Orenda's Quashnet River Sanctuary was purchased in March 2001. The entire acquisition included 18 acres encompassing over 2,000 feet along the Quashnet River in Mashpee in the Mashpee national Wildlife Refuge. Orenda retained the four acres to the north of Route 151 and worked out a plan to sell to the Town of Mashpee the 14 acres south of Route 151 with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts purchasing a conservation restriction on the town's 14 acres to help with the overall purchase price.

The "Dawson property", as it was then known, was at the time it was purchased, considered the top acquisition priority in the refuge. This property included the last remaining unprotected stretch of the river.

The Quashnet River has been the site of ongoing fisheries restoration efforts by Trout Unlimited and others over the past 25 years. In the past several years, native sea-run brook trout have been successfully reintroduced.

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