Buzzards Bay Coalition completes 1,600 acre land purchase

The Buzzards Bay Coalition recently finalized the purchase of 1,652 acres formerly owned by the Slocum-Gibbs Cranberry Company — permanently protecting forests, cranberry bogs and wetlands in Carver, Wareham, Rochester and Middleboro.

The purchase by the conservation organization safeguards two contiguous land parcels along the Weweantic and Sippican rivers. Conserving the land will improve water quality and protect critical habitat for fish and wildlife, said Brendan Annett, vice president of watershed protection. 

215 of the 1,652 acres lie in Wareham off Charlotte Furnace Road, adjacent to the youth soccer and girl’s softball field complex and voters allocated $375,000 to help the coalition purchase the land at 2024 Fall Town Meeting.

The Coalition will restore most of the existing cranberry bogs on the property — approximately 165 acres— by removing pipes and water control structures, filling in ditches and scraping out sand. 

Agricultural operations will continue on more than 35 acres of the most productive and environmentally sustainable bogs.

"This is about more than land protection — it’s about continuing a legacy of stewardship and creating opportunities for public enjoyment," said Mark Rasmussen, president of the Buzzards Bay Coalition. “Gary and his family had decided that conservation should be the next chapter for the Slocum-Gibbs Cranberry Company, and we worked together to bring that vision to reality.”

John “Gary” Garretson III, third-generation owner of Slocum-Gibbs, sold the land to the Coalition amid growing pressure to convert the property into residential subdivisions, sand and gravel mines, or large-scale solar farms. 

His decision earned him the Buzzards Bay Guardian Award — the Coalition’s highest honor — at the group’s annual meeting in May. Garretson’s grandfather started the farm in 1919. 

Funding for the roughly $9 million project came from a range of sources, including: $5.5 million in state grants, $2 million from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, $150,000 from the Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program and $375,000 each from the towns of Carver and Wareham via community preservation funds. Private donations also supported the purchase. 

Conservation restrictions on the property will be held by several partner organizations, including the Wareham and Carver Conservation Commissions, the Rochester Land Trust and the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game.

“Gary Garretson’s legacy of conservation is a model, which others have already begun to follow,” Annett said. He noted that more cranberry growers in the region are exploring conservation partnerships with the Coalition as an alternative to selling land for development.

The Coalition will now begin ecological and public access planning for the property. A formal opening is expected in spring 2027.

The restoration process will follow an extended funding-dependent timeline but Annett said the installation of signage and recreational trails could be finished by the end of 2025.

Farm roads already crisscross much of the property and the trails project could potentially connect the existing ball field parking lot to the conservation area.

The project is very similar to the cranberry bog restoration project in Mattapoisset which reopened after extensive restoration in November 2024.

“It’s expensive and it’s a big project so it's challenging but the benefits are extensive,” Annett said.