After 16 years of work with the state, federal government and local businesses and nonprofits, the Coonamessett River Restoration project in Falmouth is finally complete.
Project coordinator Betsy Gladfelter has been at the helm of the restoration since it first started in 2009.
“The whole idea of this project is to have a mosaic of habitats in the river channel and a mosaic of habitats in the wetlands system,” she said. “You look at it and you say, 'Oh, you just dug a longer channel,' but it was all engineered.”
Settlers began using the river to operate grist mills and cranberry bogs dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries. This caused the river to degrade, and once abundant herring and eels could no longer pass through. But now, the river flows freely once agaon, and the surrounding habitats are lush with shrubs, trees and grass.
Thomas O'Shea is Commissioner of the state Department of Fish and Game. His department oversees the Division of Ecological Restoration, which was one of the many partners on this project.
“All those plants out there, those germinated from seeds that were dormant, many of them for decades, or even 100 years. It's outstanding,” O'Shea said. “It's probably one of the best sites in Massachusetts, I would say, that we've seen in restoration.”
O’Shea made his remarks at a celebration at the Coonamessett River this week.
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal councilman David Weeden was at the celebration, and said that for the tribe, the restoration is about more than fish passage.
“It's about reconnecting with the lifeways that sustained our people long before colonial boundaries were drawn,” he said. “Reestablishing cold water habitats is ecologically healing, and it's also an example of a cultural shift that recognizes the rights of nature.”
Also at the celebration was U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s acting northeast regional director Sharon Marino, state representatives David Vieira and Thomas Moakley, executive director of the Association to Preserve Cape Cod Andrew Gottlieb, president of the Coonamessett River Trust Wendi Buesseler, Falmouth town manager Michael Renshaw and Falmouth select board member Jack Richardson.
The restoration site is open to the public and features ADA-accessible walking trails.
