Art. Life. Place.

I went to the Mashpee Archives expecting dust and nostalgia and found a ledger that lingers in my mind. W.D. Sargent’s 1933 survey reads like field notes I could’ve written yesterday—warm traps, cool seeps, tight valley walls—and then two watercolor plates stops me cold: a 15-inch sea-run brook trout, mid-May, above Amos’ Landing, an 8 ½-inch freshwater form upstream. Not myth but measurements and observations. That pairing—spare notes and two trout watercolor plates, one fresh, one salt—gives me a working hypothesis: keep water cold and moving, keep the bay connected, and this river can write both chapters again. The piece walks from history to a punch list—shade, wood, better culverts, fewer heat traps, protected springs—and asks the only question that matters: could fifteen inches, wild and unstocked, be ordinary again?

Conservation restrictions (CRs) are a powerful tool for protecting Cape Cod’s rivers, wetlands, and open spaces. By limiting development while keeping land in private or municipal ownership, CRs allow ecosystems to recover and thrive. The Childs River exemplifies this success, with former cranberry bogs transformed into vibrant wetlands supporting brook trout, river otters, and herons, thanks in part to the Falmouth Rod & Gun Club. Along the Quashnet and Mashpee rivers, CRs enable habitat restoration, improve fish passage, and maintain water quality. Tools like the MassGIS Open Space & Conservation Restrictions map help residents understand protections and support long-term ecological and community benefits.

Cape Cod’s Mashpee River is a study in contrasts: its lower reaches remain a coldwater stronghold, spring-fed and shaded, with clean gravel beds and woody structure that support brook trout, river herring, and other native species. In the upper river, however, a century of cranberry farming left behind straightened channels, drained wetlands, outdated dams, and shallow, warm waters that stress fish and limit migration. Restoration is now underway to remove barriers, restore meanders, and reconnect the river to its floodplain, improving habitat and water quality. With these efforts, the Mashpee River has the potential to once again function as a connected, thriving coldwater system from source to sea.

From a childhood exploring hidden brooks in northern Massachusetts to years as a NOAA fisheries scientist at sea, my life has been shaped by the confluence of curiosity, observation, and discovery. That journey led me to found the Waquoit Bay Fish Company, blending art and science to make ecological data tangible and to connect communities with the waters they rely upon. Returning to freshwater restoration work with the Association to Preserve Cape Cod, I now guide streams back toward health, teaching the next generation—including my own children—to fish, observe, and care for these ecosystems. Watching herring migrate upstream, I see my own path mirrored: a life coming full circle, where science, art, and lived experience converge, and where the currents of past and present meet in a shared, living connection with the natural world.