Climate Action through Salt Marsh Restoration

Posted on March 17, 2021 by Rishya N.
 DNRT’s and Mass Audubon’s TerraCorps members, staff, and volunteers hard at work.

When we look to nature, we can find many ways to adapt to and mitigate climate change. Restoring nature so it can perform these services is, in part, how Mass Audubon acts on climate. Wetland restoration work being done on the South Coast is a prime example.  

On February 15, Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust (DNRT) and Mass Audubon’s TerraCorps members, staff, and volunteers spent the day achieving this goal by removing invasive plant species on DNRT’s Ocean View Farm Reserve (neighboring Mass Audubon’s Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary). This effort is under the recently awarded Southeast New England Program (SNEP) Watershed Grant. SNEP Watershed Grants are funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through a collaboration with Restore America’s Estuaries (RAE). 

The Big Deal about Invasive Species 

Invasive species are known for their ability to easily spread past their native habitats — either by accident, opportunity, or purposeful introduction — and establish themselves into new habitats. Upon their arrival, these species tend to out-compete native flora or fauna for resources. This can cascade into a variety of consequences such as already vulnerable wildlife losing critical food sources or homes. 

Why Wetlands? 

Wetlands are our first line of defense when it comes to withstanding climate impacts like flooding, which we are now seeing more of due to sea level rise and an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events. Not to mention, healthy wetlands (like a salt marsh) store more carbon per unit area than some of Massachusetts’ forests, helping us mitigate climate change at the same time. 

But wetlands also need to be able to adapt to climate change’s impacts. As tides creep further up our shores, flood and salt intolerant wildlife move upland as a response. An abundance of invasive species inhibits how well native plants (and their accompanying animals) can migrate landward. 

Staff and Volunteers at Work 

Following COVID-19 public health guidelines and armed with loppers, handsaws, and chainsaws, staff and volunteers worked together to remove invasive species such as Autumn Olive, Multiflora Rose, and Bush Honeysuckle.   

The invasive brush must be cut from the ground to enhance Ocean View Farm Reserve’s ability to act as a wetland buffer, or an area with plants that helps protect the wetland and all its climate services. Volunteers stacked the cut brush on tarps and pulled the brush over 100 yards to a suitable area for disposal.   

The job doesn’t end with invasive species removal, however. Staff and volunteers then began planting native grasses and flowers that are both salt and flood tolerant. As sea levels rise, these actions will help facilitate wildlife and habitat movement landward as a response.  

The Bigger Picture 

The work is tedious and grueling, and relies on the dedication of staff and volunteers to restoring nature and protecting our world from climate change. Invasive species removal is just one component of the grant, which funds a variety of other science and restoration activities at Mass Audubon Great Neck and Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuaries.

All these initiatives are designed to better understand how sea level rise impacts our coastal wetlands, how to protect these habitats from climate change (and therefore the wildlife and human communities surrounding them), and how to model broader climate resilience efforts in the region. 

Thank you to our partners DNRT and TerraCorps for their collaboration on this project, Home Depot for donating tarps for our staff and volunteers to use during removals, and all the Mass Audubon and DNRT volunteers who lent their time and efforts to the project. 

Powering up Climate Action

Posted on March 10, 2021 by Mass Audubon

Since moving to the Connecticut River Valley in 1981, Mass Audubon’s Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary in Easthampton and Northampton has helped grow our dedication to the environment.

We’ve hiked Arcadia’s trails, canoed the marsh, sent our kids to summer camp, volunteered, and donated money. Perhaps most important, Arcadia has been playing a major role in our climate change advocacy, education, and action.

We view climate change as an existential threat to the planet. The severe disruption to the environment has us freaking out and desperate for action.

We are Morey Phippen and Brian Adams, and we’re fighting for climate justice.

Morey Phippen and Brian Adams, Climate Champions.

Married 40 years this summer and retired from our jobs as a family planning counselor and community college professor, we have channeled much of our time and energy into fighting for our planet at a local level. What we have been able to accomplish we credit to our parents, who left us an inheritance when they passed that has provided for us, our children, and the thrilling opportunity to contribute to charitable causes.

We decided to use some of this money to help nonprofits install photovoltaics (or solar panels).  Given the up-front costs that a solar system demands, we knew that nonprofits often have difficulty coming up with those financial resources. Solar energy’s cost has also dropped significantly, making it an affordable alternative to fossil fuel powered energy.

Our plan was to install solar panels at no cost to organizations, and negotiate a six-year purchase power agreement with them at a much-reduced electric rate. After six years we’d donate the systems in their entirety to the organizations.

Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary was one of the first organizations we approached. With over 700 acres of forest, meadows, grasslands, marsh, and wetlands, their mission to protect the nature of Massachusetts for people and wildlife was one we were totally committed to. It would be hard to find a better fit for our project!

In October 2017, we “flipped the switch” on a 5.6 kW photovoltaic system at the sanctuary.

Like other solar panels, it generates clean, renewable electricity from sunlight, about 8,000 kilowatt hours per year. But unlike other arrays, this panel uses a tracker that follows the sun across the sky. It adjusts to the height of the sun above the horizon as it changes during the day and throughout the seasons, which makes it a terrific teaching tool for the thousands of visitors who seek solace at Arcadia’s sanctuary every year.

To date we’ve installed over 550 kilowatts of solar at 34 locations including Arcadia, our local food pantries, homeless shelters, farms, environmental organizations, and social service agencies.  We’re hoping for a dozen more installations this year.

We are grateful to have such a wonderful sanctuary such a short distance from where we live, and to have the resources to help Arcadia and Mass Audubon in their quest to be carbon neutral and practice the urgent climate solutions that our planet needs.

– Morey Phippen and Brian Adams, Mass Audubon Members, Donors, and Volunteers