Abstract
One of the earliest, and most extensive, collaborative salt marsh restorations in New England was launched east of the Port of Galilee, in Narragansett, Rhode Island, in the early 1990s (fig. 20.1). Once part of the largest coastal wetland complex in the state, by the 1950s these wetlands had been extensively altered by breachway construction, deposition of dredged material, and construction of docks, commercial facilities, houses, and roads (Lee 1980). In 1956, construction of the four-lane Galilee Escape Route, with only one 75 centimeter diameter culvert, severely restricted tidal flow from Bluff Hill Cove to the state-owned Galilee Bird Sanctuary and impounded freshwater runoff there. Over the next forty years, more than 80 percent of the 40 hectare Sanctuary salt marsh shifted from predominantly Spartina (cordgrass) to a mix of Phragmites australis (common reed) and freshwater or upland shrubs and trees (fig. 20.1).
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Golet, F.C., Myshrall, D.H.A., Oliver, L.R., Paton, P.W.C., Tefft, B.C. (2012). Role of Science and Partnerships in Salt Marsh Restoration at the Galilee Bird Sanctuary, Narragansett, Rhode Island. In: Roman, C.T., Burdick, D.M. (eds) Tidal Marsh Restoration. The Science and Practice of Ecological Restoration. Island Press, Washington, DC. https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-229-7_20
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