Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1281965
54 SEPTEMBER 2020 I N - D E P T H "The Great Marsh is the most wonderful place in the world no matter what season you're out there," says Geoffrey Walker, a Newbury selectman and decoy carver who has been working for decades to protect the marsh from invasive species. "It's just a marvelous place." But the marsh is in trouble. Even as climate change drives rising sea levels, the marsh itself is sinking in many places, the result of agricultural decisions first made centuries ago. So over the next few years, the Trustees of Reservations, the land conservation nonprofit that owns Old Town Hill, is spearheading a project that aims to reverse this decline and help the marsh heal. The present-day problem began in the 1600s, when the first white settlers to the area implemented agricultural practices they has used on the marshes back home in England. They dug long, straight ditches to speed the draining of the marsh at low tide, increasing the yield of salt marsh hay, which was used for bedding and fodder for livestock. "Almost every acre of marsh was treated this way," says Russell Hopping, lead ecologist for the Trustees. "From Canada down to the mid-Atlantic, they were just altered." Coastal farmers used this method of managing the wetlands until approximately the turn of the 20th century, when the proliferation of automobiles sharply reduced the need for both horses and oxen, and the hay used in their upkeep. As farmers abandoned their salt marsh fields, the ditches fell into disrepair. Today, the damage has become so extensive that the natural drainage patterns of the marsh have been disrupted. The marsh is unable to drain efficiently, causing pools of standing water—Hopping calls them "mega-pools"—much larger than would occur naturally. This water kills marsh grass and dissolves biomass, causing the marsh to sink. Healthy marshes provide an essential buffer against sea level rise, wind erosion, and storm surge. These benefits are lost when the marsh sinks. The Trustees decided to take action on the problem after a 2017 study conducted in collaboration with Bourne- based environmental services firm The Woods Hole Group. "e Great Marsh is the most wonderful place in the world no matter what season you're out there. It's just a marvelous place." — Geoffrey Walker, a Newbury selectman and decoy carver Celebrating 60 years