Quick facts
ILF Funding: $500,000
ILF Service Area: Coastal–South Service Area
Project Location: Plymouth and Wareham, MA (latitude: 41.79921, longitude: -70.62629)
Project summary
The Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife) requested In-Lieu Fee funding to restore habitat on a retired cranberry farm. The project will restore about 70 acres of land. Restoration will include several different actions. Cranberry growers put sand on the bogs to improve productivity. MassWildlife will remove some of the sand and put it in upland areas such as the borrow pit on the project site. They will break up the cranberry plants to allow the seed bank underneath to grow. They will also remove metal structures that farmers used to control the flow of water. MassWildlife will remove paths that cross the stream and wetlands. About half of the restored area will be wetlands. The wetlands will include marsh, wet meadow, fen, and forested wetland habitat. There is also a rare coastal plain pond on the site that may expand. The project will improve almost 7,000 feet of stream. Ditches that were dug by farmers will be filled to keep water in the stream channel. MassWildlife will plant trees and grasses on the stream bank to help shade the stream. It will enhance habitat for sea run brook trout, river herring and American eels. The upland will include meadows and a rare pitch pine/scrub oak forest. The site provides priority habitat for rare species. BioMap2 identified this site as core habitat and critical natural landscape. This project is in the Red Brook Wildlife Management Area. The area is open to the public for passive recreation.
