Child’s River

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Farley Bog
Brook Trout
Construction
Garner Bog Wood Installation FRGC
Garner Bogs Aerial View IF
Garner Bogs IF
Construction
South Pond Aerial IF
North Pond Snags
North Pond Channel IF

Photo Credits: APCC, Gerald Beetham, Falmouth Rod and Gun Club, and Inter-Fluve.

Child’s River

Falmouth/Mashpee, MA

The Childs River was one of the first cranberry bog restoration projects completed on Cape Cod. Led by the Falmouth Rod and Gun Club and the Sporting, Safety, Conservation and Education Fund with support from APCC working in collaboration with local, state, and federal partners—the project set a precedent for large-scale ecological restoration in the region.

Flowing south through Mashpee and Falmouth into Waquoit Bay and Vineyard Sound, the Childs River has long been impacted by mill dams and cranberry farming. Since the mid-1800s, these activities have severely disrupted hydrology, degraded water quality, fragmented aquatic and terrestrial habitats, and obstructed fish passage. Native sea-run brook trout, once abundant, were greatly diminished or eliminated from the system.

Construction to restore the river and former cranberry bogs was completed in 2021. Key efforts included removing a failed fish ladder, replacing a degraded culvert, constructing a new river channel through former ponds and bogs, creating freshwater ponds for waterfowl, and converting retired bogs back into natural wetlands. Since then, a number of ecological improvements have been observed. Most notably, average summer water temperatures below the former impoundments—north and south of Carriage Shop Road—have dropped significantly, now staying well within the range suitable for sea-run brook trout year-round, meeting one of the project’s core goals: restoring coldwater habitat for this native species. In addition, dissolved oxygen levels have improved, wetland vegetation is becoming re-established, and fish—including spawning sea-run brook trout—have been documented upstream of previously impassable barriers.

Additional Resources