Furthermore, because fresh water supply is so essential, the farmers sometimes have to safeguard up to fifteen acres of watershed per acre of cranberry bog. The second farm I studied, the Tessone Family Farm, which grows cranberry and blueberry in separate fields, shares many of the same issues with the Whitesbog Preserve. As conscious protectors of the land, the owners of the farm are disheartened by the appearance of new, artificially created or highly modified wetlands farming areas. Such farms draw water out of wetlands areas without recharging the aquifer, at the expense of the natural wetlands areas. A second issue at play with both the Tessone farm and Whitesbog Preserve, is the use of pesticides.
Pesticides are a somewhat necessary part of most cranberry and blueberry cultivation operations.
The effects of cranberry and blueberry cultivation on wetlands ecosystems are many and varied. For the most part, the ecological consequences appear to be on the positive side. That is, the complex irrigation system which farmers in peatlands create, are in fact beneficial to other fen and bog species. In addition, such farms keep important wetlands habitats from being drained and residentially developed. Lower-volume farms such as Whitesbog and the Tessone farm, make all attempts to conform with wetlands preservation initiations and preserve the natural state of the areas in which they make a living.