The Town of Vinalhaven recently partnered with the local land trust, a federal agency, a foundation, private landowners and the state to restore a large area of wetland where a causeway had restricted tidal flow to an upstream area.
The causeway-bridge was constructed many years ago over Pleasant River Cove, using a series of old-style culverts. That resulted in the creation of a 17.5-acre stagnant pond upstream of the restriction, which contained algal blooms and had poor water quality.
The old causeway was removed, Vinalhaven town manager Marjorie Stratton said, and replaced with a new 70-foot-long culvert. The goals of the project were to restore the tidal area and its wildlife habitat.
Cooperating in the project were the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the Maine Department of Marine Resources, Vinalhaven Land Trust, and several private landowners.
Stratton said that a lot of decaying algae built up in the pond and created an offensive odor, prompting one abutting landowner to begin searching for funding to restore the wetland. Then Mary Thompson, from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, suggested that the town apply for a Wildlife Home Improvement Program (WHIP) grant.
“The grant was for $90,000 and the town had to match the grant with $30,000 to make $120,000,” said Stratton. “We also received $15,000 from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, $5,000 from the Maine Coastal Wetland Restoration Partnership, and $6,000 from the Vinalhaven Land Trust.”
Sandra Lary, a biologist from the Fish and Wildlife Service, evaluated the area before the start of the restoration project to determine what impact the causeway had on the wildlife habitat upstream. She concluded that 75 acres of shellfish habitat had been negatively impacted.
The project manager at U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Stewart Fefer, wrote a letter to the town manager last April in support of the project.
“We support the proposed replacement of the causeway with a bottomless arch culvert to allow the maximum ebb and flow of tidal and fresh water throughout the cove,” he wrote. “Improved water quality and tidal exchange will increase the health and abundance of intertidal, salt marsh and eelgrass bed habitat.”
Fefer noted in his letter that some declining species of shorebirds in the Gulf of Maine region would benefit from the restoration, including short-billed dowitchers, semi-palmated sandpipers, ruddy turnstones, and black-bellied plovers. Snowy egret, black ducks, osprey and loons would benefit too, Fefer said, as would shellfish species including soft-shell clams, razor clams, quahogs, hen clams, and blue mussels.
Stratton reported in November that the project had been successfully completed. However, one unexpected problem had developed: the North Haven Road has been flooding when the tides reach a certain height.
Stratton said that in order to stop the flooding, the road must be raised, and the town would have to obtain permits from abutting landowners to do that work. She was concerned that the process of obtaining permits could take some time. However, she was otherwise pleased with the results of the project.
“We must look at the overall picture, ” said Stratton. “The project was successful. We’ll get through this.”