Suckfish Brook II - McDermott Way

This project involved the acquisition of a parcel and subsequent restoration. The Suckfish Brook II property is connected via Suckfish Brook to the 134-acre Suckfish Brook Conservation Area which includes land in both Falmouth and Westbrook, and contains approximately 92 acres of heath, forested, scrub-shrub, emergent, and open water freshwater wetlands. Suckfish Brook is, a major tributary of Highland Lake and a recognized trout fishery. The two conservation areas will be managed as single unit. The Suckfish Brook II Project area includes a large, regenerating forested upland buffer adjacent to an approximately 15.5-acre shrub and emergent wetland system that drains directly into Highland Lake. Gravel roads traverse along the northern and southern edges of the property, with Suckfish Brook making up the southern boundary of the property and Highland Lake creating the western border. The Suckfish Brook II Project restored approximately 3,800 square feet (~0.1 acre) of emergent and shrub wetland by removing approximately 280 linear feet of a 12-13 foot wide gravel road that bisects the lower third of the freshwater wetland. The wetland fill was removed and the existing hydric soils onsite restored and replanted with woody and herbaceous wetland plants. The project will enhanced a portion of the Suckfish Brook riparian corridor by planting native trees and shrubs along its lower reaches before it empties into Highland Lake. Further, the project will enhance upland buffers in the area by removing existing populations of invasive plants that are growing along the roadway. Finally, the project preseved approximately 700 feet of undeveloped Highland Lake shoreline, over 2,200 feet of shoreline along Suckfish Brook, approximately 15.5 acres of freshwater wetland and over 20 acres of forested upland buffer.