Quick facts
ILF Funding: $255,138
ILF Service Area: Coastal-Central
Project Location: Kingston, MA (latitude: 42.00985, longitude: -70.74110)
Project summary
The Town of Kingston requested In-Lieu Fee funding for a cranberry bog restoration. The town recently bought 46 acres of land around Sampson's Brook. Sampson's Brook feeds into Blackwater Swamp. The most southern black spruce bog in New England is in Blackwater Swamp. Many Atlantic white cedar trees also grow there. A farmer grew cranberries on the land before the Town bought it. The Town wishes to restore 4 acres of cranberry bog and 8 acres of ponded water into freshwater wetlands. The 4-acre area consists of a bog that has overgrown with trees surrounded by a ditch. The farmer placed soil and a metal structure between the bog and the ponded area to hold back water. The farmer would adjust the height of the metal structure to flood the bog and harvest the fruit. The town will use the funds to hire experienced consultants. The consultants will develop a design for the restoration and apply for permits to work on the site. They may also help build the project. The town expects to cut trees that have grown in the bog, chip them, and place the chips in the ditch. Filling the ditch will direct water to flow through the bog instead of flowing around it. The project will also involve removing or adjusting the soil and the metal structure that separate the ponded water from the bog. A researcher at Bridgewater State University plans to monitor the project. The Wildlands Trust will hold a conservation restriction for the property. It will be open to the public.
