A few years back, a family member gave me five acres of land in a very
desirable, rural-becoming-suburban area of Massachusetts.  The problem
with the lot, though, is that it is technically about 2/3 wetlands,
and the remaining 1/3 does not meet setback requirements (of 100') for
building a home.  It is defined as wetlands because of the prevailing
vegetation on the lot; it is not bordering a body of water or in any
kind of watershed or estuary area.  Also, I do not believe that the
non-wetlands area will pass a perc test; a section of the lot was
perc'd about 20 years ago, and it did not pass at that time.

An abutting neighbor has offered me $50,000 for the property; that
price is laughably low compared to real estate values in this area,
though it does give me a fallback position.  I would prefer not to
sell the property, though, if I can avoid it.

I'm wondering if anyone out there has experience or creative ideas on
ways that I might be able to make money from this land -- either
through real estate or through other commercial endeavors.  I need to
be clear that I am not looking for ways to "get around" the law or to
do anything harmful to the environment, but I am wondering if others
have found creative ideas for how to turn similar pieces of land into
financial assets.

Hi! Thanks for the question.

Please take note that before providing a rating; please ask for
clarification if you will need further assistance in the answers I
have provided below.

This website from Canada provides a list of different industries that
thrive on wetlands.

You may want to take these lists into consideration as you go about
planning the usage of your property.


-------------------
1. Peat Moss & other by-products
?Canadian peat is used not only as raw material for a garden soil
conditioner but can be processed into a number of products such as
peat pots, boards and pellets for nurseries, specialized soil mixes,
industrial absorbent material, charcoal and filtration material, and
insulation.?

2. Cranberries Harvesting and by-products
?There is a multitude of low to high-end value-added products that
exist or await invention such as cranberry liqueurs, cattail flour,
wastewater treatment units, wild rice popcorn, crafts and artwork,
books, pharmaceutical and related products, contaminant-free durable
construction material for wetland trail boardwalks, and mosquito and
black fly protection products.?

3. Recreation and Tourist Spot

?Significant local cultural opportunities from waterfowl festivals to
natural history beauty contents have arisen in relation to such local
wetland resources and recreational interests in many of our small
towns across the land. Some activities revolve around celebrating
World Wetlands Day and World Bog Day.?

Source: ?Canada' s Wetland Industry?
http://www.uwwrc.net/web/wetlandsrc/cat/case_studies/case_studies-1035574235306 


-------------------
The Michigan EPA website provides the following economic values of wetlands.

1. Shellfish Industry
2. Recreational Fishing
3. Hunting
4. Fur Trapping
5. Commercial Fishing
6. Bird Watching
7. Nature Photography

?Economic Benefits of Wetlands?
http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/facts/fact4.html 


-----------------
Our next two benefits provide discussions of additional possible
ventures you may want to look at for your wetlands.

8. Agriculture

?The economic importance of crops and pastures grown on wetland soils,
is substantial. Conservative estimates from South Africa are that the
quantity of hay produced in wetlands, for example, ranges between
10-15 tons of dry matter per hectare per year. This yield can be
substantially increased if appropriate management practices are
applied and, after being fed to livestock, the value of each hectare
of wetland under pasture production can go up tenfold.?

?The Values and Benefits of Wetlands?
http://www.nctwr.org.au/publications/valueandbenefits.html#socio-economic 


9. Wetlands Mitigation Banking

You may also want to take a look at the concept of Wetlands Mitigation Banking.

?An Introduction to Wetlands Mitigation Banking?
http://www.gcglaw.com/resources/enviro/wetlands1.html 

?NATIONAL WETLAND MITIGATION BANKING STUDY?
http://www.iwr.usace.army.mil/iwr/pdf/92wmb1.pdf 


Search terms used:
Wetlands industry sectors ?economic benefits?

I hope these links would be helpful to your research. Before rating
this answer, please ask for a clarification if you have a question or
if you would need further information.
                                                          
                              
Regards,                              
Easterangel-ga                              
Google Answers Researcher

---

Request for Answer Clarification by joshablett-ga on 24 Jun 2005 08:00 PDT

Hi... thank you for the thoughtful and well-written response.  I will
try to reciprocate.  I probably should have told you about some of the
research I've already done, but I deliberately didn't want to put
limits on the research that you would do.

Unfortunately, the nature of the land makes most of the ideas you
suggest untenable.  Generally speaking, the land is fairly dry, with
no running water; it is only classified as wetlands based on the
vegetation that can be found there.  That rules out any of the ideas
that require water (e.g., cranberries, waterfowl, shellfish, fishing).

The land is also not next to any particularly large, wooded areas, and
I believe that this would limit its value as a tourist definition
(e.g., bird watching, nature photography).  I think it's even less
likely that this would have tourist value due to the fact that there
are a fair number of public spaces close by, and I don't know how this
would become a money-making proposition.  I also don?t think hunting
is feasible, as (a) I don?t see how I could make money from that and
(b) there is little interesting game in the area.

I have also researched wetlands mitigation banking.  From this
newsletter (http://www.goldmanenvironmental.com/newsletters/sept04.html),
it sounds like a pilot program was launched in the Taunton River area
in Massachusetts, but I?m not able to find any additional information
about what success criteria the state will use in determining if and
when they should expand the program.

I have also researched agriculture (e.g., standard agriculture, peat
moss).  All of the reading I have done at
http://www.mass.gov/dep/brp/ww/rpwwhome.htm suggests that agriculture
is only allowed if it was an existing agriculture operation at the
time that Massachusetts ?MGL Chapter 131, Section 40: Wetlands
Protection Act? went into effect.

I have also researched the following ideas:

(1) Alternative septic systems as an approach to allow building on
this property.  My initial research ? while not conclusive - shows
that this would require a long, costly, and uncertain attempt to
convince our local Board of Health and Wetlands Commission.

(2) Leasing the land to a cellular phone tower company.  A neighbor
has already researched this, and met significant neighborhood
opposition.

(3) Donating the land to a conservation body (e.g., the Audubon
Society).  While this is appealing, it appears that the tax benefit I
would receive would be much less than even the minimal offer I
received from our neighbor.

(4) Selling the land on the open market.  I have been unable to find a
Realtor who is very interested in selling the property since it is
potentially not buildable.

I would appreciate it if you would take another stab at this, perhaps
widening the net to find stories of other people who have been in
similar situations.

---

Clarification of Answer by easterangel-ga on 24 Jun 2005 09:25 PDT

Thank you joshablett-ga for coming back quickly!

While not limiting the possibilities of the question is commendable,
Google Answers Researchers usually prefer that customers indicate what
they already have found or knew about the question they are asking.
The reasons for these are the following:

1. Researchers do not have to repeat the efforts of the customer so as
to save lots of time and money on everybody's part.

2. Researchers usually before posting an answer surveys the field if
he or she has thoroughly answered the question. Researchers are
usually be very wary of submitting an answer if it merely repeats what
the customer knows or if the findings do not provide a significant
contribution to the customer's knowledge.

I apologize for already repeating some of the things you alreayd knwo
but I hope you understand that by limiting the scope of the question,
there was no way for me to understand that my efforts will merely
repeat some of your findings.


----------------
Anyway, I tried finding some more possible usage but could only come
up with these things:

1. Billboard Advertising
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_(advertising)

2. Water Towers
http://people.howstuffworks.com/water.htm/printable

3. Wetland Restoration - You can also try to restore the wetland so
that you can accomplish the things mentioned above. Massachusetts has
a wetland restoration program.

Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management
Wetlands Restoration Program
251 Causeway Street, Suite 800
Boston, MA 02114-2136
Fax: 617-626-1240
Email: wetlands.restoration@state.ma.us
Contact Page: http://www.mass.gov/czm/wrp/about_us_pages/contact_us.htm

I hope that this would be of help to you.

Thanks again!

Easterangel-ga

---

Request for Answer Clarification by joshablett-ga on 24 Jun 2005 11:19 PDT

Boy, that was a stupid (and expensive) mistake on my part, and I
definitely appreciate the time you've spent thus far.  I should have
read the FAQ before posting, as this is addressed in there.

Based on the research you've done thus far, do you think that spending
additional time would be fruitful in finding other ideas?  I'm happy
to tip and/or resubmit the question if you believe that that there
additional ideas out there that simply require more time to find.

Many thanks.

---

Clarification of Answer by easterangel-ga on 24 Jun 2005 11:35 PDT

Hi again joshablett-ga!

No I don't think it was a stupid mistake. You had a strategy and it
just kinda became quite difficult under the circumstances. Life can be
just like that sometimes so stop blaming yourself.

Were my additional ideas ain't any good?

As with any research on the web, one cannot be certain that he or she
has exhausted every possibility due to the vastness of the web and of
human knowledge. Resubmitting another question and citing the findings
I had on this one including things you already found, will be of help
to the next researcher. You just have to pay for the $0.50 listing
fee.

Again I apologize if my suggestions weren't that helpful at this
point. But I hope you will be able to find situations wherein such
ideas will become valuable.

Sincerely,
Easterangel-ga

The answerer was very helpful, but most of the ideas produced were
ideas that I had already found on my own.  I should have provided the
background on this, however.

You can do better.

A quick review shows that Massachusetts has not only State laws
regarding wetlands but also some local ones, it will probably we
important to know the location of your property to be able to do
justice to your question.

To czh-ga - thanks for the quick review.  In general, our local
conservation commission follows the regulations set out by the state. 
I'm confident that any idea that can work at the state level would
also work at the local level.

HI,
One idea would be to apply for development despite the wetlands, which
from your description do not seem to be seriously such.  These sites
may be of interest:

http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/131-40.htm

http://www.maccweb.org/wetlands_bylaw.html

http://www.maccweb.org/edu_ct_fundamentals.html

http://water.usgs.gov/nwsum/WSP2425/definitions.html
      (scroll down and see Mass. definition of wetlands, maybe on other site)

http://www.doverma.org/conservation.pdf

As I understand it, to do this, you would have to advise the owners of
the abutting properties, which might get a negative reaction from the
one interested in buying for a pittance, but maybe they have the same
"problem" and would appreciate your taking the lead.
AND, you wouldn't have to apply to have all the wetland approved for development.
From the site with the blue background, approval of this seems to be
in the political sphere (council and/or mayor, etc.), at least for
recommendation to the wetlands people, so (IF I read that correctly)
it would not just be you vs the conservation-oriented.  But read that
and the other more carefully than I have.
Wetlands mitigation might also be a possiblity, you buying other
wetland to allow development of your property, though 3 or 4 acres may
be difficult to arrange.

Look at article 5 on this site to see how the town of Carver is
approaching the matter:

http://www.carverma.org/documents/2005/2005_Special_Town_Meeting_Warrant.pdf

and Sturbridge:

http://www.town.sturbridge.ma.us/Public_Documents/SturbridgeMA_ConsInfo/Regulations/Definitions

(Scroll down to the end of the text.)

The realtors are on your side, though of coursed couched in language
to show their interest in protecting the environment (see p 18):

http://www.marealtor.com/content/images/public_policy.pdf

Or here, down the page:

http://www.thebuyerscounsel.com/buyingAHomeChapter10.htm

The above site introduces the following topic:  

Perculation:  In other parts of the country that have been
developments in perculation that allow development where it was
previously not approved.
Maybe this also applies in your area.  The above site suggests the same.

These sites were all found with a search for: wetlands definition massachusetts

The following were found with:  wetlands development massachusetts

http://www.mapc.org/regional_planning/LID/LID_codes.html

http://omega.cc.umb.edu/~resolution/

The above suggest a sympathetic attitude on the subject.

The following is that of an independent company that advises on
wetlands deliniation, which could be something you need:

http://www.epsilonassociates.com/specialties/wetlands.shtm

And here is what the town of Lowell says on the subject:

http://www.lowellma.gov/depts/dpd/permitting/conservation/faq

That's throwing a lot of sites at you, and you can find more, but I
hope they suggest possibilities to develop your property.

Good luck, Myoarin

Wow, Myoarin -- thank you.  That's some terrific research, and I'll
spend some serious time going through it.  Thank you!

My pleasure!  Myoarin