Nantucket National Wildlife Refuge

Nantucket National Wildlife Refuge is one of eight national wildlife refuges that comprise the Eastern Massachusetts National Wildlife Refuge Complex. This refuge is located at the very tip of the Coskata-Coatue Peninsula, in an area known as Great Point on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. Nantucket was originally inhabited by the Wampanoag Tribe. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acquired the land for the refuge in 1973 from the U.S. Coast Guard, who still manages the small acre that the Great Point Lighthouse sits upon, in the middle of the refuge. Within Coskata-Coatue, there lies an extremely diverse assemblage of habitats including barrier beach dunes and intertidal areas and though we focus on Nantucket National Wildlife Refuge, we must incorporate discussion of these lands as well to provide the appropriate landscape context. The refuge is home to many wildlife species such as marine mammals including grey and harbor seals, numerous shorebirds such as piper plovers and American oystercatchers, various seabirds including multiple tern species and gulls, waterfowl, songbirds, and raptors.

The refuge is located at the northern tip of Great Point on Nantucket. The entrance to the Coskata-Coatue Refuge is at the end of Wauwinet Rd; all visitors coming by land access need to enter through the gatehouse.