocky boulders are second growth forest that have sprouted over former pasturelands. The poor acidic soils and low organic matter across Dogtown have stunted tree growth, but deciduous trees have grown across the ecosystem. Red maples grow along the edges of wetlands, including swampy areas. Short-lived, early successional species including gray birches grow in areas with many boulders. Red oaks, beech, and hemlock species also grow throughout Dogtown in areas that receive additional sunlight. Large shrubs, including viburnums and bayberry, grow along the edges of grasslands and areas with sunshine.

Secondary growth forest areas also host introduced species, including multiflora rose. Ornamental bittersweet, a vine, winds itself around tree trunks. Spongy moth caterpillars feed and defoliate the leaves of many trees, including oak, maple, hickory, and crabapple. Beech leaf disease, discovered throughout New England's forests in 2023, threatens to harm beech populations and potentially change the forest composition if these trees begin to die off, thus opening spaces in the canopy for new species to grow.

 

Coniferous Forest: 14.4%

Individual conifers grow throughout Dogtown Common, particularly in grasslands and other areas with ample sunlight. Eastern red cedar trees grow in grasslands and abandoned pasture areas. These individual trees have a shrubby, densely pyramidal form. Eastern white pines grow close to Dogtown Road, and are visible from lookout points on Goose Cove Reservoir. A large tree plantation planted by Professor Norton in the 1950s is composed of tightly knit eastern white pines.

There are areas of limited mature forest east of Dogtown Square that were documented in 1985. These five areas have significant tree sizes, and soil that may support larger trees in the future.

 

Wetlands: 13.6%

Of the many species that make their home in Dogtown Common, the critters that rely on vernal pools deserve special mention. Vernal pools are ephemeral pools of water that appear in the late winter and early spring as snow melts. Despite their relatively small size and temporal nature, these pools create a robust food web, as insects and small reptiles and amphibians decompose leaf litter on the forest floor and provide food for larger amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Some of these species are already endangered, and will continue to be threatened due to increasing periods of drought that threaten to dry up the pools earlier in the spring season.

In addition to vernal pools, Dogtown includes other wetlands, primarily brooks and swamps. These sensitive areas are home to bluebirds, ducks, and geese, as well as turtles, snakes, and salamanders. Alewife Brook runs alongside the Commuter Rail tracks from Gloucester into Rockport. Briar Swamp includes clumps of high-bush blueberry, red maples, and ferns. These areas will be stressed by drought in the near future.

 

Grasslands: 0.5%

Grassland areas were once abundant throughout Dogtown when the Common was used for pasturing sheep and cows. These areas have limited woody vegetation and are open to sunlight. Today, two areas are east of Dogtown Square: beyond the cellar holes along Dogtown Road and on the west side of Adam's Pines by Goose Cove Reservoir. Grasslands do not have woody plants and include hay and sedge species that provide habitat for insects and birds. Without grazing animals, grasslands can be maintained and kept open by mowing or prescribed burning. If left unmanaged, it is a habitat that will continue to undergo ecological succession towards forest land.

 

Historic Heathlands: 0.4%

Heathlands are grasslands with woody vegetation, particularly viburnums, low-bush blueberry, and bayberry plants. Heathlands are a rare natural community that requires sunlight. As fast-growing tree species like gray birch sprout in heathlands, they can shade out grassland species, thus changing the community composition. Sensitive species like the Southern Selder Ladies Tresses, a perennial wildflower, can be shaded out by low shrubs. As species compositions change, the animals that rely on these plants may decline. Heathlands can be maintained by handcutting trees and shrubs, applying an herbicide during the sprouting season, or through controlled burning.

 

Impervious Surfaces: 0.2%

Roadways, parking lots, causeways, roofs, and patios are all examples of impervious surfaces. Eastern Avenue and the MBTA Commuter Rail tracks are the largest impervious surfaces in the Dogtown ecosystem. The periphery of Dogtown also includes roads and development that alter drainage patterns, and send stormwater runoff into the Common, which can affect Gloucester's freshwater supply. These surfaces also transport stormwater runoff, including chemicals, pesticides, and other pollutants into the water supply.

Species

These species spend all or part of their life cycles in Dogtown. This is not an exhaustive list. Rather, these species are a lens to understand the interspecies relationships, habitat degradation, and challenges for stakeholders to restore the ecosystem. An additional list of species is found in the addenda of this document.

“The vegetation of Dogtown is unusually diverse, reportedly consisting of 5,000 varieties of plants.”Massachusetts Historical Commission, 2007¹

Vascular Plants
Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata)
Arethusa orchid (Arethusa bulbosa)
Paperbark birch (Betula papyrifera)
Gray birch (Betula populifolia)
Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus)
Summersweet (Clethra alnifolia)
Hemlock (Conium maculatum)
Lady slipper (Cypripedium reginae)
Hay-scented fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula)
Sundew (Drosera spp.)
Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens)
Witch hazel (Hamamelis spp.)
Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans)
Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)

Oriental honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica)
Sweetbay (Magnolia virginiana)
Green fern (Nephrolepis exaltata)
Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus)
Red pine (Pinus resinosa)
Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides)
Red oak (Quercus rubra)
Staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina)
Multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora)
Sassafrass (Sassafras albidum)
Pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea)
Eastern red cedar (Tsuga canadensis)
Low-bush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium)
Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon)
Scarlet huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum)

Birds
Short-eared owl (Asio flammeus)
Veery (Catharus fuscescens)
Common Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
Wood thrush (Hylocichla mustelina)
Belted kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)
Wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)
Great-crested flycatcher (Muscicapa crinita)
Ring-tailed pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)
Scarlet tanager (Piranga olivacea)
Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)
Prairie warbler (Setophaga discolor)
Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla)
Chestnut-sided warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica)
Yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius)
Field sparrow (Spizella pusilla)
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)

Fungi
Chantarelles (Cantharellus cibarius)
Hen-of-the-woods mushrooms (Grifola frondosa)

Reptiles
Ringneck snake (Diadophis punctatus)
Milk snake (Lampropeltis triangulum)
Red-bellied snake (Storeria occipitomaculata)
Ribbon snake (Thamnophis sauritus)
Garter snake (Thamnophis spp.)

Amphibians
Spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum)
Painted turtle (Chrysemys picta)

Insects
Mosquito (Aedes vexans)
Mound ant (Formica exsectoides)
Pine weevil (Hylobius abietis)
Woodland dragonfly (Williamsonia lintneri)

Mammals
Wood duck (Aix sponsa)
Eastern coyote (Canis latrans var.)
American beaver (Castor canadensis)
Humans (Homo sapiens)
Snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus)
Otter (Lutra spp.)
Skunk (Mephitis mephitis)
White tailed-deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
Common muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus)
Fishercat (Pekania pennanti)
White-footed deermouse (Peromyscus leucopus)
Raccoon (Procyon lotor)
Eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)
Eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus)
Red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus)

Insects
Mosquito (Aedes vexans)
Mound ant (Formica exsectoides)
Pine weevil (Hylobius abietis)
Woodland dragonfly (Williamsonia lintneri)

Mammals
Wood duck (Aix sponsa)
Eastern Coyote (Canis latrans var.)
American beaver (Castor canadensis)
Humans (Homo sapiens)

Snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus)
Otter (Lutra spp.)
Skunk (Mephitis mephitis)
White tailed-deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
Common muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus)
Fishercat (Pekania pennanti)
White-footed deermouse (Peromyscus leucopus)
Raccoon (Procyon lotor)
Eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)
Eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus)
Red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus)

Massachusetts Historical Commission, Dogtown, 4. ↩ ↩

Changes

“Our greatest asset as a City is our bountiful water supply. Without water, there is no life. Without water, there is no Gloucester.” Joe Orange, 1991, Gloucester Water Commissioner

Dogtown has been altered by humans for hundreds of years. People planted woodlots, mined granite out of quarries, deforested and grazed pasture land, and laid roads and trails for the Commons settlement. Today, many areas of Dogtown are going through a process of ecological succession and transitioning from grass and heathlands to second growth forests. These anthropogenic changes do not make this landscape any less culturally or ecologically significant. The primary challenge at Dogtown moving forward will be its high elevation. As sea level rise and increasing storm events make it more expensive and risky to live along the coast, Dogtown contains a large amount of undeveloped space that will not face coastal flooding. Different land uses: emergency evacuation roads, housing, and solar production, will compete for space in Dogtown. Understanding how Dogtown has already changed may help stakeholders make decisions about the most critical areas to conserve in perpetuity, and places that may serve the Cape Ann community in different ways moving forward. Starting the planning process now to anticipate future changes along the coast will ensure that there is time to create a comprehensive management plan.

Observed Changes in Dogtown

The area known as Dogtown Common covers 3,953 acres of land in the center of Cape Ann in Gloucester and Rockport.²,³ The area was known as the “Commons Settlement” when it was inhabited between 1642 and 1839. The first structure in the area was likely the sawmill along Alewife Brook, which was used to cut timber from the Commons forest until it ceased operation until 1741.⁴ The settlement was abandoned after the Revolutionary War, until the last inhabitant left in February 1839.⁵ At this point, the Commons settlement became known as Dogtown, a pejorative referring to the abandonment of the area. The traces of this settlement include stone walls and cellar holes in the center of the Commons.

Geology

The geology of Dogtown has limited its development. Dogtown’s elevation is undulating from 90 to 200 feet above mean sea level.⁶ Dogtown is characterized by its rocky topography and thin topsoil. Deposits of Laurentide terminal moraine glacial till and glacial bedrock outcrops litter the landscape. Underneath the thin layer of soil, the glacial bedrock underlying Dogtown includes Cape Ann and Newbury plutonics.⁷ Soils include well-drained Annisquam fine sandy loam on ridges and knolls, Chatfield Hollis Rockport outcrops, other fine sandy loams, and gravel pit disturbances across another fourteen percent of the landscape.⁸

Dogtown is home to unique geologic features. Briar Swamp and the stream from it to Folly Cove lie along a north-south trending fault line that roughly matches the boundary between Gloucester and Rockport.⁹ The only esker on Cape Ann, extends from Cape Pond and ends just north of Briar Swamp. Eskers are ridge-like features that are deposited by meltwater streams flowing under stagnant ice sheets. A drumlin, or glacial hill is the foundation of Pigeon Hill in Rockport.¹⁰ The terminal moraine glacial landscape of Dogtown includes boulder fields and large glacier erratics, including monumental stone features like Whale’s Jaw, Raccoon Ledges, and Peter’s Pulpit. Abandoned quarries used to extract granite, including Nickerson’s Pit, and smaller backyard quarries, or “motions” dot the landscape.

Whale's Jaw stone feature in Dogtown

During the Great Depression, Robert Babson hired stonecutters to carve mottos into stones throughout Dogtown. There are thirty stones with saying such as "Truth," "Hope," and "Never Try Never Win." Today, the stones serve as a wayfinding guide for hikers.

Resource Extraction

In addition to granite, Dogtown has mined for forestry resources for centuries. By the 1700s, Dogtown was deforested, and the rocky surface and boulders were exposed. Grasses and small shrubs grew, only to be
chewed by grazing animals. Dogtown was logged by early colonists, who received land grants of six-acre
lots. After the forest was cleared, areas were grazed by sheep, cattle, pigs, and goats, and became known as
the “Commons Pasture.”¹¹

Species

There is no comprehensive ecological survey of Dogtown Common that provides us with baseline flora and
fauna living there today. In 1985, a Dogtown Subcommittee found five different habitats that represent different stages of successional development from barren ground to mature forest: grasslands and former pasture; heathlands with woody plants including viburnum, blueberry, and bayberry; wetlands including bogs, flooded meadows, shrub swamps, red maple swamps, brooks, springs, ponds, and lakes; second growth forest of deciduous and coniferous tree species on infertile soil; and mature forest or stands of hardwood trees, which
are limited in Dogtown.¹²

As described in various other sources, primarily Gloucester’s Open Space and Recreation Plan, the vegetation that grows in Dogtown includes grasslands, heathlands, ponds, streams, and wetlands, second growth forests including red maple, gray birch, paper birch, red cedar, black gum, and black cherry trees, and mature forests with a blueberry, blackberry, huckleberry, thorn and scrub brush understory.¹³ Mature forests include eastern white pine, red oak, pitch pine, beech, ground juniper, and sassafrass, bayberry, and low-bush blueberry understories. Second growth forest includes gray birch and red cedar, which grow in abandoned pasture and grasslands that are not mowed or managed.¹⁴,¹⁵ Pitch pine, scrub, and dwarf chinquapin oaks grow together in sandier, better-drained areas in Dogtown. On acidic rocky summits, pitch pine grows with scrub oak, black huckleberry, lowbush blueberry, black chokeberry, running shadbush, bearbery, three-toothed cinquefoil, cow wheat, and common hairgrass. Other ridgetops include oaks, ericaceous shrubs, hardy forbs, and lichens.¹⁶

In areas where heathlands have persisted on acidic, sandy soil, there is low vegetative growth including grasses and shrubs including bayberry, as well as lichens growing on sandy soil. Low-bush blueberries thrive in this community, and berry pickers still harvest fruit from July to August, though this activity has declined since the twentieth century. In addition to blueberry picking, foragers gather wintergreen, sassafrass, bayberry, hen-of-the-woods mushrooms and chantarelles in Dogtown.¹⁷ Dogtown is considered Core Habitat and Critical Natural Landscape, for its large landscape blocks that provide critical food and habitat for flora and fauna, support ecological processes, and maintain connectivity, as well as enhance climate resilience.¹⁸

Species Threats

While Dogtown’s heath and grasslands transition into successional forest, Dogtown’s forested areas are under threat from pests, including the European spongy moth(Lymantria dispar dispar), which was introduced to Medford, Massachusetts, in 1888. The spongy moth defoliates trees, particularly oaks, but also feed on apples, speckled alder, gray and paper birch, poplar, and hawthorns trees. Older larvae will also feed on cottonwood, hemlock, Atlantic white cypress, and pine and spruce trees. As temperatures rise and periods of drought lengthen, these pests can cause further damaged on trees that are already stressed. In addition to oak trees, beech trees are being affected by beech leaf disease, which affects both native and ornamental beech trees.¹⁹ Non-native flora including multiflora rose and ornamental bittersweet has also formed thickets, shading out and competing with other species.

Spongy Moth Threat

Species Transitions

In 1952, Robert L. Grayce described Cape Ann’s forests in detail, and described a systematic list of trees and shrubs he found growing across the region.²⁰ Grayce described the mature forest as including hemlock, beech, and sugar maples, with yellow birch throughout. He noted hemlock stands bordering Briar Swamp, with an understory of mountain laurel. White pines grew with red oaks across Dogtown common, and red oaks also grew near the granite quarries in areas that have been deforested and burned. Grayce noted that red maples were already replacing the low-bush blueberry bushes near Briar Swamp in the 1950s. In Dogtown, he noted that areas where the grasses were burned often were dominated by pin cherry, spread by birds, along with gray birch. Grayce noted the abundance of aphids in gray birch trees, which were beginning to be attacked by a leaf-mining insect. Pitch pines grew along the esker from the south side of Pool Hill to Cape Pond. After a forest fire in 1947, the closed canopy in this area was destroyed, making light for succession including poison ivy, bayberry, sheep laurel, sweet fern, and blueberry. A former red spruce stand stood beyond the eastern ridge of Cape Pond.²¹

Freshwater Preservation

The major stream in Dogtown is Alewife Brook, which is also described as Cape Pond Brook and Wine Brook. Alewife Brook was dammed in the 1930s to create Babson Reservoir, Gloucester’s primary drinking water source. Even at that time, there were serious questions about the water quality in the Brook, which was a dumping site for open toilets on the railroad, and also a burial site for pigs infected with cholera. It was known as "Wine Brook" for its dark color, caused by iron ore. State health officials agreed to regulate trains, and chlorinate the water before the reservoir was opened.²² While Dogtown is primarily forested land, there are wetland areas. The two primary swamps areas are Granny Day’s Swamp and Briar Swamp.¹

Alewife Brook

Water quality issues persist in Dogtown. The 2019 Kleinfelder Report on Gloucester’s watersheds identified the East system, including Babson Reservoir, as being resilient, but noted that future climate conditions will affect the risks to the water supply. Both Babson and Goose Cove Reservoirs are located within Dogtown Common.

The Babson watershed area is 1.59 square miles, and the Goose Cove watershed is 0.68 square miles in Dogtown.²³ While there is relatively low fire risk in the center of Dogtown, there is greater risk along its edges toward developed areas.²⁴ Increasing brush fires have caused decreased air quality during summer months, and raised debate over maintaining fire access roads to allow emergency vehicles to enter Dogtown. The loss of vegetation over watersheds can lead to increased turbidity and increased evaporation.²⁵

The study concluded that the greatest risk to the water supply system in the future will be longer periods of drought, leading to reservoirs that do not recharge as quickly or as much as they currently do. Prioritizing vegetation management through stand thinning and tending, controlled burns, riparian zone management, sanitation cuts, and chemical treatments, were proposed.²⁶ Forested watersheds can absorb rainfall, slow storm runoff, provide habitat, and also provide recreational opportunities. In addition to vegetation management, the compost pile established at Gronblad’s Pit in 1991 as a temporary solution to brush disposal for the City of Gloucester may be leaching into the water supply.²⁷

Compost Pile

Streams and Fens

A 2020 remote sensing study in Dogtown used 34 years of Landsat data through Google Earth’s Engine to compare and contrast vegetation changes at selected areas, including successional forests, swamps, fens, and the compost pile. Fens are areas along streams that remain saturated most of the year, and contain more biomass. Two fens in Dogtown Common may be indicators of environmental change due to human activities, including runoff from the compost pile into Vivian Stream. The fen west of Johnson quarry in the northern part of Dogtown grew in size from 2008 to 2017. The study also suggested that the farms and fields west of Dogtown Road experience small brush fires occasionally, and therefore will tend to have less vegetation on average to others that have not experienced fires.²⁸

Vernal Pools

Dogtown also has several vernal pools, or ephemeral wetlands, throughout the region.²⁹ They fill annually from precipitation, runoff, and rising groundwater during the spring, and dry up during the summer due to increased evaporation and transpiration. This wet-dry cycle prevents fish from becoming established, but it does present a temporary habitat for many species. The species in the pool are synchronized to take advantage of the productive, yet temporary habitat.

Vernal Pool

The nutrient cycle and the resultant food chain are generated/dependent on the energy in the fallen leaves at the bottom of the ponds. These fallen leaves are the bottom of the food chain in the pool. Bacterial and fungi begin to decay the leaves, before they are food for larger zooplankton including daphnia, copepods, and rotifers. Insect larvae shred the leaves as they forage. Caddisflies, water boatmen, and snails feed on the leaves and reproduce. Frog tadpoles feed on leaves and algae. These animals are hunted by beetles, dragonflies, damselflies, and water scorpions. The salamander larvae are carnviorous. They eat invertebrates and tadpoles. Larger animals, including turtles and snakes, go to the pools to feed. Nocturnal owls eat the amphibians traveling to and from the pool. Wading birds eat flora and fauna. Raccoons eat tadpoles, insects, and adult frogs. The complexity of this food chain supports life beyond the boundaries of the pool throughout the forest ecosystem.

Some of these species are obligate species, meaning they are completely dependent on vernal pools for some or all of their life cycle. The wood frog, spadefoot toad, spotted salamander, blue-spotted salamander, Jefferson salamander, and marbled salamander. Vernal pools are protected from human damage or destruction in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts through several laws, including the Wetlands Protection Act Regulations, local bylaws, the Massachusetts Environmental Code, and the Forest Cutting Practices Act Regulations. Many of these regulations require that pools are certified by the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program (NHESP). Certification involves documenting the presence of a pool including biological indicators. The NHESP reviews the submission and may certify the pool. This is an intensive process often undertaken by civilians and civilian scientists, including organizations like the Cape Ann Vernal Pond Team., which has certified more than one-hundred and fifty vernal pools across the region, including over twenty-five throughout Dogtown Common.³⁰ Increasing summer temperatures and extended drought periods will threaten the water supply required for
vernal pools to form.

Dogtown Management

Dogtown’s management has been an ongoing challenge. In the 1930s, Roger W. Babson donated over one thousand acres in Dogtown Common to build the Babson Reservoir and protect the surrounding watershed. Various government and civil society actors have, since then, sought to conserve Dogtown. They have purchased deeds to the surrounding parcels, many of which have unclear ownership dating back to the Colonial period. Various areas within Dogtown have been transformed by individuals and organizations. Dr. Norton began a tree farm and planted eastern white pine during the 1940s. Professor and Mrs. Frederick H. Norton donated the forest to the New England Forestry Foundation (NEFF) in 1975. In 2011, Essex County Greenbelt, NEFF, and the Gloucester Conservation Commission worked with the Natti family to expand the area to conserve the Annisquam Woods.³¹

As part of the work to conserve Dogtown, a Dogtown Subcommittee presented a 1985 report, "Developing a Management Program for Downtown", to the Gloucester Mayor after a year of work. The report was commissioned to address two perceived threats to Dogtown: development along Dogtown Road in the center of the woods following development along the periphery; and a lack of management by the City.³² The Report includes six recommendations: 1) establish management objectives to preserve the natural and cultural features of Dogtown; 2) assure public safety; 3) manage physical and biological features toward high species diversity and selective vegetation pruning and harvesting; 4) preserve and display cultural features beginning with an inventory; 5) foster public interest with an eye toward keeping Dogtown clean and purchasing additional land; and 6) create a joint management program involving the Gloucester Conservation Commission, Department of Public Works, and an Advisory Committee, which work with a parallel management team in Rockport.³³

Heathlands Habitat

More recently, in 2018, the Public Archaeology Laboratory Inc. (PAL) completed an archaeological survey of Dogtown, and created a map as part of a proposal to add Dogtown to the National Register District. The proposal builds on work undertaken by the Massachusetts Historical Commission to document Dogtown in 2007. The application for the National Register of Historic Places includes a detailed inventory of sites of interest, as well as their condition, and how they are marked. Dogtown was nominated for multiple areas of significance, including exploration and settlement, social history, art, literature, recreation, and its archaeology.³⁴ The application includes a comprehensive cultural history that describes the settlement of the Commons and its abandonment, as well as the art and literature that has been produced in and around Dogtown over the centuries. These include paintings by Marsden Hartley that provide visual documentation of the degree of environmental change as the area has transitioned from denuded pasture and heathlands to second growth forest. Ultimately, the Gloucester City Council elected not to add Dogtown to the National Register of Historic Places. The proposal was supported by selectmen in Rockport, and one of eleven private owners of Dogtown properties.³⁵

The level of management in Dogtown has changed over centuries. A management plan should be considered as a gradient of options. Minimal brush clearing and thinning only to retain access to existing trails will allow for succession toward mature forest, a reduction in low-bush blueberry, grass, and shrub species, and increasing brush fire risk. A more comprehensive management program may include selecting designated sites to open by thinning manually or through controlled burns, and establishing a management and visitor center to coordinate efforts between government and civil society. Coordination between the various actors who are invested in Dogtown is critical, beginning with open dialogue to preserve this changed and changing ecosystem.

Conclusion

The Dogtown Ecosystem is an interconnected composition of forest, wetland, and developed areas. Human influence and climate change have altered the relationship between these habitats, limiting their resilience. Dogtown Forest will continue to change and evolve. Innovative actions and novel techniques that anticipate the way the beach is already changing can help ensure that Dogtown continues to provide recreation, cultural sites, and habitat into the future.

See potential initiatives organized into scenario plans in the next section, Forest Scenario Plans.