Environmental advocacy groups work to increase biodiversity in town

A patch of old, abandoned cranberry bogs has been overrun by invasive species and a collection of environmental advocacy groups are working to revert the bogs back to wetland and increase the biodiversity of the area.

Marks Cove Conservation area is a large natural area owned by environmental activist groups, the town of Wareham and Mass Audubon. The northern tip of the conservation area was once active cranberry bogs. Before the land was cultivated, it was largely wetland but now, it is overgrown with invasive species and lacks the ability to move water freely due to the ditches, berms and irrigation added for the bogs.

In a meeting held Tuesday, March 4, the ownership groups and the environmental engineering group they are working with explained how they plan to restore the land to a more biologically diverse state.

Members of the engineering firm Fuss and O'Neil explained that the restoration plan would include excavation and reshaping of the land. The project would focus on removing berms and ditches to restore water flow and managing invasive species..

The current trail network is based on where the berms are and once those are removed, a new, longer walking path will be built with boardwalks across particularly wet spots.

Andrew Bohne, a senior landscape architect with Fuss and O'Neil explained the process is still in the early design stages but some of the problems to address include making the trails Americans with Disabilities act compliant, parking and creating viewing areas.

Bohne explained they still need to finalize the plan, go through the necessary permitting process and the tentative project start date is sometime in the summer of 2026.

The ownership groups and members of Fuss and O'Neil led a guided walk of the property Sunday, March 2 for people to see it and share thoughts on what they would like restoration to look like.

Many of the attendees of the walk said they would like to see the land restored to its pre-bog state and that it remains accessible to the public.

The ownership groups met with Fuss and O'Neil after the guided tour and brainstormed different goals for how to restore the land in a way that prepares it for the future and ensures it is accessible.

"The first goal is to enhance the health of the site from an ecological perspective by restoring fresh water wetlands," said Julie Busa, senior resilience scientist from Fuss and O'Neil. "Another big driver of this project is thinking about making space to accommodate the changing shoreline."

In order to achieve both of these things, members of Fuss and O'Neil explained they want to encourage salt marsh migration on the property.

"Marshes are extremely helpful in buffering waves, they are very neat habitats for a lot of species and they are some of the most bio-diverse areas we have on Earth," said Michael Soares, senior wetland scientist for Fuss and O'Neil.

Soares explained there are salt marshes south of the conservation area that are migrating upwards towards the former cranberry bogs. He added that removing the berms and ditches will make it easier for the former bogs to become salt marshes because the land will act more like a sponge and absorb the water.

Another way Fuss and O'Neil are looking to increase water flow on the property is the removal of the invasive phragmites, a variety of large reed grasses. Soares explained phragmites grow quickly and create dense barriers that prevent the flow of water.

"We're really looking at how we can balance both the ecological restoration and the visitor experience of the site," said Allyson Fairweather, a landscape designer with Fuss and O'Neil.