Barbara & Peter Sidel Donate Salt Marsh

Barbara and Peter Sidel recently donated two 1.3-acre salt marsh parcels to the nonprofit Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT) in the Red River estuary that flows into Nantucket Sound. The scenic sweep of salt marsh habitat is tucked just behind Red River Beach and Uncle Venie’s Road. Although salt marsh and freshwater wetlands are protected from many forms of development under local and state regulations right now, donating wetland parcels to a local land trust helps to preserve these habitats long-term in case local or state protections change over time. Land donors also no longer need to pay property tax. Salt marsh offers a variety of ecosystem services to the community including storm surge buffering, filtering of stormwater road run off, and supporting the early life stages for many species of fish.