Retired Bogs Have Future in Focus

            The plan to restore the 57 acres of retired cranberry bogs off of Acushnet Road in Mattapoisett to something approaching their pre-agriculture state has traction.

            On Tuesday afternoon, neighbors and potential recreational users were invited by Buzzards Bay Coalition and the Town of Mattapoisett to a public gathering for an update on the plan to bring back the Mattapoisett Bogs property to its former wildlife status and augment that with an improved, outdoor education and recreational access.

            “We’re getting closer to finalizing the conceptual design,” said Brendan Annett, the Buzzards Bay Coalition’s vice president of watershed protection. “It’s just gotten to this point where… now we have an updated design.”

            Tuesday’s presentation out at the Mattapoisett Bogs comes after a number of public meetings about the project on property acquired several years ago. According to Annett, the project’s contractor is preparing designs to obtain permits to restore wetlands.

            When the bogs were retired in 2012, Decas Cranberry company enrolled in a program run by the US Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service that retires agricultural operations in wetlands. The USDA carries on such work in other parts of the country in crop fields, floodlands, and wetlands. 

            The resulting easement stipulating that the Mattapoisett Bogs can no longer be farmed led to a transfer of ownership of the now-restricted property to Buzzards Bay Coalition with the requirement with that the bogs be restored to wetland. Once permitting is secured at the state and local levels this winter, Buzzards Bay Coalition will regrade the site.

            “We collected a lot of data on groundwater… we’re trying to reconnect the land with the hydrology – with the water,” said Annett, who has worked for the coalition the last 12 years. “We’re basically regrading it to a natural-like wetland.”

            Benefits will include flood storage, wildlife habitat, and maintenance of recreational elements including trails at the site. Annett said the design will lay out trails in a similar pattern so users can enjoy the view of the marshes and the swamps. Partial trail closures are expected while work is being done, but it is hoped the public can stay connected to this natural resource through the transition period.

            “The goals are to improve ecological function. The ditches and canals dug (for cranberry bogs) on the site function to convey water but require management. The bogs no longer have a purpose so the water will be utilized for maintaining these wetlands,” said Annett. “(The project) supports fish and wildlife, restores water flows, and infiltrates the groundwater.”

            While the bogs needed watering and maintenance, their impaired infrastructure will be restored to an extent that such functions can be naturally sustainable.

            Buzzards Bay Coalition is working with GZA Engineering. The design will also reflect input emanating from an April 2019 public meeting, including trail links, water quality, and wildlife habitat. Annett said the coalition has been working with the Town of Mattapoisett “since the beginning” of the effort.

            The project will be funded by the USDA-NRCS and three state agencies, the Division of Ecological Restoration, the Recreational Trails program, and the Environmental Trust.

            Annett says there is a similar project currently in progress along the Weweantic River, and expects in the case of Mattapoisett Bogs that over the course of permitting the coalition will achieve a better understanding by then how to manage public access to the property.

By Mick Colageo

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