Summer 2023 Great Marsh Update

Summer is a busy time for field work, here are some updates from the Great Marsh:

Marine Invasive species monitoring kicked off for the season in June! The MassBays Upper North Shore Regional Coordinator, Hanna Mogensen, will continue to monitor five sites monthly through October. Monitoring locations span from Ipswich to Rockport. 

MassBays and Merrimack Valley Planning Commission staff completed spring microplastic monitoring. This effort is aimed at detecting small plastic particles in ocean waters and on beaches. Another round of sampling will be completed this fall.

 Great Marsh partners received two Coastal Resiliency grants totally $3.7 million to restore over 4,000 acres of salt marsh.  A design grant, led by MassWildlife will finalize restoration design and permitting for 3,000+ acres of salt marsh owned by multiple entities, including two tidal restrictions.  

Another grant, lead by Ducks Unlimited, USFWS, and Mass Audubon, will restore 1,600 acres of salt marsh at Parker River NWR.  Both grants use nature-based techniques, such as runneling and ditch remediation, to restore marsh hydrology to pre-colonial era, making the marsh more resiliency to climate change, and restoring nesting habitat for salt marsh sparrows.

Pictured here: Peter Phippen trowling for microplastics.