- Division of Ecological Restoration
In June, and under contract to DER, Living Observatory completed the first elements of a Preliminary Benefits Assessment to help document lessons learned to date from wetland restoration projects on retired cranberry farmland. The goal of this work is to summarize the state of science on this emerging wetland restoration practice, organize multiple lines of on-going research, and coordinate scientists in the region to seek answers to pressing questions moving forward. The next and final phase of this report will be completed in 2020.
Cranberry Bog Program staff continues to make technical presentations around the region to grow a network of partners and interested landowners. Within the past several months, talks have been provided to the NRCS technical advisory committee, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), MA Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program (NHESP), and Nantucket Conservation Foundation. Interest in this work continues to grow around the region. Next up this fall: a workshop with the Southeastern Regional Planning & Economic Development District (SERPEDD) for local communities to help consider wetland restoration projects as part of their Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) planning processes.
Lastly, DER is beginning to advance GIS-based tools to help plan cranberry bog restoration work in the region. DER intern, Xinyi Zeng, worked closely with DER Ecological Restoration Specialist, Eivy Monroy, to identify and digitize long retired cranberry bogs. Many of these are covered with forests today and hard to identify, yet need to be mapped to evaluate potential restoration of the historical wetlands. Development of a broader prioritization tool is underway.
Image: DER Alex Hackman presents to the Nantucket Conservation Foundation. Photo courtesy of Grace Hull.
