Audubon Awarded $460,917 to Design Coastal Resilience Strategy for East River Marsh in Guilford, Connecticut

GUILFORD, Conn. — Greater than half of Connecticut’s salt marshes have been misplaced after tons of of years of human intervention, however there’s a rising motion to revive these habitats for the long run. The Nationwide Audubon Society in Connecticut is prioritizing this work throughout the Lengthy Island Sound and has simply acquired a $460,917 grant from the Connecticut Division of Vitality and Environmental Safety (DEEP) to develop a restoration design plan for the Guilford Salt Meadows Audubon Sanctuary.

The Guilford Sanctuary is a crucial phase of the East River Marsh, a brackish and salt tidal marsh at the moment discovered to have ~40% of its beforehand vegetated marsh space burdened, degraded, or misplaced. The restoration design plan will give attention to restoring native vegetation and creating restricted excessive marsh habitat to strengthen the marsh’s resiliency to sea degree rise.

The local people can have the chance to take part because the design plan strikes in the direction of completion. Venture companions will host two public conferences for group suggestions, and college students from Bridgeport, Stratford, and West Haven can be invited on subject journeys to the location the place they are going to carry out small-scale conservation work like invasive species management and knowledge assortment.

A spotlight for Audubon is the chance to offer habitat for marsh birds experiencing inhabitants declines, just like the Saltmarsh Sparrow. “Baseline level depend surveys in 2025 detected solely Clapper Rail and Marsh Wren on the Guilford Salt Meadows Audubon Sanctuary, however we count on the habitat to have the potential to assist a set of tidal marsh-dependent birds together with the Saltmarsh Sparrow, Seaside Sparrow, and Willet,” stated Corrie Folsom-O’Keefe, director of hen conservation for Audubon in Connecticut.

Restoring the Guilford part of the East River Marsh may also present extra pure sandy creeks for blue mussel, spawning Horseshoe Crabs, and doubtlessly Japanese Oyster. The marsh can be an essential fish run for Alewife and Sea Lamprey, and Northern Diamond-backed Terrapin are generally noticed all through. Every of those species would profit from the improved water high quality and hydrology.

“The East River Marsh is without doubt one of the largest and most essential salt marsh complexes within the state, offering important advantages to wildlife and the encircling group. Audubon is worked up to work with our companions and native stakeholders to guard and restore this invaluable pure useful resource,” stated Jack Matthias, coastal resilience supervisor for Audubon in Connecticut. 

By way of their newly created Lengthy Island Sound Ecosystems Grant Program, DEEP has awarded a complete of over $7.8 million to eighteen Connecticut municipalities and non-profits centered on enhancing water high quality, enhancing ecosystem resilience, and enhancing fish passage throughout the Lengthy Island Sound watershed.

Media Contact: Sharon Bruce, sharon.bruce@audubon.org

ABOUT AUDUBON
The Nationwide Audubon Society is a number one nonprofit conservation group with 120 years of science-based, community-driven influence, devoted to defending birds and the locations they want, at this time and tomorrow. Birds are highly effective indicators of our planet’s well being, performing as sentinels that warn us of environmental change and encourage motion. Audubon works throughout the Western Hemisphere, pushed by the understanding that what is nice for birds is nice for the planet. By way of a collaborative, bipartisan method throughout habitats, borders, and the political spectrum, Audubon drives significant and lasting conservation outcomes. Study extra about our work regionally at audubon.org/connecticut.