- Division of Ecological Restoration
DER’s Cranberry Bog Program now includes three completed projects and seven active projects totaling approximately 800 acres. Engineering design and permitting is in progress on three projects - the Foothills Preserve (Plymouth), the Coonamessett River (Falmouth), and Robert F. Smith Cold Brook Preserve (Harwich). These sites include 120-acres of wetland restoration, several miles of channel reconstruction, and over a dozen small dam removals. Fundraising is complete or underway to support project implementation, scheduled to begin in 2019 for all three.
To bolster our partnership with those protecting land and setting the stage for restoration, DER is pleased to announce a signed Letter of Cooperation with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Through their Wetlands Reserve Easement Program NRCS can purchase conservation easements from landowners, permanently protect historic wetlands, and fund wetland restoration actions. DER’s role in this evolving partnership is to help generate new projects, fund and manage restoration design and permitting, and oversee project implementation. Thanks to NRCS Massachusetts for sustaining and growing this shared work.
DER’s completed cranberry bog restoration projects - Eel River Headwaters (Plymouth), Tidmarsh Wildlife Sanctuary (Manomet), and Lower Coonamessett River (Falmouth) - are all open to the public and include maintained walking trails. Totaling 277-acres of wetland restoration, these sites provide examples of what is possible. Visit to see wetland restoration at various stages of recovery. Research is also active at each of these sites to help us continue to improve our work. Thanks to the Town of Plymouth, Mass Audubon, Town of Falmouth, Living Observatory, Woods Hole Research Center, and others for continued partnership.
