Windswept Bog, Nantucket Island MA: Watershed-scale Wetland Restoration and Research

On September 15, 2026 the Nantucket Conservation Foundation hosted a special screening of its recently completed documentary on the restoration of Windswept Bog. Over 250 members of the community attended the free event, held at Nantucket's Dreamland Main Theater, to celebrate the premiere of the film. It was a memorable evening, celebrating five years of dedication and collaboration that brought this retired cranberry bog back to life as a thriving wetland.

The film traces the project from its origins, through the restoration work, to the results now taking root, and why this landscape was worth restoring. The evening included a 15-minute screening followed by a 30 minute panel discussion and Q&A with members of the restoration team. Dr. Geoff Trussell (NCF Board of Trustees and Director of the Coastal Sustainability Institute/Marine Science Center at Northeastern University) moderated the evening's discussion. Panelists included:

• Travis Sumner (Co-Founder and Principal, SumCo Eco-Contracting who led construction).
• Nick Larrabee (NCF Director of Land Management and a third-generation Nantucket cranberry farmer)
• Michael Soares and Dr. Julie Busa (Wetland Scientists who led restoration design, formerly with Fuss & O'Neill and currently with Truly Ecological)
• Jessica Cohn (Ecological Restoration Specialist, Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration)
• Karen Beattie (NCF Vice President of Science and Stewardship)

https://youtu.be/BgEBgxJNFzc?si=PWuRwpORzhEzZGYj

This project and documentary would not have been possible without so many people. Special thanks to our project partners: the Division of Ecological Restoration, Fuss & O'Neill, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, SumCo Eco Contracting, the Richard King Mellon Foundation, the Southeastern New England Program of Restore America's Estuaries, and the Living Observatory, whose support and expertise made this restoration possible. We are grateful to Yellow Productions for bringing this story to film, Neil Foley (NCF Interpretive Education Coordinator/Ecologist) for his dedication to this documentary, and the entire NCF team for their support and hard work.