Land use along the Neponset
River has had a lengthy and colorful history—from
industrial to residential land use, commerce to quarrying—and
all have affected the health of the Neponset Estuary salt marshes.
The historical Metro Boston expanse of salt marshes
has
dwindled since the arrival of European colonists, more than 350
years ago. In fact, much of Boston’s marshes and the
surrounding mud and sand flats were dredged or filled in the
early 1800s to increase Boston’s acreage.
This process severely degraded wildlife habitat
-- along
with the area's natural ability to process pollutants and tolerate
storms. Young commercial fish species such as winter flounder,
herring, clams, bay scallop, conch, dogfish shark, spiny shark
and skate, dependent on salt marsh as a nursery, suffered, as did the bluefish and striped
bass that use the marsh as a hunting ground.
Fortunately,
the revitalization of the Neponset Estuary salt marsh has
begun. In the summer of 2005, the Great Meadows Farms contracting
company, under the direction of the Massachusetts Department
of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), began to restore 15
acres of salt marsh in the estuary of the Neponset River
Reservation, bringing five years of wetland restoration
planning to fruition.
Great Meadows Farms excavated tens of thousands of cubic
yards of old dredge spoil deposits from the Neponset marsh,
moving them elsewhere on-site. Years of dredge spoil
deposition had raised the height of the marsh so much that
salt water could no longer regularly flush the area. As a
result, the salt marsh environment had slowly come to be
dominated by plants less tolerant of salt water, such as the
invasive Common reed (Phragmites australis), while native salt marsh plants
like Smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) and
Saltmeadow cordgrass (Spartina patens) had declined.
By repositioning much of the dredge
spoils, the contractor was able to lower the wetland’s
elevation and add to an adjacent wooded upland. The lowered
marsh elevation exposes the area to salt water, thereby
encouraging the return of a healthy salt marsh ecosystem.
The contractor also breached dikes in
the Neponset marsh, dug a new creek channel and planted
Saltmeadow cordgrass along the new creek’s banks.
For the best view of the marsh
restoration, visit Hutchinson’s Field in Milton, across from
the Forbes House Museum on Adams Street. It may also be
possible to view the project from the highway or from the
Neponset Greenway. As the salt marsh restoration progresses,
you’ll notice a shift from a yellow to a green hue in the
marsh.
The Neponset salt marsh restoration
project will take place in phases over the next several years.
During that time, 20-25 more acres of marsh could be restored.
The
Neponset salt marsh restoration project is being led by the
Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation,
with assistance from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation
Service and the Office of Coastal Zone Management’s Wetland
Restoration Program. Project funding has come from the US Fish
& Wildlife Service and the Corporate Wetlands Restoration
Project (CWRP). CWRP is a collaborative project between the MA
Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, the Gillette
Company, and the US Environmental Protection Agency.
To learn more about the Neponset salt marsh restoration
project, contact Cathy Garnett, Neponset Planner with the
DCR’s Planning & Engineering Department, at 617-626-1443
or catherine.garnett@state.ma.us.
For more information on this project, you can also
visit the website of the Office of Coastal Zone Management, www.mass.gov/czm/wrp/education/currentupdate.htm.
January
2006
