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Feasibility Study Conducted for Town Creek (Salisbury)
CZM-WRP has recently completed a feasibility study evaluating options to install a second culvert and adjustable tide gate under an abandoned railroad embankment in Salisbury along Town Creek. Construction in the 19th century of a railroad across Town Creek blocked the flow of tidal water to approximately 350 acres of upstream marsh that is now severely degraded by poor water quality, lack of tidal flushing, and invasive species. The restoration study is being coordinated with efforts by MA Highway and the Town of Salisbury to transform the embankment into a bike path and address chronic flooding problems. The study will demonstrate how an additional culvert and adjustable tidal control device beneath the embankment will increase the drainage capacity of the Town Creek flood plain and provide greater flood control, while also increasing the overall tidal influence in the marsh and gaining a host of ecological improvements. CZM-WRP, Salisbury officials, and other project partners are currently reviewing preliminary study results with the goal of installing new drainage structures during bike path construction in 2009.
Posted August 2008
WRP Receives Funding for Follow Up Data Collection and Assessment
The Gulf of Maine Council / NOAA Partnership awarded a grant to CZM-WRP for data collection and assessment of 4 sites identified in the Great Marsh Plan. CZM-WRP will receive $40,000 to further assess and develop four potential restoration sites identified in the Plan. The studies will include sites in the Towns of Essex and Newbury identified as sites #128 , #198 , #276 , #410 in the Plan. Grant funded activities will include collection and synthesis of data on site hydrology, topography, infrastructure, and vegetation for each of the four sites. This work will generate baseline data, assess restoration options, generate conceptual designs, and produce recommendations to advance sites toward implementation.
Posted August 2008
Eight Towns and the Bay Receives GOMC Action Plan Grant
Eight Towns and the Bay received a Gulf of Maine Council Action Plan Grant to facilitate implementation of the Great Marsh Restoration Plan. The $10,000 award will support staff time to work with WRP to increase awareness of potential restoration opportunities in the communities of the Great Marsh and build local support for potential projects.
Posted August 2008
Eelgrass Restoration Pilot in the Annisquam River
CZM, in partnership with the City of Gloucester , the U.S. EPA and the MA Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), continued to examine the potential for eelgrass habitat restoration in the Annisquam River . Eelgrass was planted in 5 test plots (Lobster Cove, Goose Cove, outside of Goose Cove, Mill River , and the mouth of the Little River) in summer 2007. Test plots will be periodically monitored to determine the success of eelgrass restoration and to help guide future restoration planning. For details, contact Tony Wilbur.
Posted August 2008
Purple Loosestrife Biocontrol Project Continues
In 2007, Mass Audubon Received an EPA 5-star Grant which facilitated the expansion of school participation in the Biocontrol Project. The Massachusetts Audubon Society is working with the Essex Agricultural and Technical High School, Glen Urquhart School, Triton High School, DeRosa Environmental Consulting Inc., Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, and WRP to restore wetland habitats through the control of invasive purple loosestrife in 66 acres of the Great Marsh. This project resulted in the publication of Lessoning Loosestrife, a curriculum available on Mass Audubon's website (link) that will help teachers integrate project related activities and lessons into their school curriculum.
In summer 2008, beetles were released by WRP partners at 15 new sites throughout Massachusetts . Forty-three sites have been treated through WRP project facilitation since 2000. WRP and partners continue to observe beetle damage and activity on numerous purple loosestrife plants at release sites, as well as sites away from known beetle releases.
In order to have a better understanding of beetle distribution, WRP initiated a Galerucella beetle and damage observation reporting system in 2007. Migration of beetles to other purple loosestrife areas is anticipated and is ultimately the desired outcome, as a balance is struck between populations of beetles and purple loosestrife at infestation sites. Numerous volunteers sent in their observations via a Google Map page that allowed them to plot observations on a map. This information will be helpful for maximizing treatment effectiveness and efficiencies in the future. For more information on the project see the website.
Posted August 2008
Mapping and Controlling Perennial Pepperweed in the Great Marsh
The Great Marsh Perennial Pepperweed Eradication Project is a collaboration between the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge (PRNWR), Mass Audubon, and numerous other local partners. The project was initiated in 2006 to control and eradicate perennial pepperweed on and near the Refuge. Perennial pepperweed (Lepidium latifolium) is a relatively new invasive plant in the Northeast U.S., and is currently found only in Massachusetts , Connecticut , and New Hampshire . Perennial pepperweed is a serious problem in western rangelands. Once it becomes established it quickly takes over large tracts of land. By mobilizing local residents and groups to help map distribution and form control brigades, the goal of this project is to eradicate this invasive plant from our region. Contact Sarah Janson at the PRNWR for more information. Please familiarize yourself with this invasive and report any observations to Sarah.
Posted August 2008
Non-native Phragmites Monitoring and Control in the Upper Great Marsh
For the last several years, Eight Towns & the Bay and partners have conducted a survey of the upper Great Marsh (in the vicinity of Plum Bush Creek and Little Pine Island Creek) for common reed ( Phragmites australis) . Although large dense stands of Phragmites have been present around the margins of the marsh for some time, their surveys have revealed the presence of isolated small to moderate sized stands of Phragmites distributed generally throughout this portion of the marsh. Ducks Unlimited , in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others, has received a grant from the North America Wetlands Conservation Act to implement a pilot Phragmites control program. The purpose of this program is to attempt to control the invasion and spread of Phragmites at an early stage so as to avoid more extensive control efforts that would likely be required in the future. Pilot treatments were conducted in late summer 2007 and spring 2008 and partners are continuing to monitor responses to various treatments. In the summer of 2008 pore water and creek water salinities are being collected at high and low tides along transects across the marsh. A large scale treatment action is scheduled to begin in the late summer of 2008. For more information, contact Peter Phippen with Eight Towns and the Bay, Graham Taylor at USFWS/PRNWR, or Craig Ferris with Ducks Unlimited.
Posted August 2008
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