Bay Circuit Trail Hanson MA: Burrage Pond Wildlife Management Area.
Channel: Chris Rich
Date: 2012-10-28

Burrage Pond is a property of the Mass. Division or Fisheries and Wildlife obtained and maintained in part from hunting and fishing license revenue.

"The Burrage Pond Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is 1625 acres of open water, marsh, Atlantic  white cedar and red maple swamps and former cranberry bogs located on the border of Hanson and Halifax. It was purchased in 2002 by the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife from the Northland Cranberry Company.  

The area is managed for fisheries and wildlife habitats and open space.  A management plan to protect, enhance and restore the varied natural habitats on the site is currently 
being developed

The area that is now the Burrage Pond Wildlife Management Area was originally known as the Great Cedar Swamp. The outlet from Monponsett Pond, known as Stump Brook or Herring Brook, was dammed for water power and created an artificial pond called Stump Pond.  

In this area in 1905, industrialist Albert C. Burrage started digging peat for fuel and later developed cranberry bogs.  The area was purchased by the United Cape Cod Cranberry Company from Hanson Cedar Company in 1931. 

The area was later bought by Cumberland Farms, Inc. who developed some of the wetlands into more cranberry bogs between 1977 and 1990. These actions resulted in an enforcement action by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  

The current USGS topographic maps and this WMA map still show wetlands in some of the areas that were developed into cranberry bogs.  The property was eventually purchased by Northland Cranberry Company and known as Bog 18." 

http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/habitat/maps/wma/southeastwma/burragepondwma.pdf

http://www.baycircuit.org/Map13.pdf

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