Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game – DOI Grant; Restore Round Hill Salt Marsh, Dartmouth MA

This project was previously vetted and approved for funding by the Department of the Interior. The appropriation for this project is the Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriation Act of 2013, Public Law 113-2. Criteria for funding was based on the project¿s ability to yield the greatest return on investment by taking advantage of existing science and regional planning tools for resiliency and by working with states, cities, communities, and partners who contribute to the goals restoring and rebuilding national wildlife refuges and other federal public assets: and to increase resiliency and the capacity of coastal habitat and infrastructure and to withstand future storms and to minimize the damage incurred.

Site resiliency will be obtained through the removal of historic fill, restoration of a tidal creek system, and the establishment of salt marsh elevations that are in equilibrium with the tidal regime at the project area. Additionally, restored tidal exchange will improve water quality, enhance fish passage, and restore conditions that will promote the restoration of subtidal habitats and intertidal salt marsh vegetation in the area that had been filled historically. Ecosystem function into the future will be achieved by restoring conditions that will allow a tidal creek system to develop that is in dynamic equilibrium with expected changes in coastal hydrology, thereby providing habitat resiliency for potential impacts to fish and wildlife habitats. The Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game – MADER is the recipient of this award due to their unique qualification to complete the project. This project is authorized by the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013, Public Law 113-2.