Kampoosa Stewardship Committee

1984 to Present

• 1984: Marian Fathers place a 115-acre Conservation Restriction on their property in Kampoosa Bog. Over the years other landowners donate or sell other critical properties for conservation. Caren Caljouw of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) prepares a Stewardship Plan
• 1994-1995: The seeds of the Kampoosa Stewardship Committee (KSC) are sown in the public procedure of nominating the drainage basin of Kampoosa Bog as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC). Many stakeholders participate in the public review process.
• Aug. 1995: Kampoosa Bog Drainage Basin is designated an ACEC by Secretary of Environmental Affairs Trudy Cox, with strong public support.
• Fall 1995: The Kampoosa Stewardship Committee is established, setting its vision, goals and objectives.
• 1996: www.Kampoosa.org is inaugurated as the Bog's web site through the efforts of Shep Evans.
• 1996: Eric S. Johnson of UMass Archaeological Services publishes Discovering the Ancient Past at Kampoosa Bog, Stockbridge Massachusetts, based on a 1993 archaeological dig.
• June 1999: A Resource Management Plan with a 5-year span of action for the ACEC is published and put into effect by the Committee. The plan includes the following elements:
• Critical attributes, management goals, threats and stresses
• Action Plan prioritizing monitoring and implementation
• Organizational commitments for action, to be provided by major stakeholders
• Annually: TNC, under Kay Sadighi and Jessie Murray, lead volunteer groups in a concentrated effort to control Phragmites australis. To date, over $160,000 has been provided by Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program (NHESP), Mass. Environmental Trust (MET) and others.
• June 2001: Wetlands magazine publishes article on Kampoosa water quality and invasives species research project conducted by UMass Graduate Student Julie Richburg, co-authored with William A. Patterson III and Frank Lowenstein. Supported with $30,000 from NHESP.
• Fall 2002: Dr. Amy Rhodes of Smith College designs a study to research the geohydrology of the Bog, which is the determining factor of plant diversity in the Bog. Funded with $10,000 from the Mass. Watershed Initiative.
• Fall 2002: Workshop for landowners in the ACEC is held on Rattlesnake Mt. Road educating them about invasive plant species. Jessie Murray of TNC conducts a brief presentation, hands out reference materials and leads a walk to identify invasive plants in the field.
• Spring 2003: The KSC partners with the Berkshire Botanical Garden to conduct invasive plant workshop. Speakers are Jessie Murray and William Brumback of the New England Wildflower Society.
• Spring 2003: Completion of the Kampoosa Bog Invasive Species Management Plan (2003-2010) by consultant Michael Batcher. This plan, along with invasive plant workshops, is funded by a $16,000 grant from the Berkshire Environmental Fund (BEF) and the Stockbridge Land Trust.
• Summer 2003: TNC receives a $25,000 grant from BEF to continue invasive species control.
• Summer 2003: KSC receives a $75,000 grant from MET to conduct the three-year study of the geohydrology of the Bog according to the design developed by Amy Rhodes.