NOAA Announces Funding for Salt Marsh Restoration in Barnstable, Massachusetts

The Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) awarded $117,675 to the town of Barnstable for a community-based project to construct the final phase of a two-phase 40-acre salt marsh restoration project. The project, funded by the Community-based Restoration Program within the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries), will remove the last tidal restriction to the Bridge Creek marshes and will restore tidal inundation and circulation to a marsh cut off from full tidal exchange for more than 100 years.

Along Bridge Creek, an undersized pipe beneath Route 6A restricts tidal water to the upstream marsh. The NOAA grant will help pay for the replacement of the existing Route 6A culvert with a much larger, appropriately-sized culvert to transport necessary tidal flows to the upgradient marsh. NOAA previously provided funding to the town of Barnstable for the construction of the first phase of the project, which replaced a nearby culvert beneath the railroad. Phase I was constructed in early 2003.

“This grant will help the town of Barnstable to complete it’s 40-acre salt marsh restoration project,” said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “It builds awareness, appreciation, knowledge and an understanding of the NOAA Restoration Center’s Community-based Restoration Program. NOAA and the Bush Administration are committed to working with regional authorities to improve our understanding of the environment.”

“Replacing the existing undersized culvert with a larger structure puts more water onto the marsh surface and will enhances the marsh and the ability of fish to access upstream areas for feeding, spawning and shelter,” said Patricia Kurkul, NOAA Fisheries regional administrator for the Northeast Region. “We are pleased to support the efforts of the town of Barnstable and the project partners to implement this important restoration project.”

“This NOAA grant, and the invaluable habitat restoration technical assistance that comes with it, will help the Town of Barnstable and its project partners to complete this salt marsh restoration,” said Robert Gatewood, Barnstable conservation administrator. “With the NOAA Community-based Restoration Program, we are working to improve coastal habitats and foster environmental stewardship by the local community.”

The Community-based Restoration Program (CRP), a financial and technical assistance program within the NOAA Fisheries Office of Habitat Conservation, promotes strong partnerships at the national, regional and local level to fund grassroots, community-based activities. The NOAA-funded projects provide strong on-the-ground habitat restoration components that offer educational and social benefits for people and their communities in addition to long-term ecological benefits for fishery resources. More information about the CRP is available on the Web: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/habitat/restoration.

NOAA Fisheries is dedicated to protecting and preserving our nation’s living marine resources through scientific research, management, enforcement and the conservation of marine mammals and other protected marine species and their habitat.

The Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of our nation’s coastal and marine resources.

On the Web:

NOAA: http://www.noaa.gov

NOAA Fisheries: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov