Lower Cape Towns Awarded State Wetland Grants

Chatham, Orleans and Harwich were among the Massachusetts communities awarded state funding in support of local wetland restoration projects last week.

 The funding includes $300,000 in support of restoration efforts at Chatham’s Frost Fish Creek; $100,000 for work to restore the Namequoit Bog system in Orleans; and $150,000 to restore the Sand Pond bogs in Harwich.

 A total of $6 million in grants were awarded across 12 communities through the Department of Fish and Game’s Division of Ecological Restoration to help “increase resilience to climate change for people and nature, restore crucial wildlife habitat, and improve water quality,” the department said in a Nov. 26 statement.

 “We are excited to support projects that not only restore ecosystems but also prepare us for the impacts of climate change,” Rebecca Tepper, secretary of the state’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, said in the statement. “These initiatives will enhance our ability to store and sequester carbon with nature and help us meet our net-zero goals.” 

 Chatham’s Natural Resources Director Greg Berman said efforts to restore Frost Fish Creek have been in the planning for some time. The $300,000 from the state joins additional funding secured through partnering organizations including the Chatham Conservation Foundation ($5,000) and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, which awarded funding for the project through a technical assistance grant.

 Berman said one of the major issues facing the creek is undersized culverts that are limiting the amount of tidal flow through the property.

 “The less tidal flushing there is, the more bacterial build up there is and increased nitrogen impacting the salt marsh in that area,” he said. “So by restoring that tidal flow, we should be able to restore quite a bit of those habitat values.”

 The state grant will be used to hire a consultant to design and lay out a scope of work for the project, Berman said. He anticipates that the town will put out a request for proposals for a consultant soon.

 A restored creek could make the area more sustainable for different species, Berman said. That could potentially include herring. 

 “The idea is if we build it, they might come,” he said.

 The Harwich Conservation Trust is looking to restore the seven-acre Sand Pond bog area. The bogs are part of a larger 11-acre parcel owned by the trust that abuts the 50-acre Thacher property.

 Mike Lach, the trust’s executive director, said the bog property historically had a stream that ran from Sand Pond through the Thacher property and under what is now the Cape Cod Rail Trail at Great Western Road and out to the Herring River estuary.

 “It’ll be interesting to study the historical hydrology of the system,” he said.

 Similar to the Frost Fish project, the $150,000 will be used to hire a consultant to prepare a 50 percent design for the eco-restoration effort, according to Lach. The grant is the first received by the trust through the Division of Ecological Restoration program, he said.

 “It demonstrates the state’s commitment to rewilding these retired systems that can then benefit water quality, habitat diversity and the visitor experience,” Lach said of the grant money.

 The trust has been active in other eco-restoration efforts in recent years. Construction recently wrapped on a project at the Robert F. Smith Cold Brook Preserve, while Lach said construction is due to get underway this winter on another restoration project on a bog area across from Cape Cod Regional Technical High School.

 In Orleans, the Orleans Conservation Trust will direct its share of grant funding to restoring the 23-acre Namequoit Bog Conservation Area, which the trust bought from the Heyelman family in 1998.

 “This funding will enable OCT to gather data and develop a comprehensive restoration plan for the bog, with the ultimate goal of transforming it into a thriving wetland ecosystem, either as a freshwater wetland, estuarine wetland, or a combination of both,” the trust said in a statement last week.

 The grant will allow the trust to pursue the planning and design of what it calls “a multi-phase restoration project aimed at improving water quality, supporting local biodiversity, enhancing resilience to climate change, and promoting the ecological health of the surrounding areas, including Paw Wah Pond and Little Pleasant Bay.”

 “Key areas of focus will include planning for the removal of invasive species, the introduction of native plant communities, and the evaluation of hydrological changes that may benefit or challenge restoration efforts,” the trust said in the statement.

 The bog area abuts the 26-acre Namequoit Wood Conservation Area, which was anonymously donated to the trust in June. Meanwhile, the Heyelman family owns an additional 20 acres of land near the bog area that it plans to leave to the trust in the future.

 “We have been investing more each year in the stewardship of our lands,” said Steve O’Grady, the trust's executive director. “I think the community is starting to take notice of that. I hope there are other landowners out there who realize how much we care and consider OCT when they’re deciding what will become of their property.”