I am starting a new series about wetlands violations in town. I want people to stay up to date with what is going on around them. These fragile ecosystems take many decades to become resilient, and often times require help from humans now because of invasive plants/pollution until they can be called old growth again (in terms of necromass, biomass, soil health, fungal networks, canopy cover, biodiversity etc). The best action is preventative. How do you prevent these things? I am not an expert. I only understand a bit about nature. Our Conservation Commision is under funded, under resourced, and sometimes sadly ignored by people in town. This is depressing for me to watch. It is difficult for me to see nature being hurt on the global scale, but maybe our town can make a difference locally? The town must organize and support our Conservation Commision.

I know that the Conservation Commision is aware of this one. The story starts three years ago. A family decided to clear cut 30 trees in a wetlands, and next to a perennial stream system. There was no notice of intent filed with the town/state and no one in town had the opportunity to say something before the cutting. The Conservation Commision was shocked.

Upon hearing of this, our Conservation Commision started work on a restoration plan with the home owner. The plan was to plant native shrubs and allow the old tree stumps to resprout, then a professional would pick the strongest shoot to become the main leader and eventually a healthy trunk again. For some of these trees to fully grow back, it would take decades.

The restoration plan was not followed. The home owner and landscaping company ignored the plan. They made the decision to poison the stumps, accelerate rotting, and cut the new shoots. I do not have the experience to know if these trees have the energy to ever come back now.

This seems to be an ongoing matter. I am eager to learn if the home owner will appologize and “fix” the problem.