River Restoration - UPDATED 2017
The Child's River runs from John's Pond in Mashpee and
empties into the Waquoit Bay in Falmouth. It passes
through the middle of the property owned by the Falmouth Rod
and Gun Club. The Clubhouse presently sits on a
plateau overlooking the river.
Historically the Child's River has been known mostly as a
herring river, an important commercial enterprise and source of
income for the local economy.
In the early 1900's the river also became known as a world
class Salter Brook Trout river along with other local rivvers
such as the Coonamessett, Quashnet and Mashpee
Rivers. It is believed to have been fished by two
past US Presidents. Over a period of many years the
Child's suffered catastrophic damage to it's ecosystem in
part due to chemicals and water temperature increases from
upstream cranberry bogs, as well as siltation which smothered the
stream bed and prevented trout from spawning. The
lower reaches of the river became choked by overvegitation and
debris causing reduced water flow.
In 1969, the Falmouth Rod and Gun Club installed a fish ladder to
aid herring to pass more easily upstream to spawn. In
1990, the club undertook a major project in cooperation with the
Falmouth Department of Natural Resources. This
project removed over vegitation and debris from the river channel
between the lower pond and the outflow of the river to improve
water flow and the free passage of fish.
In 2008, the club committed to the restoration of the lower
reaches of the Child's River as a Salter Brook Trout
river. This effort is undertaken with the
Massachusetts Fish and Wildlife, Massachusetts Riverways and the
Waquoit Bay National Research Reserve. On June 4,
2008 the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist
Steve Hurley and his team moved 19 adult Salter Brook Trout from
the restored Quashnet River to the Child's River.
At that time the implanted a PIT tag (a kind of bar code tag)
into each fish. When released, their size, PIT tag
number and the exact GPS location was recorded for future
reference and tracking purposes. Since being moved to
the Child's river two fish surveys have been conducted to
ascertain that the fish have stayed and adapted to the new
home. The second of these surveys revealed 11 of the
original stocked fish were able to be located with some movement
in the river and very good growth. This is
encouraging news and the group is looking forward to April of
2009 when an electroshocking survey will be
conducted. This will determine if these fish were
able to successfully spawn and may reveal young trout in the
river.
UPDATE 2017:
The Falmouth Rod and Gun Club (FRGC), in conjunction with its charitable
foundation, the Sporting, Safety, Conservation and Education Fund of
Falmouth (SSCEFF) wants to move this project along. Together with the
Towns of Falmouth and Mashpee, the Massachusetts Department of Fish
and Game, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and others, it hopes
to lead the project to restore two abandoned bogs, the Farley and
the Gardner, back to their original state. Both of these bogs are
fed by the Childs River which historically allowed herring and
trout to spawn up river. Unused dams and invasive plant species
on the river have nearly eradicated that capability. The groups
have a plan to fix that problem.
The solution is to remove a dam which creates two shallow ponds,
rerouting the Upper Childs River to the west side of the bogs,
constructing an embankment along the east side of the river
and planting native plant species, the upper Childs River
could be made into a “cold water fishery” which will allow
the return and propagation of Brook Trout and Herring to
the river. The restoration of the cranberry bogs to wetlands
will create habitat for songbirds, waterfowl and other wildlife.
The wetlands will act as a natural filtration system for water
resources in both towns.
The Farley Bog is located in East Falmouth, MA and borders
the Falmouth/Mashpee Town line. The Farley Bog and the Childs
River are part of a 12.5-acre parcel owned by the Town of
Falmouth. The northern tip of the Farley Bog lies within a 24.7-acre
parcel owned by the Town of Mashpee. The Childs River extends north
from the Farley Bog to the Gardner Bogs all of which are within
the Mashpee parcel.
Fortunately, the FRGC owns 186 acres of land in Falmouth and Mashpee
which virtually surrounds the Farley Bog and the portion of the
Childs River leading north to the Gardner Bogs. The FRGC and
SSCEFF have proposed to acquire these parcels to rehabilitate
the upper Childs River and restore the Farley and Gardner
cranberry bogs to wetlands. The land and river would have
a Conservation Restriction to ensure it would remain undeveloped
but still be accessible to the public for hiking and enjoying nature.
This is a worthwhile project that will benefit the surrounding
communities and restore the area to its eco-friendly natural state.