As millions of cranberries were being harvested for Thursday’s US Thanksgiving holiday, Massachusetts farmers were working to convert defunct cranberry bogs to back to wild wetlands, amid climate crisis woes.
Several restoration projects were awarded $6m in grants to carry out such initiatives, state officials announced this week.
The grants, provided by the New England state’s department of fish and game division of ecological restoration (DER), will “increase resilience to climate change for people and nature, restore crucial wildlife habitat, and improve water quality” in 12 communities, said the Massachusetts governor, Maura Healey, in a statement.
“We are excited to support projects that not only restore ecosystems but also prepare us for the impacts of climate change. These initiatives will enhance our ability to store and sequester carbon with nature and help us meet our net zero goals,” said Rebecca Tepper, secretary of the state’s office of energy and environmental affairs.
Tepper added that coastline restoration remained a “top priority” for Healey’s administration.
The grants are being awarded through two state programs: the DER’s wetland restoration program and the DER’s cranberry bog restoration program, which converts defunct cranberry bogs into wetlands and streams.
To date, scientists and government officials have converted 400 acres of retired cranberry bogs into wetlands, the Washington Post reported. State officials have said they hope to restore an additional 1,000 acres of bogs within the next decade.
The state has continued to commit sizable grants for restoration purposes. In April, the state received a $5m federal grant to transition 57 acres of retired cranberry bogs into wetlands on Cape Cod.
As sea levels rise in Massachusetts because of the climate crisis caused by humans burning fossil fuels, scientists are looking to develop bogs into wetlands to improve coastal resilience and slow down erosion.
Wetlands can hold more water and filter out pollutants amid increased storms that bring potential flooding. They also have other environmental benefits, acting as wildlife habitats and storing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in their soil.
More farmers have been drawn to the prospect of transitioning their former cranberry bogs into wetlands. The climate crisis and economic factors, including the high cost of modernizing bogs, can make cranberry farming more difficult and has seen a reduction in the activity, despite cranberries being very popular with consumers.
A federal program will also pay for farmers to convert the land of bogs that is not efficient for growing, creating an additional financial incentive, the Post reported.
“We are in an upward trend in terms of interest in retiring cranberry bogs,” said Brian Wick, executive director of the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association, to the Post. “It was a bog here, a bog there. There wasn’t a whole lot of demand for it. Now we’re seeing definitely more growers interested.”
But getting land for restoration remains a competitive process, as other businesses – such as housing developers – vie for undeveloped coastal land.
“This opportunity won’t be here in 25 years,” said Christopher Neill, a senior scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center and an expert in restored bogs, to the Post. “These growers are not going to hang on, they’re going to make decisions and the land won’t be available forever.”
While conservation projects have steadily increased in south-eastern Massachusetts, restoration initiatives are still relatively new.
The majority of finished projects are only a few years old, with 14 restoration initiatives still being designed and implemented, the Post reported.
