Views from theTower
~ NEWSLETTER
WINTER 2025 | VOLUME 55 | NO. 4
Using Nature-based Solutions for Resilience and Wildlife by Dr. Lenore Tedesco, Executive Director The Wetlands Institute is a research, conservation and education facility that was intentionally built at the coastal interface. Our location at the marsh interface has served us well for more than 50 years. Unfortunately, the Institute, is not very resilient and faces increasing risks to our sustainability. Many of you know about our ground-breaking work of the Seven Mile Island Innovation Lab. This partnership between the US Army Corps of Engineers, the NJ Department of Environmental Protection, and the Institute has successfully restored more than 100 acres of marsh, and after the successful marsh restoration project at Scotch Bonnet Island (see wetlandsinstitute.org/7MTSB), we are turning our attention to the Salt Marsh Trail at the Institute.
The trail elevation averages four feet. In 2000, the trail flooded twice per year; in the last 5 years, the trail has flooded more than 330 times; an average of 67 times per year! This flooding kills mature trees, floods terrapin and bird nesting areas, and limits access and education programs.
The Salt Marsh Trail Revitalization Project aims to raise the elevation of the salt marsh trail to enhance educational opportunities and visitor programs that are being impacted by flooding. It will preserve our access to the dock and boathouse for research programs, and will use nature-based solutions to recreate important habitats for marsh dependent species, especially diamondback terrapins and coastal birds. This project embodies a vision to do better by implementing an innovative ecosystem-based approach. The project design calls for raising the elevation of the Salt Marsh Trail by two to three feet (up to a total height of 6 feet), widening the trail to better accommodate programs; replacing the boat house with a modest structure, and creating new high marsh and habitat specifically designed for diamondback terrapin nesting and coastal birds. Raising
the road will involve roughly 13,000 cubic yards of fill previously dredged in 2017 and stored by the Borough of Avalon. Using this fill returns stored sediment to the coastal zone where it belongs. The grade from the newly elevated trail to the surrounding marsh is being designed in a way that will restore marsh habitat that has been lost to flooding in the past 20 years. In all, we expect to restore approximately 5 acres of lost marsh. The trail will be replanted with native trees and plants, intentionally selected and using planting palettes that will maximize the benefit to the marsh ecosystem. We are also creating an important barrier to storm waves, conferring additional resilience to the Institute campus. We were awarded a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in partnership with NJDEP for the planning phases of the project. Working with AKRF civil engineers and the University of Pennsylvania, we developed models for risk analysis and projections of landscape change. With the planning phase complete, permits for the work have been submitted to the appropriate state and federal entities. We are applying for grant funds for the construction phase of the project and hope to begin work in the fall of 2026. We are excited to be applying innovative tools to a project in our home so that we can build coastal resilience, enhance educational opportunities, improve access for visitors, and benefit wildlife into the future.
wetlandsinstitute.org | 1075 Stone Harbor Blvd, Stone Harbor, NJ 08247 | 609.368.1211