Looking Ahead: Hinckleys Pond-Herring River Headwaters Eco-Restoration

When the Harwich Conservation Trust’s ambitious eco-restoration project at the Hinckleys Pond – Herring River Headwaters Preserve gets underway, things might look a bit messy at first. But soon after the project is completed, a potent combination of careful planning and the resilience of nature will power a beautiful transformation of the landscape.

More than 100 Harwich community members learned about the project during a presentation by Nick Nelson on Feb. 1 at the Harwich Community Center. Nelson, who grew up in Harwich and is based in Cambridge, is a senior geomorphologist with Inter-Fluve, a firm that specializes in restoration of wetlands, lakes, rivers and estuaries. The Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT) has partnered with Inter-Fluve for the design and permitting process of the project.

“I feel really fortunate to have my journey come back home here,” said Nelson, a graduate of Harwich High School.

Thanks to generous HCT donors, the trust was able to purchase the 31-acre retired bog area, located off Headwaters Drive in Harwich near Hinckleys Pond. The Brown family, who owns a retired bog on the other side of the pond is also partnering with the HCT on the project, which aims to increase biodiversity in the area.

These kinds of restoration opportunities can arise as local cranberry farmers face economic challenges, particularly because of competition from larger-scale farms in the Midwest and Canada, said Michael Lach, HCT’s Executive Director.

“We are very sensitive to this crossroads of cranberry history and farming and its meaning to the community,” said Lach. “These hard-working farmers, who have invested their lives, generations, in these places are looking for a graceful way to leave the industry, and leave it in a better place. And they are often turning to local land trusts to do that. So we’re honored to be part of that solution.”

Nelson provided the audience with a look at the nuts and bolts of the restoration project. Simply put, the project aims to “disrupt the layer cake of sand and cranberries,” that have built up over time, he said. A similar process has been recently completed at HCT’s Robert F. Smith Cold Brook Preserve on Bank Street in Harwich.

The project is slated to begin soon, though federal funds designated for the project have been tied up by a recent funding freeze. “HCT is hopeful that the eco-restoration construction can start as soon as the federal funding freeze ends,” said Lach.

Once work starts, the project will likely last between four and six months, said Nelson. Most of the heavy equipment will stay on the site, and the project is not expected to have a significant effect on traffic flow in the area. Booms will be in place to limit the impact to Hinckleys Pond during construction.

But there will be a heck of a lot going on at the site. “You’re going to see a mess,” said Nelson. “You’re going to see an excavator in a wetland, which you’re not accustomed to seeing. You’re going to see big dump trucks being filled up with dirt and transporting material around the site and through the site.” Sand removed from the former bog area will be returned to areas on the site from which it was borrowed.

After the project is completed, Nelson said it is likely that the bog areas will transition “into more of your shrub fen wetland. It will be a little bit wetter, so your larger woody species, your trees, are going to have a hard time growing in these areas. You’ll probably have a good view over this area for a long time to come.”

In areas where sand is not being removed, “that’s where we’ll focus the tree plantings, primarily white cedar trees,” said Nelson. In addition, other plantings will be made in transitional areas, “lots of different types of berries and shrubs that the animals and birds — birds in particular — love to go after,” said Nelson.

“In about five years we expect the whole site to be vegetated, with lots of grasses and forbs (herbaceous plants) and with some shrubs starting to grow as well,” said Nelson. “The trees that will be planted will start to grow — after five years they will probably be in the five to ten feet high range. And then in 15 to 20 years, those trees should be in the 20 to 30 plus feet tall range.”

Nelson likened the project to “resetting the cycle” of the area, which will continue to change and grow as the years pass. The months-long construction project sets the stage for Mother Nature and Father Time to naturally restore the abundance of plants and wildlife to the newly rewilded habitats.

Visit harwichconservationtrust.org, click Save Land, and then click the Hinckleys Pond restoration link for updates on the project.

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