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May 6, 2006
Project Coordinator: Sandra Lary (sandra_lary@fws.gov; 207-781-8364 x19)
Gulf of Maine Coastal Program participates in Public Meeting for upcoming Nonesuch River Saltmarsh Restoration Project, in Scarborough Maine
On May 3, USFWS-Gulf of Maine Coastal Program Senior Fish & Wildlife Biologist Sandra Lary, Scott Lindsay of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, Wayne Munroe of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Dan Baumert of the Natural Resources Conservation Service hosted a public information session to present the plan to restore the Nonesuch River Saltmarsh and to answer questions from the public.
Nonesuch River Saltmarsh is one of the major tributaries of the Scarborough River and makes up a sizeable section of the 3,000 acre Scarborough Marsh State Wildlife Management Area. The restoration project at Nonesuch River involves controlling Phragmites, an invasive plant species, and restoring the natural hydrologic conditions. This will be accomplished by breaching an abandoned hay road that acts as a berm and impedes tidal flow into the marsh, and by reducing the excessive drainage from colonial-era agricultural ditches. The project is scheduled to be completed this year, with post-restoration monitoring continuing until 2011.
Sandra Lary has played a key role in the project planning and implementation process through partner coordination and collaboration, by conducting the site habitat assessment, developing the restoration design, assisting with the complex permitting requirements, developing a pre-restoration and post-restoration monitoring protocol, construction and monitoring oversight, and identifying funding sources.
Other partners involved in this project include: Maine Department of
Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, Friends of Scarborough Marsh, Fish America
Foundation, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, USDA-Natural Resources
Conservation Service, SWAMP Inc., and Northern Ecological Associates.