USFWS Long Island Salt Marsh Restoration

  Under the supervision of Mr. Shotzberger, AKRF served as the technical lead and engineer of record for the restoration of salt marshes and riparian habitats at the Wertheim, Lido Beach, and Seatuck National Wildlife Refuges in Long Island, New York. The sites are owned and managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and restoration was funded under Hurricane Sandy Resiliency Project #1. Efforts included biological and physical data collection in refuge salt marshes and streams, state and federal permitting, marsh and stream restoration design, and construction and planting oversight. The restoration efforts at the Wertheim Refuge included filling relict mosquito control grid ditches with coir (coconut fiber) logs and excavated material, the creation of new sinuous channels, and the application of herbicide to control invasive Phragmites. In addition, efforts included removal of impediments to fish passage for a portion of Yaphank Creek within the refuge using constructed stone step weirs. Restoration efforts at Seatuck included filling waterlogged marsh plain with dredge material, creating new sinuous channels, widening the site’s connection to Great South Bay, and treating invasive Phragmites. The restoration of Lido Beach refuge included the construction of a rock protected living shoreline and the treatment of invasive Phragmites.

Wertheim NWR marsh in the fall of 2016.

Other USFWS Projects

USFWS Long Island Salt Marsh Restoration - Wertheim NWR – Brookhaven, NY 

USFWS Long Island Salt Marsh Restoration - Seatuck National Wildlife Refuge - Bayshore, NY  

USFWS Long Island Salt Marsh Restoration - Lido Beach National Wildlife Management Area – Lido Beach, NY