The Buzzards Bay Coalition has launched a project to acquire 215 acres of Wareham cranberry farm land and turn it into conservation land to protect the Weweantic River Corridor. 

The proposed project will protect more than 730 acres of forest, cranberry bogs and wetlands along the river – 215 acres of which are in Wareham. 

The Buzzards Bay Coalition is looking to purchase the land, which is currently owned by the Slocum-Gibbs Cranberry company, and conserve it. The former farmland would be opened to the public with potential opportunities for hiking and kayaking.

“I think it’s really cool because it’s going to open up a lot of areas that weren’t accessible to the public previously,” Select Board member Sarah Corbitt said.

The property is located off Charlotte Furnace Road, adjacent to the youth soccer and girl’s softball field complex.

To acquire the property, the Buzzards Bay Coalition will need to meet a $5.8 million price tag. The Coalition is seeking money from town, state and federal government grants as well as private fundraising. 

“It’s a lot of work, it’s a lot of money and [the Buzzards Bay Coalition] are well on their way to securing the funds that would enable them to purchase the land and protect it,” Corbitt said. 

Once it owns the property, the coalition can then put in recreational trails and signage for public use, according to Buzzards Bay Coalition Vice President for Water Protection Brendan Annett. 

“I expect this will benefit and support people who live in the immediate neighborhood, as well as other people who live a little bit further away,” Annett said.

According to Corbitt, the conservation project is also supported by the land’s current owner, the Slocum-Gibbs Cranberry Company. Corbitt described the coordination between the Buzzards Bay Coalition and Slocum-Gibbs Cranberry Company as a “partnership.”

Other uses for the land could be more development or solar projects, but instead they chose conservation, Corbitt said.

“I feel as if we are being increasingly targeted by the solar industry to cut down our forests and put up solar panels and I really don’t want to see that happen,” Corbitt said.

According to Corbitt, the Select Board unanimously voted to send a letter of recommendation for the project to Mark Rasmussen, the president of the Buzzards Bay Coalition.

Now, the project looks to the Community Preservation Committee for $375,000 of the $5.8 million it needs. The committee has heard the Buzzards Bay Coalition’s application and discussed it, but has yet to vote, according to committee treasurer Sandra Slavin.

The chance of getting funding might be strong for the Buzzards Bay Coalition, although Slavin noted that she could not say how the committee would lean ahead of the vote. 

“There doesn’t seem to be any pushback on the project,” Slavin said.

According to Annett, the project is expected to be completed sometime in 2025.