USFWS Long Island Salt Marsh Restoration - Wertheim NWR – Brookhaven, NY
The restoration efforts at the Wertheim NWR including the filling of legacy grid ditches, originally installed in the 1930s as an attempt to control mosquito breeding, with coir (coconut fiber) logs and excavated sediment and the installation of new sinuous channels to promote tidal exchange, reduce water-logging of the marsh plain, and to enhance biological connectivity of the marsh to adjacent tidal waters (Carman’s River and Great South Bay). Construction was completed in 2016, and the USFWS continues to monitor restoration success.
Wertheim NWR marsh restoration - Mr. Shotzberger (orange vest) discussing marsh channel excavation with USFWS and construction contractor in 2016
Mr. Shotzberger and USFWS personnel assessing marsh access routes for equipment in fall of 2016
Herbicide application contractor planning work with low ground pressure vehicle in fall of 2015.
Invasive Phragmites near the upland edge of the Wertheim marsh.