Posted on March 16, 2026
By David Biggy
With one phase of wetland restoration already scheduled for a portion of Stafford Township’s section of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge this summer, the township council on March 3 made a commitment to widen the scope of the restoration work through another phase.
“This is now a two-phase project that we’re looking to get done this year,” said Township Administrator Matthew von der Hayden several days after the council approved an ordinance on first reading to appropriate some $5.6 million in advanced funding for another restoration phase for which another Climate Solutions Grant through the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection recently became available.
“The township obtained the first grant and had the permits in place to remove the dredge spoils from the Beach Haven West lagoon system to restore the front edge of Popular Point which had washed away over time, but the DEP didn’t have the permits from the Army Corps of Engineers until recently. Now that the DEP has those permits, we’re ready to go with the first phase of the project at Popular Point, but now another reimbursement grant is available to us for another phase that will restore more of the Forsythe Refuge.”
The Popular Point restoration work was set to begin once the dredging season opens July 1, with ACT Engineers on board to manage the project and ResilientSeas contracted to complete it.
During that project, the entire bayfront edge of Popular Point – located farther south of the southeastern portion of Beach Haven West along Mill Creek Road – will be restored with dredge spoils from lagoons nearby.
With another $5 million reimbursement grant available, the township will look to restore marshland farther to the west and northwest, deeper within the wildlife refuge.
“With Popular Point, you can look at the 1977 map, which is what the DEP goes by, and see the land is no longer there. That’s the restoration work we first signed on to do with the DEP,” said von der Hayden. “Further into the Forsythe refuge, it may not be as easy to see, but that marsh has been degraded. The back part of that marsh, whenever you have floods and the water rises, you don’t see much of the marsh but instead a lot of water, and when that water recedes it erodes the marsh a little more each time.”
Utilizing the same dredge spoils from the bottom of the lagoons and bay, thin layer sediment placement will be done to restore larger portions of the Forsythe Refuge, creating additional habitat for wildlife while strengthening the wetland as a potential buffer against inland flooding.
“Essentially, we’re restoring the front edge of Popular Point with the first phase and then the top layer further into the refuge with the second phase,” von der Hayden said. “This is a win-win project, because it frees up some of the lagoons from many years of buildup, enhances the environment, and uses the same material from the bottom of the bay to do it. In part, we’re building up those wetlands, so in case, God forbid, another Superstorm Sandy came through, the wave impact and water rise could have a diminished effect.”
As soon as ACT Engineers completes more surveying work to determine where the dredge spoils will come from to do the additional Forsythe restoration work, the township will finalize all specifications of the project and deliver them to the DEP for approval.
“Hopefully, we can do a workshop in May to outline the plan for the dredging and restoration work with Forsythe,” von der Hayden said. “By the time ACT completes the survey work, we should be able to bid the project in the spring, with the intention it will be awarded before the dredging season starts, and then we can get both phases done simultaneously, or one behind the other, by the end of this year.”
The capital improvement funding ordinance, totaling $7,475,000, approved by the council during its meeting on March 3 includes a total appropriation of $5,675,000 for the projected cost and associated fees for surveying, engineering specifications, etc. for the second phase of the restoration work, as well as $1,800,000 for renovations and upgrades to the Nautilus Road fire station.
