Marks Cove Wetland Restoration Project

Mark’s Cove is a pilot restoration project for the NOAA award to Mass Audubon and partners entitled “Making Space: The Southeastern Massachusetts Marsh Migration Initiative.” 

Site Description:

The restoration site includes approximately 20 acres of abandoned cranberry farmland, two small agricultural ponds, trails, and a small tidal creek and wetlands, and abuts a residential neighborhood. The site is located within the larger Mark’s Cove Conservation Area, approximately 118-acres of protected open space owned collectively by the Buzzards Bay Coalition (BBC), Wareham Land Trust, Wildlands Trust, Mass Audubon, and the Town of Wareham. 

Wetlands on the former cranberry farm are degraded from legacy impacts of agriculture including a sand fill layer, ditches, small dams, compacted soils, and more. Methods will consist of removal of berms and water control structures, perimeter ditch filling, surface roughening, and channel restoration.

Goals:

The goals of this project are to encourage the recovery of healthy and dynamic wetlands, enhance public use and enjoyment, learn about engaging local neighborhoods in marsh migration issues, and to improve long-term shared stewardship through coordination of multiple organizations and the neighborhood.  

Piloting at Mark’s Cove Bog will strength our ability to navigate neighborhood level social dimensions and serve future scaling efforts for cranberry farm restoration across Massachusetts. 

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