CRMC funds five habitat restoration projects

April 10, 2025, WAKEFIELD – The R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) has awarded funding for six habitat restoration projects in the 22nd year of its RI Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration Trust Fund (CEHRTF).

The Council heard recommendations for funding at the April 8, 2025 semi-monthly meeting from the Fund’s Technical Advisory Committee, which is co-chaired by CRMC and the Narragansett Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NBNERR). Projects approved by the Council for funding this year include a coastal buffer and marsh migration corridor restoration, streambank stabilization, improving salt marsh resilience, and invasives management. As with the previous years, in its request for proposals the CRMC put special emphasis on projects that would enhance the resiliency of Rhode Island’s coastal habitats to climate change and sea level rise.

The Council awarded $83,924 to Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) and the Narragansett Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NBNERR) and it project partners for coastal habitat and resilience improvements on Winnapaug Pond in Westerly. The project aims to restore an important coastal property located along an ecologically sensitive coastal barrier in Westerly, known as the Sorensen property (328 Atlantic Avenue, former Water Wizz) recently acquired by the Town of Westerly. The northern part of the property abuts the pond and consists of salt marsh habitat that is adjacent to a larger, 15-acre contiguous salt marsh complex owned by the State. Restoring the property will preserve important current and future coastal wetland habitat, improve opportunities for passive recreation and public access in a region of the state with limited coastal access, and improve the resilience of the site to extreme weather events.

RIDEM and NBNERR received $ 65,000 in Trust Fund monies for the Succotash and Potter Pond marsh restoration project in South Kingstown.  Succotash marsh is located within Potters and Point Judith Ponds and is designated as a RI DEM Wildlife Management Area. Sea level rise threatens the 182-acre marsh system with more frequent flooding, and it is already showing signs of degradation including vegetation die-off and increasing size of pooling on the marsh surface. Adjacent development and infrastructure prevent the marsh from naturally migrating inland. RIDEM plans to add sediment to raise the marsh’s elevation, as conserving adjacent lands to allow for migration is not feasible. Successful projects similar to this have already been conducted in RI (by CRMC and its partners) and elsewhere.

The Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council along with partners the City of Providence (Department of Public Works and Providence Emergency Management Agency) and United Way of Rhode Island were awarded $50,000 in Trust Fund monies for streambank stabilization of the Woonasquatucket River along San Souci Drive. The WRWC plans to restore the habitat and stabilize the streambank along the road and United Way property in Providence. The partners have placed priority on creating a flood and climate change-resistant bank that improves habitat for pollinators, aquatic species and other animals. The streambank will be stabilized with hard (gabion baskets and/or geocells) and softer (coir fiber matting, plantable structures with vegetation) methods. This project received funding last year, as well as in 2019 and 2022.

The Audubon Society of Rhode Island received $ 21,076 from the Council for salt marsh habitat improvement and Phragmites suppression in a protected marsh at Racquet Road Wildlife Refuge in Jamestown. This area has a long history of human impacts including a road restricting tidal flow, historical agricultural work, wall construction and ground and surface water flow from house sites. Along with partner Save The Bay, Audubon plans to improve salt marsh function through enhanced inflow of salt water and drainage of fresh water. Invasive Phragmites has spread along the creek since culvert improvements about a decade ago. Audubon plans to use established techniques like frequent cutting, without herbicides, and improved marsh creek flow to reduce Phragmites. A separate smaller component of this project is to reduce invasive plants and add native pollinator plants in two roadside patches. This will require brush-hogging and seeding cleared areas and planting plugs of native plants.

The Council awarded $ 5,000 to the Town of Westerly for the restoration of the coastal buffer and marsh migration corridor along Winnapaug Pond. The town will restore the native vegetation with native plants between the pond and two parcels owned by the town, the town beach parking lot and a recently acquired lot at 330 Atlantic Avenue. Both lots are on the barrier spit between Block Island Sound and the pond and have been altered by vegetation removal for parking and recreational activities. The barrier is considered developed by the CRMC.

Habitat restoration projects funded through the RI Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration Trust Fund are recommended by the fund’s Technical Advisory Committee and approved by the RI Coastal Resources Management Council. Program funds come from the state’s Oil Spill Prevention Administration and Response Act (OSPAR), established by the legislature following the 1996 North Cape oil spill. Each year, the CEHRTF advisory committee, with approval of the CRMC allocates $225,000 from the OSPAR account to habitat restoration projects throughout the state.

“The Rhode Island Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration Trust Fund is 22 years old this year, and this year’s round of projects continue the work to restore salt marsh functions, stabilize eroding streambanks in the face of climate change, and improve the resilience of our natural areas to sea level rise and climate change,” said CRMC Executive Director Jeff Willis. “The CRMC is honored to have been a vital part of this work for more than two decades.”

To date and including this year, the Trust Fund has awarded just over $5 million for 171 projects, which have leveraged $36 million in matching funds. In its 22 years, the Trust Fund has helped fund projects to restore over 2,000 acres of coastal and estuarine habitat, as well as restore fish passage in numerous communities throughout the state.

The full report is on the CRMC web site.

View the original proposals.