- April 19, 2024
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The two acres of salt marsh at North Peninsula State Park will look much different after the four-month project is completed.
BY MATT MENCARINI | STAFF WRITER
Sometimes the right dirt isn’t always where it’s supposed to be, and it can affect local wildlife.
Contractors began work Monday, Feb. 18, in North Peninsula State Park, to restore the salt marsh area north of Ormond Beach to its natural state, which was disrupted by "spoiled materials" in the 1900s, during the dredging of the Intracoastal Waterway.
The project will take an estimated four months and include two acres of salt marsh, adjacent to other areas previously restored.
The work will be done along the west side of John Anderson Drive, approximately three-quarters of a mile south of Highbridge Road. It will be funded by a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership and Saint John’s River Water Management District.
“One of the key factors as to why these salt marshes are important is because they're breeding grounds for a lot of species of fish,” said Lynne Flannery, assistant park manager.
The spoiled materials, she said, are masses of dirt and sediment that wouldn’t naturally be located on the salt marsh, if not for human interaction.
Similar to digging a pond in a backyard, when the waterway was deepened, crews placed the removed dirt on top of the land along the sides.
Heavy machinery will be brought in to clear the existing vegetation, remove the displaced dirt and level the area’s elevation with adjacent marshes. While crews are digging, they’ll test the soil periodically, Flannery said, until it matches the naturally occurring soil.
Once that has been done, native vegetation, such as black mangrove and bullrush, will be reintroduced to the area. The park is also asking volunteers to assist in the planting phase of the project.
The goal is to make a healthier marsh, to be connected to the open water and benefit a variety of plants and animals, like fiddler crabs and wading birds.
Flannery said a population of Brazilian pepper trees, which are aggressive, nonnative trees that can harm other vegetation, will also be removed during the project.
The state park believes their work could also have additional benefits, as well, including more educational opportunities for students, scenic overlooks for hikers and more fishing spots.
The finished park will look very different, Flannery said, with the area having fewer tall, mature trees and more small, native vegetation.
The park is also working with the Floridian Resource Conservation and Development Council on the project, which began Septemeber 2009 and is now in its third phase. Work started along the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway north of Highbridge Road and west of State RoadA1A.
