LAND PRESERVATION

To date, land purchases supported by TrusteeCouncil funds have resulted in the permanentpreservation of approximately 388 acres of landin the New Bedford Harbor Environment. Avariety of habitats, including tidal and riverinewetlands, beach, and forested uplands havebeen preserved through purchase and/or conser-vation restriction. The Trustee Council provided

funding forthe pur-chases.The pre-servedlands willbe held byland truststo be usedand en-joyed bythe publicwhile yet

preserving the natural resource values anddiverse habitat of each property.

The Council is working with Hands Across theRiver Trust for Land to purchase the RiversideAuto Wrecking parcels in Acushnet. Oncecontamination at the sites has been remediated,the Council will proceed with funding the pur-chase of these properties.

NEW BEDFORD HARBOR WETLANDS

RESTORATION PLAN

In January 2003, the Massachu-setts Wetlands RestorationProgram completed the NewBedford Harbor Wetlands Resto-ration Plan. This Plan, fundedby the Council, identified 69

potential wetland restoration sites in the NewBedford Harbor environment. Copies of the planwere distributed in the Greater New Bedford

PROJECT UPDATES: NOVEMBER 2004

The New Bedford Harbor Trustee Council (Council) has completedthirteen restoration-related projects since 1998. Descriptions of eachproject and associated project reports can be accessed via theCouncil’s website: http://www.darp.noaa.gov/northeast/new_bedford/index.html.

A portion of lands conserved at Sconticut Neck.

New Bedford Harbor Trustee CouncilCommonwealth of Massachusetts • U.S. Department of Commerce • U.S. Department of the Interior

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area to encourage nominationof these sites for potentialrestoration or mitigationprojects. Copies of the Planmay be obtained by contactingHunt Durey of the Massachu-setts Coastal Zone Manage-ment Wetlands RestorationProgram athunt.durey@state.ma.us.

SALT MARSH RESTORATION

In April 2003, the Town ofDartmouth completed thePadanaram salt marsh resto-ration project with $46,968 inCouncil funds. This is the firstsalt marsh restored by theCouncil. This project re-placed an undersized culvertwith a larger, properly-sizedculvert to connect the 6.5 acrePadanaram saltmarsh toApponagansett Bay. Theproject results were almostimmediate. Woody vegetationand invasive species that hadencroached upon the marshbegan to die off once in-creased tidal inundation andsoil salinity were restored. Inaddition, fish that were unableto access the marsh surfaceprior to the restoration are nowpresent in the thousands.

Council staff along with stafffrom the Town of Dartmouthwill continue to monitor thechanges in vegetation, sub-strate, and fish on the marshfor several years. The Councilis currently studying the feasi-bility of restoring an additional130 acres of degraded saltmarshes at Nonquitt in

Dartmouth and at Marsh Islandand Sconticut Neck, both inFairhaven.

ANADROMOUS FISH RESTORATION

The Council, in associationwith the Massachusetts Divi-sion of Marine Fisheries andMassachusetts River RestoreProgram, is working to reestab-lish fish passage for herring(Alosa spp.) and other fishspecies along the AcushnetRiver. In 2002, the projectpartners installed a 265-footlong fishway at the uppermostdam forming the New BedfordReservoir. This fishway willallow herring to access the200-acre reservoir to spawn.Plans are underway for thebreach of the two lowermostdams, Sawmill Dam andHamlin Street Dam, both inthe Town of Acushnet. Uponcompletion, these projects willallow river herring to accessapproximately 4.4 miles ofriver in addition to the reser-voir and upstream habitats.

SHELLFISH RESTORATION

The shellfish restorationproject consists of a variety ofactions that will improve NewBedford Harbor shellfisheries.Conducted by the RegionalShellfish Restoration Commit-tee, with funding from theCouncil, activities include thepurchase and planting ofadult and seed quahogs; thepurchase and spreading ofbay scallop and soft shell

The marsh-side of the new Padanarum culvert in Dartmouth.

Above: installation of new culvert headwall Below: newly-installed culvert and headwall

functioning as intended (Photos courtesy of

Michael O’Reilly, Town of Dartmouth)

Sawmill Dam

Completed fishway at the New Bedford Reservoir.

New Bedford Harbor Trustee CouncilCommonwealth of Massachusetts • U.S. Department of Commerce • U.S. Department of the Interior

Completed fishway at theNew Bedford Reservoir.

The marsh side of the new Padanaramculvert in Dartmouth.

Above: installation of new culvert headwallBelow: newly-installed culvert and headwall

functioning as intended

clam seed;relays ofcontaminatedadult quahogsto clean areasto allow depu-ration to takeplace; thedevelopmentof a RegionalShellfish

Management Plan; and monitoring and enforce-ment activities. The shellfish monitoring workincluded the initiation of a study to:

1) determine the effectiveness of shellfishseeding efforts over the last several years,and

2) evaluate techniques that may improve theefficacy of future seeding efforts.

EELGRASS RESTORATION

Conducted in partnership with the University ofNew Hampshire Jackson Laboratory and theCoalition for Buzzards Bay, the eelgrass restora-

tion project in-cluded surveyingthe distributionand condition ofeelgrass through-out the NewBedford Harborestuary; identify-ing priority areasfor potential

eelgrass habitat;and, with theassistance ofnumerous volun-teers, transplant-ing eelgrass fromestablished bedsto priority reestab-lishment areas.

These transplants will improve the ability of theHarbor to provide habitat for a variety of finfishand shellfish resources. The eelgrass was trans-planted in 1999 and 2000, and has establishedand spread at three of the transplant locations.This project also includes monitoring the effec-tiveness of the eelgrass transplantation.

TERN RESTORATION

The Council provided funding to the Common-wealth of Massachusetts to monitor, manage,and enhance nesting locations for Roseate Tern(a Federally listed endangered species) andCommonTern. Thegoal of theproject is torebuild andrestore popu-lations ofRoseate andCommonTerns thatwere injuredwhile feedingon PCB-contaminatedfish in theNew Bedford Harbor environment. This projectinvolves moving other species, such as gulls, offnesting areas; daily monitoring of seasonallynesting terns; and the enhancement of nestinghabitat at Bird, Ram, and Penikese Islands inBuzzards Bay. The project also involves fillingand stabilizing portions of Bird Island to providegreater nesting opportunities.

PARKS AND RECREATION

The Council has dedicated funding for the con-struction of two parks in the City of New Bedford.The Council will provide $2 million to the City forthe construction of Riverside Park at the formersite of the Pierce Mill on Bellevue Avenue. River-side Park will provide passive recreational oppor-

Shellfish relay operations

2004 Photo of a restored eelgrass bed off Fort Phoenix Reservation, Fairhaven.

Volunteers attaching eelgrass harvested from donor stands to frames that were used to transplant the eelgrass to the restoration sites.

Tern colony at Bird Island. The stakes in the foreground mark tern nest locations.

New Bedford Harbor Trustee CouncilCommonwealth of Massachusetts • U.S. Department of Commerce • U.S. Department of the Interior

tunities and, eventually, harbor access. Sub-grade material has been brought in to the site

and the City isworking on a finalpark design.

The pier at Ft. Taber Park under construction, 2004.

Completed pier.

For further information, contact:

New Bedford Harbor Trustee CouncilOne Blackburn Drive

Gloucester, MA 01930-2298

Jack Terrill, Coordinator Steven Block, Technical Lead978-281-9136 978-281-9127jack.terrill@noaa.gov steve.block@noaa.gov

At Fort Taber Park, the Council provided$2,208,000 to the City to construct a communitycenter, bathhouse, restroom facilities, and recon-struct a stone fishing pier. Council-funded workat Fort Taber Park was completed in 2004.

MONITORING BOAT

In 2004, the Trustee Council awarded a monitor-ing boat contract to the Coalition for BuzzardsBay. Under the contract, the boat periodicallymonitors the Council’s restoration sites, conductswater quality monitoring in the vicinity of the NewBedford Hurricane Barrier, acts as a deterrent tofurther environmental abuses of the Harbor, andwill produce and distribute brochures to educatethe public on responsible boating practices.

OTHER PROJECTS

The Council recently completed feasibility studiesfor the artificial reef and Sconticut Neck waterquality projects. The Council decided not toconstruct reefs in the harbor due to the limited

benefits to injured natural re-sources. The results of the waterquality study are under review.

The Council has been working withthe U.S. Army Corps of Engineersto develop a scope of work for afeasibility study to determine if oneor more box culverts in the NewBedford Harbor hurricane barrierwill increase tidal flushing andwater quality in the Inner New

Bedford Harbor. The Council hopes to start thestudy in early 2005.

A grant solicitation for the shellfish growout facil-ity has been submitted for review and publicationin the Federal Register. The Council expects thesolicitation to be published in December 2004. Itwill also appear in www.grants.gov.

Photo courtesy of the Coalition for Buzzards Bay.

Photo courtesy of the Coalition for Buzards Bay.