Coskata-Coatue: A Refuge on the Edge

(c) Yellow Productions

The Trustees and Nantucket Conservation Foundation are collaborating to understand and enhance the resilience of the Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge, a critical barrier beach ecosystem on Nantucket Island, MA. These two organizations are committed to ensuring this jointly owned treasure remains a place for humans and wildlife to thrive for many generations.

Catch Up On Our Community Meeting

On September 12, 2024, we hosted a community meeting about resilience work at the refuge. Watch the presentation here and learn more about our upcoming work.
Watch

Read our most recent blog detailing the work being done to increase resiliency at Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge. We are jointly investigating the way that climate change is affecting the refuge and its future. NCF and The Trustees are embarking on a new project with the aim of using nature-based solutions to increase resilience on the refuge, while maintaining long-term public access.

We strongly believe that the public is an important part of the process of protecting this spectacular landscape. Please join us by taking a brief survey on how you experience the Refuge.

Take Our Survey

With the effects of climate change already threatening Coskata-Coatue, what can be done to protect this refuge on the edge?

Watch Our Documentary

Head to our YouTube channels to see Coskata-Coatue: A Refuge on the Edge
YouTube

What's At Risk?

Sea levels are rising, and New England faces a more accelerated rate of sea level rise than anywhere else in the world. The Island of Nantucket, 30 miles south of Cape Cod, is particularly vulnerable to rising sea level. Dramatic flood impacts to our historic downtown, our infrastructure, and our unique natural areas are expected by the year 2050.

The extensive Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge, owned and managed in parallel by the Trustees and the Nantucket Conservation Foundation, serves as a critical barrier beach ecosystem. The refuge creates Nantucket Harbor, provides amazing recreational exposure to wild and natural areas and currently protects the historic downtown and harbor of Nantucket from larger storms and flooding.

In this documentary, The Trustees and the Nantucket Conservation Foundation explore the changing landscape of the Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge and its ecological, recreational, and cultural importance for the island of Nantucket. With the effects of climate change already threatening Coskata-Coatue, what can be done to protect this refuge on the edge?

Support Our Work

Efforts to implement resilience projects at vulnerable locations are ongoing. To Support Nantucket Conservation Foundation and The Trustees in this work, click here.
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Learn More: Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge

360 Tour

Explore this beloved reservation while learning more about what is being done to protect it.
360 Tour

Podcast Episode 1

Listen to our podcast: A Brief Ecological & Cultural History & How It's Adapting to Climate Change
Episode 1

Podcast Episode 2

Listen to our podcast: Adapting the Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge to Climate Change
Episode 2

NCF: Coatue

Coatue is a unique and pristine environment which contains over 395 acres of barrier beach.
About Coatue

History

Coskata and Coatue derive from Wampanoag place names, meaning “at the broad woods” and “at the pine woods."
History

Refuge FAQs

Our FAQ covers a variety of questions you may have about your Coskata-Coatue visit.
FAQs
About
  • About NCF
  • About The Trustees

About NCF

The mission of the Nantucket Conservation Foundation is to assist in the preservation of Nantucket’s character by permanently conserving, maintaining, and managing natural areas and habitats and to encourage an appreciation of and interest in the Island’s natural resources.

About The Trustees

For more than a century, The Trustees has been on the ground in communities across Massachusetts, protecting special places, providing loving care of our reservations, building creative programs, and sharing our expertise with neighbors & partners.