MANCHESTER - The Manchester-Essex Conservation Trust, whose mission is to protect and preserve the area's natural riches, has been ordered to provide a plan to restore a floodplain and salt marsh to their original states after the group deposited boulders along the property without a permit.

The offense is in violation of state and town wetlands protection laws, the town's Conservation Commission said.

"We're a little embarrassed about it but we'll make it right," said William Vachon, president of the nonprofit group.

According to police and Conservation Commission notes, the violation occurred June 5, when the nonprofit group used a backhoe to place boulders along the marsh, which the trust owns, and abutting a home at 94 Ocean St.

The group said it placed the boulders as a way to better define the property line and stop the neighbor from parking his car on the land.

But the neighbor, Orestes "Rus" Brown, a local attorney who specializes in real estate, trusts, estates and civil litigation, not only disagreed with the boulders being placed on the land but also where the property line is. He notified the Conservation Commission that the land is a "no-disturb zone."

According to the commission's notes and photos, the vehicles that deposited the boulders damaged the marsh and vegetation by making tread marks in the area.

The Conservation Trust defended its actions at the Conservation Commission's meeting last Tuesday. Executive director Helen Bethell said that the trust didn't think it required a permit and was looking to make sure Brown stopped parking his car on the trust's property.

Brown, during the meeting, said he doesn't park his car on the trust's property.

"There's a clear difference between where I park my car and where the boulders were placed," he told the commission.

Members of the Conservation Commission intervened and said they wouldn't address the land dispute, just whether there was a violation.

"You both know what course you need to take on that," commission Chairman Paul Cullinane told both parties, referring to the land dispute.

After a discussion, the six commission members voted unanimously that there was a violation because no permit was sought prior to boulders' placement.

Although no fine was imposed initially, the commission warned the trust that if it doesn't comply with a plan to restore the area and remove the boulders, such a consequence could happen. The group has until the next Conservation Commission meeting, June 26, to provide a plan.

Days after the incident, the trust sent a letter of apology to the commission and filed for a permit for the work. However, Vachon said yesterday it's unclear whether the trust will proceed.

Brown said yesterday he was satisfied with the commission's decision and was just looking for consistency in enforcing conservation law.

He also said he was upset that Bethell showed little remorse about the incident.

"If this would have been anybody else in Manchester, (Bethell) would have been the first out there calling for a fine or even prison," Brown said.

The Conservation Trust is a major landowner in Manchester, with nearly 1,200 acres of donated land, mainly in the northern section of town, between Route 128 and the Essex town line.