BY BILL PARRY
The decades-long effort
to restore Jamaica Bay to a
pristine condition is moving
forward.
The National Parks Service
(NPS), in partnership with the
Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks
Conservancy, a project of the
Fund for the City of New York,
announced the groundbreaking
of an innovative shoreline
and restoration project at the
Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
at the Gateway National
Recreation Area.
This green infrastructure
project, designed by Dirtworks
Landscape Architecture PC,
Rippled Waters Engineering and
Great Ecology, will provide a resilient
edge along the Refuge’s
West Pond, an area breached
during Superstorm Sandy and
repaired by NPS in 2017.
“Our investment post-Sandy
repairing the West Pond
breach was only the first step.
This project will protect the
most vulnerable area of the
pond from storm surge for
years to come, while restoring
valuable habitat,” Gateway
Superintendent Jen Nersesian
said. “We appreciate the support
of our partners. This is a
great demonstration of what
we can accomplish together —
a mark of true resilience.”
The West Pond Restoration
Project will restore 2,400
linear feet of heavily eroded
shoreline at the refuge with
the placement of 44,000 cubic
yards of sand creating nearly
nine acres of new marsh
habitat. The project includes
a living shoreline that will
provide a resilient edge to protect
against climate change
and sea level rise encompassing
over 200,000 new native
plantings, a 5,000 oyster shell
bag breakwater system and
natural erosion control features
utilizing recycled trees
and biodegradable coir logs.
Construction of the project is
being led and managed by the
Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks
Conservancy.
“As a partner of the National
Park Service and Gateway
TIMESLEDGER | Q 6 NS.COM | JUNE 18-JUNE 24, 2021
National Recreation Area,
the conservancy is ready to
restore this vulnerable edge
of the Jamaica Bay Wildlife
Refuge at West Pond with a
living shoreline that will protect
the pond and trail from
extreme weather and climate
change while enhancing visitor
experience and the ecology
of the bay with hundreds of
thousands on native plants,”
said Tom Secunda, chairman,
Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks
Conservancy.
The Conservancy Executive
Director Alex Zablocki
added, “This project will create
acres of new habitat at the
refuge while enhancing and
protecting West Pond and the
beloved loop trail.”
The project development
team includes the Billion
Oyster Project (BOP) which is
providing 120 cubic yards of
shell for the project from their
citywide Oyster Shell Collection
and Recycling Program.
Volunteers worked with BOP
on Governors Island to fill
biodegradable bags with cured
Marine life around Jamaica Bay will benefit from a new restoration
project underway that will also enhance the visitor experience at
the refuge. QNS fi le photo
shells that will be delivered on
the site during construction to
build out the unique breakwaters
feature.
“The restoration project
has been a true collaboration
between our crew at Billion
Oyster Project, shell collection
restaurant partners and dedicated
volunteers,” BOP Executive
Director Pete Malinowski
said. “We can’t wait to witness
the habitat these oyster shells
can create for Jamaica Bay’s
remarkable marine wildlife.”
Animals such as seals,
dolphins and even humpback
whales have been spotted regularly
in the waters of Jamaica
Bay in recent years. The
project began in mid-May and
is expected to be completed by
early fall.
“The Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers
are proud to have
worked with this great collaborative
group on this amazing
resiliency project which will
protect the West Pond, long
considered the crown jewel
of this national park,” said
Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers
President Dan Mundy, Jr.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by
e-mail at bparry@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at (718)
260–4538.
Restoration project underway
at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
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