Restoring Orleans' Lost Treasures

At Putnam Farm in Orleans, the Orleans Conservation Commission, biologists and volunteers are restoring wetlands and giving threatened species a playground for life.

What are wetlands?

05 April, 2024 - ORLEANS, MA - What do wild bees, terrapin turtles and spotted salamanders have in common? Well, they’re all native to the Cape, and they are all running out of natural habitats. But soon, however, they may also find their way to Putnam farm in Orleans. Through the combined work of  biologists, ecologists and volunteers, Orleans Conservation Commission is restoring Putnam's wetlands, offering a sanctuary for native and threatened species depending on wetlands as habitats.

How do you restore wetlands?

Most states across the United States have lost over 90 percent of their wetlands to drainage, says Tom Biebighauser, Wildlife Biologist and Wetland Ecologist. By clearing the land and removing the sand that was once used to fill the wetlands, the groundwater that was originally there is exposed, creating vernal ponds: seasonal bodies of water without fish, great for salamanders, turtles, frogs and toads to return to every year to lay eggs.

In this project, the Orleans Conservation Commission is also removing invasive species and creating wet meadows whose year-round wet soil will house swamp milkweed and rose mallow to attract pollinators, which in turn will have swallows and purple martins take the bee line straight to Putnam. The symbiosis is more than twofold here: the pollinators will help with the farming operations at Putnam's 16 allotments.

Why have we lost wetlands?

Biebighauser, who has has restored 10,000 wetlands, says humans started draining Cape Cod's wetlands in the 1700s. There has been a misinformed fear directed at wetlands for breeding mosquitoes and malaria, however, the wetlands' dragonflies, water boatmen, beetles and water striders eat mosquito larvae, meaning that the restored Putnam's visitors can leave the mosquito repellent at home. 

The Putnam restoration is a half an acre project, but is one with parallels stretching globally and back in time. Wetlands were drained and filled all over the world to make room for agriculture and development, leading to loss off habitat and biodiversity. Restorming them restores nature's balance as well, mosquitos and all. As Biebighauser notes, when there's a healthy wetlands, mosquitoes may check in, but they won't check out.