Eco-Restoration Journey Week 13: Meet the foreman

Jeremy Sanders is a Renaissance man of eco-restoration. As site foreman at Harwich Conservation Trust’s (HCT) Hinckleys Pond — Herring River Headwaters Eco-Restoration Project, he sets the tone with his skillset and versatility. From excavating to trail building to carpentry, Sanders can do it all. He’s like a Swiss Army knife in a hard hat.

Sanders works for SumCo Eco-Contracting and has been at the Hinckleys Pond site since the first day of the project. He was also instrumental in HCT’s award-winning eco-restoration effort at the Robert F. Smith Cold Brook Preserve in Harwich Port, which transformed a retired cranberry bog into a wildlife oasis.

At Cold Brook, Sanders played a huge role in the tricky channel excavation work that resulted in Cold Brook running wild through the 66-acre property on its way to Saquatucket Harbor on Nantucket Sound. He also spearheaded boardwalk construction at the site.

“Jeremy brings a lot to the table,” said Michael Lundsted, SumCo’s Project Manager for the Hinckleys Pond Project. “He’s multi-talented and so important to the work we do.”

Jeremy Sanders at Harwich Conservation Trust’s Hinckley’s Pond — Herring River Headwaters Eco-Restoration Project. Sanders works for SumCo Eco-Contracting and is the site foreman for the project.

On the hottest day of the year so far, we had the chance to chat with Sanders at the Hinckleys Pond site. He was installing support pilings for a boardwalk that will cross the rewilded wetlands and provide an excellent vantage point for nature watching.

A man of many skills

Sanders, who grew up in South Carolina, began perfecting his skills at an early age. “I started operating machines when I was about ten years old, in a family business,” he said. “We did civil construction, prepping for parking lots and buildings and paving.”

That experience has made him the go-to person for the installation of a nearly mile-long All Persons Trail at the Hinckleys Pond — Herring River Headwaters Preserve. The trail will be wheelchair accessible, suitable for parents cruising with kids in strollers and will provide a great way for people of all ages and abilities to enjoy nature.

After working for the family business, Sanders moved on to timber framing, a precise structural technique used in the construction of homes and buildings. “I learned a lot about the finer points of carpentry,” he said.

About five years ago, Sanders began his career with SumCo Eco-Contracting, a firm that specializes in ecological and environmental improvement projects. For Sanders, it was the realization of a long-held goal.

“I always dreamed of doing ecological restoration,” he said. “I enjoyed working on buildings, but it feels a lot better to give this bog a head start at growing back into a natural wetland. It is a joy for me.”

Sanders pointed to the former bog, now festooned with a green fuzz of native growth after sand was removed and the surface was turned over. “It’s amazing to me how quickly nature springs back,” he said. “If you can give it a starting point and take away the hindrances, then step back and let it go, it really takes off.”

Project refresher

The Hinckleys Pond – Herring River Headwaters Eco-Restoration Project includes the restoration of two retired cranberry bogs that bookend 174-acre Hinckleys Pond in Harwich, located at the headwaters of the Herring River estuary. Hinckleys Pond is also connected by streams to river herring spawning habitat in Long Pond and Seymour Pond.

By the late 1990s, much larger off-Cape bogs were producing an extra supply of cranberries that caused the price to fall. This shift in the industry makes it more difficult for local growers to continue farming. Some are looking to exit the industry.

Farmers have a choice. They can either sell their properties for conversion of the upland to subdivisions which can cause water quality changes and end up closing off public access to the land. Or they can seek a conservation future by selling to local land trusts and towns. In 2021 at Hinckleys Pond, the Jenkins family finished their farming chapter and chose to sell their 31 acres to HCT for the next chapters of conservation and eco-restoration.

The Brown family, who owns a retired bog on the other side of the pond, is also partnering with HCT on the project. The collaborative eco-effort will increase biodiversity and restore freshwater wetland habitat as well as enhance opportunities for everyone to enjoy the trails, views and wildlife watching.

The eco-restoration project was funded by HCT donors, the Brown family, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Southeast New England Program (SNEP) Watershed grant, EPA National Estuary Program Coastal Watershed grant under cooperative agreement with Restore America’s Estuaries, Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation MassTrails grant, foundation funds through the Association to Preserve Cape Cod, and a Transformational Habitat Restoration & Coastal Resilience grant through the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.

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