Coastal Marsh Restoration: An Ecosystem approach for the Mid-Atlantic
In 2024 we co-authored a document with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) and partners within the US Fish and Wildlife Service to address and highlight shared goals for ecosystem restoration to benefit coastal marsh organisms including (but not limited to) our flagship species. The intent of this document is to frame an approach to comprehensive, ecosystem-based coastal restoration in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic that offers a greater likelihood of success at each project phase. It offers guidance to assist with project planning, design, permitting, monitoring, and adaptive management. While this guidance may apply to other coastal marsh settings, it is focused on techniques and projects that have been successfully implemented within the Mid-Atlantic geography. The content of this document is also summarized in webinar format, available here.
State Restoration Guidance Documents and Mapping Tool
In 2021 the ACJV began an effort to identify marshes in each state that are in need of restoration action to benefit the Saltmarsh Sparrow. This effort led to a set of state guidance documents that summarize priority marshes and management recommendations for each state (available here). We are happy to report that in 2024 we completed a significant update (Version 2.0) for this set of documents, including an extension of our coverage area to include Midcoast and Downeast Maine to support saltmarsh sparrow hybrid habitat. We have also updated our saltmarsh sparrow mapper to include any changes made to marsh boundaries.
Pathways Position – Database Management
This year we added a 7th person to the ACJV staff! Franco Gigliotti joined our team in April 2024 as a Pathways Fellow, a program through the USFWS to engage graduate students in careers with the federal service. Franco is a PhD candidate at the University of Connecticut and is focusing on restoration ecology of tidal marsh birds in the northeast for his dissertation work. Franco was integral in getting our updated project database off the ground, and will be the point person for helping partners enter their project information this year. Please join us in welcoming Franco to our team!