Call it love at first salt: After Theodore Lyman visited Red Brook in 1867, he spent his life trying to protect it and the “salters” swimming in its cool waters.
The naturalist – and future Congressman – bought hundreds of acres along the 4.5-mile-long coastal stream, which runs through Wareham and Plymouth, and instilled in his family a deep love for the waterway – and for its sea-run brook trout, or salters, which leave their usual coastal waters to spawn there.
By 2001 however, Red Brook, which over the course of a century had been dammed to supply water for nearby cranberry operations, was a system under stress. “From its source to its outlet in Buttermilk Bay, the brook was no longer healthy for the trout,” says Trustees Ecology Program Manager Russ Hopping.
That’s when the Lyman family, concerned about the diminishing trout population and determined to protect the brook, forged a partnership among The Trustees, the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, and Trout Unlimited to provide for the long-term care of the 638-acre property and the brook that runs through it. Together, with funding from American Rivers and support from cranberry
grower A. D. Makepeace, the partners conducted a three-year restoration of the brook, removing old dams, adding fallen trees to create shelter for fish, and planting native species. “We removed the sources of stress and let the stream recreate itself,” says Tim Purinton, acting director of the state’s Division of Ecological Restoration, who terms the effort “the shining star of our restoration projects and partnerships.”
Now the salters are returning, and with the state’s acquisition of 245-acre Century Bog at the head of the brook, the entire waterway is protected. “It’s exciting that together we’ve made a healthier, more resilient stream,” says Hopping.
With the work complete, The Trustees’ 210-acre Lyman Reserve has reopened to the public, including catch-and-release anglers. Were he around to see it, Theodore Lyman might shed salty tears of joy.
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