The Trustees of Reservations has been awarded nearly $400,000 in federal funding to support saltwater restoration work on the Vineyard and Nantucket.
On the Vineyard, funding will go to a feasibility study and preliminary design work to help restore saltmarsh around Pocha Pond and on the bay side of the Cape Poge Wildlife Refuge on Chappaquiddick.
The $380,000 in funding is from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). The funds were allocated to support a partnership between the Trustees, Nantucket Conservation Foundation, and the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank Commission called the Building Beach and Saltmarsh Resilience to Protect Island Communities in Massachusetts.
“We are excited that this critical barrier beach and salt marsh resilience work was prioritized at the national level,” said Cynthia Dittbrenner, interim vice president of conservation and resilience for the Trustees. “We are already seeing the impacts of sea level rise and increased storm intensity on our barrier beaches on Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. This funding will help us design projects to build salt marsh, protect eroding beaches, and maintain public access to these special places.”
Around Pocha Pond, the Trustees maintain, much of the marsh was historically used for farming purposes, leading to manmade changes in the hydrology of the marsh. The design work will include techniques such as ditch remediation or “healing,” as well as other techniques currently being used in the Trustees’ Great Marsh restoration work. The plan is to improve the marsh’s ability to build in elevation naturally and keep up with sea level rise.
On Nantucket, the NFWF funding will go to restoration work at the Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge, a long, narrow barrier beach system that creates Nantucket Harbor and provides protection to the town from intense storms.
“We are thrilled to be able to bring these federal dollars to the islands, improving the resilience of our natural areas to the threats posed by our changing climate,” said Trustees Director of the Islands Darci Schofield: “With this work, we are helping protect these extraordinary places for their recreational value, but also reaffirming their importance to protecting our community infrastructure and wildlife habitat.”
Great news. Congrats on the funding. I’m curious to see how it works. Now if only the town would get rid of the half sunken boat north of the dike that’s been an issue for years and is eroding the salt marsh!