Photo taken from undisturbed area just above mean high tide line looking south along the beach toward restored area where sand and vegetation were scraped back toward the primary dune. Photograph taken by Heidi Hanlon, USFWS Wildlife Biologist on 2/12/2007.

Photo taken facing the primary dune at the demarcation line between the restored area (right) and undisturbed area (left). Photograph taken by Heidi Hanlon, USFWS Wildlife Biologist, 2/12/2007.

In cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service created approximately one acre of improved habitat for the federally threatened piping plover (Charadrius melodus) and other beach nesting birds species at the Two Mile Beach Unit, Cape May National Wildlife Refuge.  Prior to the habitat restoration project, the unvegetated portion of the beach, which is the primary nesting habitat for birds, was below the mean high tide line.  Shorebird nests were routinely destroyed by inundation during high tides associated with full/new moon phases and/or northeast winds.

The habitat restoration project entailed mechanically removing sand and vegetation from the upper beach toward the toe of the existing primary dune.  The site was sloped to allow occasional saltwater inundation of the area, which will deter growth of any vegetation that reinvades.  Scraped sand and vegetation was relocated to the base of the primary dune.

The improved unvegetated habitat is now above the mean high tide line and will provide high quality nesting habitat for plovers and other beach nesting birds.  The occasional inundation should keep the site largely maintenance-free, although some long-term mechanical maintenance is expected.

The project has been in discussion and planning stages between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife and the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection for the last three, almost four years.  As expressed by Beth Brandreth, US Army Corps of Engineers, "I was down at the site yesterday and it looks great - very exciting.  Can't wait to see what the birds think of it.".