 With the help of community and FEMACorps volunteers, the American Littoral Society moved the last of our recycled Christmas trees - collected and transported by Lacey Township - to the Slade Dale Restoration site. Participants joined us on the morning of Saturday, May 21 to help ferry the trees from shore to the breakwaters installed in Beaverdam Creek. Known as branchbox breakwaters, they are wooden structures designed to control erosion by using trees and brush to slow currents and waves, as well as capture the sediment being carried in the water. The shoreline at Slade Dale Sanctuary has eroded approximately 600 feet since 1930. The Sanctuary’s pine-oak forest, hardwood swamp, and salt marsh provide a space of protected wilderness in an otherwise heavily developed coastal area of NJ. Besides providing nursery habitat for fish, and foraging habitat for birds such as osprey, egrets, and bald eagles, the salt marsh at Slade Dale also helps protect uplands from flooding during storms. Because they are designed as a natural solution, the trees in the breakwaters must be replaced periodically. The goal is to create a wider marsh and limit the reach of saltwater that has been affecting nearby trees. Besides providing more space for animals to live and feed, it will also help protect neighboring communities. Many thanks to everyone who lent a hand with this phase of the project. The Slade Dale marsh restoration project is generously supported by US Fish & Wildlife Service, The Nature Conservancy, Borough of Point Pleasant, Point Pleasant Rotary Club, Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership, Lacey Township, and Bill Borowsky owner of Nature’s Reward Farm Market. Comments are closed.
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