Hatfield WHIP project restores river, protects endangered mussel habitat

Last fall, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) partnered with the town of Hatfield, Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Riverways Program and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to repair a road over the Mill River that washed out in a storm several years before, replace an old culvert with three larger ones and protect habitat for the endangered dwarf wedgemussel.

NRCS provided nearly $37,000 in cost-share assistance through the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) for the project.

Soil Conservationist Sara Izquierdo of NRCS's Hadley, Mass., field office provided technical assistance to Hatfield Director of Public Works Jim Reidy. The town-owned road provides access to nearby farmland.

Because the Mill River is known habitat for the endangered dwarf wedgemussel and three species of special concern -- triangle floaters, creepers and  Eastern pond mussels -- divers were brought in to determine if any of these species were present in the area where work would be done.

Diver and malacologist Ethan Nedeau found plenty of native Eastern elliptio mussels but only a single dwarf wedgemussel, two triangle floaters and two creepers, which were tagged and moved to another location in the river out of harm's way.

Although heavy rain in the fall of 2005 delayed completion of the culvert installation and flooded the adjacent farmland, eventually, the three larger culverts will allow for better river flow, further protecting habitat in the area.

Learn more about the dwarf wedgemussel in an article by Ethan Nedeau in the Gulf of Maine Times.