HARWICH – State officials with the Department of Fish & Game’s Division of Ecological Restoration recently announced almost $1 million in grant funding to support ecological restoration projects, with nearly $500,000 going to projects in the Cape and Islands.
The Harwich Conservation Trust received a $225,000 award to support construction efforts for the Cold Brook Restoration Project, which aims to restore over fifty acres of a former cranberry bog including over 4,000 feet of riverways along Cold Brook to restore fish habitat and improve coastal resilience.
The Nantucket Conservation Foundation is receiving a $250,000 grant to support planning and construction related to the Windswept Cranberry Bog Restoration, which will restore forty acres of wetlands and sandplain grasslands within the domain of the publicly accessible Windswept Bog.
“We are proud to support these powerful and diverse restoration projects through technical assistance, technical services, and funding,” said Beth Lambert, Director of the Division of Ecological Restoration.
“Working together with many dedicated and knowledgeable partners,” she said, “we will continue to drive restoration efforts forward and see the innumerable benefits of this work now and into the future.”
The Buzzards Bay Coalition will also receive a $45,000 grant to support the Buzzards Bay Watershed Restoration Partnership, which will aid the early planning stages for cranberry bog restorations in Buzzards Bay.
Projects were chosen through the Department’s Priority Projects Program, which directs funding to projects deemed to offer the most ecological, economic, and social benefits to the Commonwealth.
To view a statewide list of active ecological restoration Priority Projects, click here.
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