MARCH 2024 - PROJECT UPDATES AND OUTREACH
FRIENDS OF HERRING RIVER
AND THE
HERRING RIVER RESTORATION PROJECT
| |
Looking west across the temporary bridge / photo: Friends of Herring River | |
HERRING RIVER RESTORATION PROJECT UPDATES | |
|
Temporary Bridge Is Open on
Chequessett Neck Road!
- Following a brief pause, the installation of utility poles, conduits, manholes, and safety features were the final steps before Eversource and Verizon transferred power and telecom utilities across the temporary bridge.
- On March 20th the temporary bridge officially opened to vehicular, pedestrian, and bicycle traffic.
- Please note this temporary bridge is one-lane with a traffic light at each end, triggered to change by vehicles right at the line. Cyclists are encouraged to walk bikes across the bridge, and everyone is asked to please note posted speed limits throughout, use caution, and enjoy the view.
- The Herring River Restoration Project has received authorization to proceed with the next phase of the CNR Bridge and Water Control Structure work, including in-water aspects. This in-water work, including installation of vertical sheeting and turbidity curtains, needs to be completed prior to Time-of-Year restrictions for the herring run (passage), listed as April 1. Therefore, the Town of Wellfleet Select Board approved work to happen on-site from sunrise to sunset, seven days a week, to support this completion and compliance.
- The Project team continues to appreciate resident support, be available to answer questions, and to celebrate the near-term return of the herring run.
|  | | |
Looking east across the temporary bridge; The pedestrian/bicycle lane / photo: Friends of Herring River | |
|
Recent Flooding on Low-Lying Roads in Wellfleet
Duck Harbor and two low-lying roads in western Wellfleet have been a topic of some concern lately, with people posing questions to Friends of Herring River and to the other Herring River Restoration Project (HRRP) partners.
Duck Harbor lies within the Cape Cod National Seashore (Seashore), not the Town of Wellfleet. The Seashore made the decision to promote the return of a healthy salt marsh habitat there, thus protecting against storm surge and sea level rise, by removing the "ghost forest" and chipping the dead vegetation. This work was undertaken by Ducks Unlimited in partnership with the National Seashore.
Seawater has been overwashing into Duck Harbor for several years, due to sea level rise and dune migration/erosion. A few high-tide events in January, February and March of this year, coupled with storms and strong winds, resulted in more water than usual moving through Duck Harbor. This week the Cape Cod Times (3.21.24), released a comprehensive article, with confirmation that the recent flooding is not due to the Herring River Restoration Project. Click on the article title to read...
Seashore Says Duck Harbor Flooding
not associated with Herring River Restoration Project
Water was unable to effectively drain through the Herring River estuary to Wellfleet Harbor, as it had for thousands of years before the river was diked in 1909, because of the causeway at High Toss Road and the degraded culvert below it (both to be addressed within the Herring River Restoration Project as a long-term solution). This extra water meant unusual flooding and closures on Bound Brook Island and Pamet Point Roads.
The Provincetown Independent (3.20.14) also released a detailed article explaining the situation and that the Town of Wellfleet is working on near-term solutions, which will proceed regardless of the original HRRP plans/schedule related to the Low-Lying Roads and culverts. Click on the article title to read...
Bound Brook Island is Cut Off Again
Tom Guerino, Wellfleet Interim Town Administrator, and Jay Norton, Director of Public Works, have been actively acknowledging the public safety, resident, and financial concerns, and are working to communicate with impacted residents while they identify and execute a solution.
| |
|
COME LEARN ABOUT DUCK HARBOR!
Sunday, March 24, 3:00 pm
Wellfleet Library, 55 West Main Street, Wellfleet
A very timely talk will be given by Dr. Katie Castagno of the Center for Coastal Studies as part of the Library's Women in Science Series. Katie will discuss the recent natural changes at Duck Harbor, and what is being done to manage those changes. Admission is free.
| |
|
ANNOUNCING A NEW HERRING RIVER
RESTORATION PROJECT VIDEO
Recovering Coastal Resilience (4:55)
Recovering Coastal Resilience explains the many benefits of a healthy salt marsh ecosystem with regard to worsening weather systems. Often referred to as "horizontal levees," salt marshes act as coastal buffers against storm surge. They naturally keep pace with sea level rise as the organic material grows and the sediment brought in by the high tide accretes on the flood plain.
Presented by Friends of Herring River, this video was produced by Solano Film Collective and made possible by funds from Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration (DER) and National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
This video includes closed captions (enable on your device), and there is a version which includes spoken audio descriptions.
Click HERE to go directly to FHR VIDEO webpage.
| |
|
Wellfleet Herring Count Workshop
Thursday, March 28, 10:00-12:00
Wellfleet Public Library
55 West Main Street, Wellfleet
Community volunteers can get training and sign up to count herring during their annual 'run' upstream through the Herring River (Wellfleet) to the spawning ponds. This is year 15 in Wellfleet, with counts across Cape Cod.
Dr. Barbara Brennessel, scientist, author, professor emeritus, former FHR Board member, and current Co-Chair of FHR's Science Advisory Group, will again lead the workshop and training. Thank you, Barbara!
| |
|
River and Atlantic Herring Need Your Help!
Community Scoping Meeting (for input)
Wednesday, March 27, 6:00-8:00 pm
Hampton Inn, 12 Kendall Rae Pl, Buzzards Bay
The Herring River Restoration Project is working hard to restore an important spawning ground for alewives and blueback herring. But these fish are in jeopardy once they reach the Gulf of Maine.
Large midwater trawlers operating off Cape Cod sweep up millions of pounds of herring in nets the size of football fields. Entire schools of herring disappear. In 2021 NOAA implemented a 20-mile buffer zone, pushing the trawlers further off-shore and allowing the herring to rebound to 21% of their targeted biomass. However, this buffer zone order was vacated in 2022.
New England Fishery Management Council is holding a public hearing to determine if new protective measures - Herring Amendment 10 - should be put in place. The best was to help the herring is to attend in person and share your opinion.
You can read more about this issue here, or contact Aubrey at the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen's Alliance here.
| |
|
Friends of Herring River in the Community
FHR is committed to providing updates on the Herring River Restoration Project, answering questions, and sharing historical and current maps of the estuary, plus other treats, at our table. Stop by and say hello!
Sundays 11:00am - 2:00pm | March 24, April 7, April 21
Pop-Up Market
Wellfleet Preservation Hall
335 Main St, Wellfleet
| |
Congratulations to Jackie Fouse, FHR Treasurer, on being appointed to the Board of Directors for Society for Ecological Restoration, New England (SER-NE). We appreciate all your scientific, financial, and organizational prowess! | |
YOUR DONATIONS AT WORK
Despite the sometimes misleading name, Friends of Herring River (FHR) is not a volunteer organization, nor solely raising funds to support the Herring River Restoration Project (HRRP) and celebrate the environment.
FHR is a non-profit organization, 15 years old, with full operational expenses and a salaried team of skilled, full-time staff, and a knowledgeable Board of Directors. FHR is science-driven and fully engaged in the design and execution of the HRRP, providing essential services. Every year FHR works with the scientists (hydrologists, ecologists, geologists, biologists, etc) to outline their scopes of work, create contracts and budgets, acquire federal and state grant funds, and then coordinate the work of these 12+ non-construction contracts, review their technical products, process invoices, and ensure timely payment and complex grant, audit, and accounting compliance. This work must happen, and there is no either entity with the capacity to do so in an informed manner.
The FHR team contracts with the HRRP Project Coordinator, participates in the many project/technical/communications/governance meetings, and has a growing repository of plans, data, and historical material with goals to better achieve and present this information if and when capacity allows. FHR conducts education about the HRRP and engages residents, especially those who are or will be impacted by the HRRP. And this year FHR has supported photo-documentation, interviews of 20+ individuals involved in HRRP, and has co-produced 5 videos. See those on our website here. We all love the Herring River, and we truly need and appreciate your donations!
| |
|
We Welcome & Appreciate Donations!
Support our mission - to inspire and accelerate restoration of estuaries and ecosystems for the benefit of nature and all people.
To donate, please click HERE
| |
Friends of Herring River is a 501c3 nonprofit organization.
1580 Rt. 6, #5
Wellfleet, MA 02667
(508) 214-0656
| | | | |
