Eel River restoration

When the news is filled with civil wars, natural disasters, and nuclear meltdowns, I'm on the lookout for stories of renewal and hope. The restoration of Plymouth's Eel River is just that. A partnership of multiple groups came together to restore 40 acres of wetlands, plant over 24,000 trees, remove dams, and expand culverts, helping to restore the Eel River's headwaters back to its natural state. The land, which had previously been cranberry bogs, is now protected open space with public walking trails, a new footbridge, fishing, and bird watching. Volunteers, including a local boy scout troop helped to plant some of the 17,000 Atlantic white cedar trees in the headwater bogs. Atlantic white cedars are a globally rare wetland species due to development in the limited habitat that they can survive in. Atlantic white cedars aren't the only thing that have come back to the area; scientists have found spawning brook trout in the upper parts of the river, a species that hasn't been seen there in about 150 years. The project was the result of a partnership between many groups, including the town of Plymouth, the Nature Conservancy, American Rivers, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, along with many others, and it recently won an award from Coastal America. A slideshow can be found on the Nature Conservancy's website.