From Cranberries to Critters
Looking out over the Foxes’ land, you see a natural forested wetland teeming with birds, frogs and other wildlife, but that wasn’t always the case.
Looking out over the Foxes’ land, you see a natural forested wetland teeming with birds, frogs and other wildlife, but that wasn’t always the case.
For three generations, the Fox family farmed cranberries on 100 acres. With rising costs and an increasingly competitive market, current landowners William and Ann Fox decided it was time to retire from the cranberry operation. In 2012, the Foxes enrolled 30 acres of their property into the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) to receive technical and financial assistance to protect, restore and enhance wetlands on their property.
“We had lost our market to Canada, and to be honest, the financial incentive is that attracted us to the easement option initially. However, we have always strived to be stewards of the land,” Ann says.
“Even when the bog was in production, we did our best to minimize the use of chemicals and pesticides. When we realized that we had to stop production, we thought about what we really wanted for the future of the land – we wanted to leave the land better than we found it,” added Ann. “We think that is what being a steward of the land means.”