Cranberry farming is highly labor intensive. The berry bushes require just the right combination of sand and water, particularly in the fall when an early frost can damage the crop. So I’m told by Peter Motyka, Secretary of the Southeast Massachusetts Chapter of TU.

Peter grew up playing hockey on frozen cranberry bogs. Now he is working to get his TU chapter involved in a large-scale restoration effort at a fallow cranberry bog near his home.

The bog was cultivated for 100 years before it lost its productivity and was donated to the town of Plymouth. The fast growing community is looking to set aside the land as an American white cedar preserve. Favored for shingles and other products, eastern seaboard cedar forests are now few and far between. Along with the trees, we lost a unique ecological community when we cleared most of the white cedar forest.

Transforming the cranberry bog into a more natural ecosystem will require a lot of work. The first step will be removing 100 years worth of sand, exposing the peat below. While the town and Inter Fluve, an environmental engineering firm, will be doing most of the work, Peter hopes the Southeast Massachusetts chapter will be able to assist the effort.

The Eel River flows through the bog and part of the overall restoration plan would call for a stream improvement project. With a little work, the Eel River may support a viable population of native brook trout once again.

After spending the summer visiting completed and near-completed projects, it was enjoyable to visit a potential project site in the initial planning phase. I hope that Peter and the Southeast Chapter are able to pull it off.

This particular TU chapter has a history completing large-scale projects. After visiting Eel River, Peter took me to Red Brook, the site of an acclaimed salter brook trout restoration. Salters are rare sea-running brook trout.

The chapter, along with the Massachusetts-Rhode Island TU Council, has spent decades restoring and protecting this beautiful coastal stream. Click HERE to read more.

A beadhead nymph tempted a few salters. Peter and I marveled at these unique specimens before gently releasing them back into their natal waters.

Click HERE to see my photos.

Click HERE to visit the Southeast Mass Chapter website
Click HERE to visit the MA-RI TU council website