Posted on May 16, 2017
By Phil Cozzolino, ricentral.com
Sedge Island, a small plot of land situated in the lower end of the Narrow River salt marsh, served as a board room of sorts for officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), who provided an update on the Narrow River restoration project to Narrow River Preservation Association (NRPA) board members while touring the area last Thursday.
The project, which began in October 2016, included dredging of 30 acres of the river and using the resulting sand to fill in areas of the marsh that had been affected by sea level rise. The restoration hopes to preserve the vitality of the marshland through surface elevation in an effort to protect both it and the wildlife that inhabits it from harmful surface water.
The project now enters its final phase of restoration – the planting of 35,000 seedlings along and on the marshland, which will restore plant life to the area.
On Thursday, NRPA board members boarded a USFWS pontoon boat and toured the restored area. USFWS Refuge Manager and Project Leader Charlie Vandemoer, along with USFWS biological technician Ben Gaspar explained the restoration process and pointed out the areas of the marsh where volunteers will plant the seedlings.
“The funding for this project through the Disaster Relief Act would not have been possible without the help of our congressional delegation,” said Vandemoer. “It’s exciting to see so many people in the community coming together to make this project a success. NRPA has been instrumental in the project and their efforts to coordinate the volunteer planting is very much appreciated.”
NRPA, along with USFWS and Save the Bay are currently seeking volunteers to assist with the seedling planting, which will begin on Thursday, May 11. This effort will help restore wildlife to the areas of the marsh that were previously overrun with surface water. The seedlings were grown throughout the winter at a local nursery. If interested in assisting, please visit NRPA at narrowriver.org.
Several groups, including employees from local businesses, students from local schools and homeschool groups, the URI Men’s Rowing Team, RI Saltwater Anglers Association and the Rhody Fly Rodders have already signed up to volunteer.
A similar approach was used in 2015 with the restoration of Middletown’s Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge and at Ninigret Pond in Charlestown. Much of the work at narrow River is based on those projects, and there are a number of municipalities and organizations throughout the state keeping an eye on the Narrow River restoration to inform their own pending work.
Even before the dredging began, collaboration between various groups vested in the health of the marsh was abound. USFWS provided funding to NRPA to support their water monitoring program for the areas that would be dredged.
The resulting samples were analyzed by Linda Green at URI’s Watershed Watch program. A multi-year project, the restoration, which was funded with part of a federal grant for $1.4 million, has involved USFWS, NRPA, The Coastal Resources Management Council, Save the Bay, the Town of Narragansett and The Nature Conservancy.
Source: ricentral.com
