The North Carolina Coastal Federation is partnering with two private firms to build a one-acre salt marsh to serve as a “donor marsh” for scarce native salt marsh plants coastal restoration projects.
The Coastal Federation, NR Lands, LLC, and Backwater Environmental recently began construction of the donor marsh at North River Wetlands Preserve in Carteret County, which is itself a 6,800-acre wetland restoration project.
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Formerly farmland, the Coastal Federation purchased the property in 1999 and has slowly restored it to forested freshwater and tidal wetlands. The return to nature has helped improve water quality in downstream estuaries by capturing sediments, bacteria and nutrients.
The Coastal Federation said that salt marsh habitat in North Carolina is at risk from land use changes, accelerated erosion rates and climate-driven sea level rise.
The North Carolina Division of Coastal Management determined that an estimated 80,000 acres of coastal wetlands are being lost on average each year in the U.S., up from 60,000 acres lost a year during the previous study. Additionally, restoration efforts in North Carolina are often hindered by a lack of native salt marsh grass plants available to purchase.
“The donor marsh will provide a consistent source of salt marsh plants that will reduce lead times and expense for other restoration projects,” said Coastal Federation Water Quality Program Director Bree Charon. “It also provides the co-benefit of filtering water entering Ward Creek and providing habitat for the many species that call North River Wetlands Preserve home.”
Once mature, the donor marsh will help supply plants that now cost anywhere from 75 cents to $2 each, providing significant savings. The donor marsh is intended a first-of-its-kind plant nursery in North Carolina that officials hope to see replicated by commercial nurseries.
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Construction began Thursday, and work is expected to take a month to complete. Later this spring volunteers will help plant the initial salt marsh plants and will eventually help harvest plants once they are mature.
The North Carolina Land and Water Fund and the National Fish Habitat Partnership funded the project.
