News

What a year it has been! We have enjoyed the opportunity to meet face to face with our partners again – at meetings, conferences and in the marsh! This year was filled with exciting changes, long-awaited accomplishments and bittersweet goodbyes. Our longest-running and much beloved JV staff member, Craig Watson, retired in September to enjoy an adventure-filled life with his partner and many friends, traveling to birding destinations around the country in his new Birdmobile. Thankfully, we hired another amazing conservationist – Craig Faulhaber – to take over the helm of the South Atlantic Coordinator position. We are so excited to have Craig on board! This year also brought an accelerated interest in coastal resiliency across agency leadership and funders. Saltmarsh Sparrow, in particular, has become an increasingly familiar ambassador of the salt marsh system and the work that needs to be done to preserve it for our future. The ACJV partnership was poised to provide the prioritization tools, restoration recommendations, population objectives and more that have helped to direct new funds offered through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and more to partners and projects on the ground that will have the greatest impact on coastal resiliency and tidal marsh birds. New funding opportunities for coastal marsh restoration will continue into 2023 and we are excited to be a part of rebuilding the coastal marsh system!  ACJV flagship species are increasingly being recognized as important representatives of a system we all so intimately depend upon in so many ways. We thank the hundreds of partners who work so tirelessly to restore our coastal marsh habitats!