Projects
Restoring Coastal Wetlands
Working in partnership with other federal and state agencies and non-government organizations, we have restored degraded coastal wetlands in order to improve the biological productivity of salt marshes for migratory waterbirds and native fish in Maine. Over the past decade, our office has been actively involved in partnerships to complete more than 75 projects that have restored an estimated 2,560 acres of coastal wetlands.
Gulf of Maine Coastal Program staff has provided biological and technical expertise in identifying, planning and designing restoration projects, developing the capacity of locally-based conservation partners, developing permit applications, conducting outreach, and designing and implementing monitoring protocols. Over the last decade, Gulf of Maine Coastal Program has provided more than $250,000 in USFWS and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation funds, quadrupled in value with funds from other federal and state agencies, and non-government partners. Our funding often supports key restoration activities not often funded by other partners (i.e. preliminary feasibility studies, planning and design work, outreach and monitoring).
Coastal wetland restoration techniques include a wide array of strategies, including:
- Removing tidal restrictions, including undersized culverts and dams to increase tidal flow,
- Breaching old "hay roads" that bisect the marsh to re-establish natural sheet flow of tidal water,
- Plugging man-made ditches to help restore pool habitat and natural hydrology,
- Removing fill material from the marsh surface, and
- Inventorying and removing invasive species, such as Phragmites.
Working with partners, we have implemented major salt marsh restoration projects at the following sites. Post-restoration monitoring work continues at many of these sites, and Phragmites control and monitoring work is ongoing at Scarborough Marsh.
- Weskeag Marsh, South Thomaston (3 sites)
- Sprague River, Phippsburg (2 sites)
- Chauncey Creek, Kittery
- Wheeler Marsh, Vinalhaven
- Scarborough Marsh, Scarborough (5 sites).
For more information:
- View slide show highlighting several of our coastal wetland restoration projects.
- Download our fact sheet on Phragmites: Questions and Answers to learn more about the threat of this invasive plant in Maine's salt marshes.
- Contact: Sandra Lary, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Gulf of Maine Coastal Program (207-781-8364 ext. 19; sandra_lary@fws.gov),
