The windswept BOG ecological restoration project involves comprehensive ecological wetland restoration across 43.8 acres of nationally decreasing wetland types (figure 2)

The Department of Fish & Game Division of Ecological Restoration received a $1,501,430 Project Grant under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Program (CFDA 15.614) to implement the Windswept Bog Ecological Restoration Project. This project will restore over 43.8 acres of decreasing coastal wetland habitats on a retired cranberry bog site in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Key restoration activities include removing berms and water control structures, roughening compacted soils, breaking up vegetation mats, and creating diverse wetland habitats to reestablish natural hydrology and ecological connectivity. The Nantucket Conservation Foundation is serving as the sub-grantee and will oversee construction and implementation of the project, which is expected to be completed by January 2027. The project aims to improve wildlife habitat, enhance water quality, and increase coastal resilience for the Polpis and Nantucket Harbor areas.

Windswept BOG (the site) is located on polpis road in the northeastern portion of nantucket island, massachusetts (figure 1). The site is a retired commercial cranberry BOG owned by nantucket conservation foundation, INC. (NCF). The site is located approximately 0.5 mile from the eastern edge of polpis harbor, an embayment of nantucket harbor. The site is open to the public for pedestrian and bicycle trail-use and other passive recreation activities. Surrounding land uses within the site s watershed include light residential development and protected open space. Total acreage within the limit of work is 86.4 acres. Upon implementation of the restoration design, over 50 of the project area will restore and conserve decreasing coastal wetland types.activities to be performed on the site will follow a process-based ecological restoration approach and focus on repairing the natural movement and storage of water, uncompacting the artificially sanded surfaces (fill material) within retired BOG cells, and reestablishing ecological connectivity. Targeting these limiting factors will help drive wetland recovery and the ultimate reestablishment of a long-term, self-sustaining, and connected wetland system. Specific restoration actions will include: the removal of 2,500 FT of berms and 28 water control structures to reconnect hydrology, roughening of compacted soils across 14 BOG cells, breaking up the cranberry (vaccinium SPP.) mats to allow for greater plant diversity, breaking up the fill material to expose the native peat and engage the buried seed bank, and creating surface microtopography for wildlife habitat. Excavation in select areas to lower ground surface elevation will establish diverse habitats including semi-permanently and seasonally flooded wetlands. These activities will set a trajectory for natural recovery of over 40 acres of retired cranberry bogs to diverse wetland habitats and provide flood dampening and filtration for improved water quality and coastal resilience immediately upstream of polpis and nantucket harbors (impaired for nitrogen and bacteria). The restoration design emphasizes long-term conservation of self-sustaining ecological functions. From an ecosystem perspective, this means preserving and enhancing fish and wildlife habitat for species and enhanced climate adaptation and marsh migration potential. From a human impact perspective, this means improved water filtration, reduced community exposure to sea level rise and potential storm damage, and improved opportunities for public education and passive recreation.to meet the overall goal of restoring coastal freshwater wetlands on the site, substantial coordination among multiple organizations is underway. The massachusetts division of ecological restoration (DER) has funded extensive planning and design efforts and is helpful to manage and organize the project, working closely with the landowner )NCF), project engineer (fuss o neill), and the massachusetts natural heritage and endangered species program (MA nhesp) to implement the project. The sub-grantee under this award will be NCF. NCF plans to bid the construction documents and hold the construction contract with a qualified construction contractor as a contractual service under this award. Expected outcomes if this application is successful includes project construction. The project is currently nearing the final stages of design and permitting.