Bird Island Restoration Moves Forward

The Commonwealth’s plan to restore the tern habitat of Bird Island in Marion was given the green light by the Marion Conservation Commission on June 24.

Bird Island, a two-acre island just south of Butlers Point in Sippican Harbor, is the nesting habitat for about 53 percent of the endangered Roseate Tern population and about 11 percent of Common Terns.

The migratory birds return to the same nesting area every year and, at Bird Island, the habitat is slowing eroding away, leaving the terns competing for decreasing nesting space.

“They’re very attached to Bird Island, even though the habitat has deteriorated quite a bit,” said Carolyn Mostello, coastal waterbird biologist from the Massachusetts Department of Fisheries & Wildlife. She said the project will likely double the terns’ present nesting habitat area.

Mostello said the plan entails a new and taller revetment to protect the island from wave energy, the placement of fill and the planting of vegetation, and a ring of concrete blocks to keep tern chicks from getting trapped in the crevices of the revetment. Completion will take two years.

Less than an acre of “low-functioning” salt marsh on the island will be lost during the restoration of the revetment, so the Department of Fisheries & Wildlife has filed with the Town of Dartmouth to restore nine acres of salt marsh in Aponagansett Bay. A patch of eelgrass near where the barge will be offloaded might also experience damage; however, measures are planned to mitigate the loss of eelgrass, with before and after photos being taken for comparison.

“This is an exciting project and I’m 100 percent for it,” said Conservation Commission member Stephen Gonsalves. He questioned whether the work could withstand a hurricane or significant storm event, wondering if the project had a back-up plan in case of damage.

The nine and a half-foot revetment that will replace the current six-foot revetment was designed to withstand that kind of force, said Adam Burnett, project manager from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“The whole design is to absorb all that energy so that it doesn’t come crashing on the island,” said Burnett. The fill, he added, will be of a “hardy” nature – not fine sand, but gravel mixed with rocks up to eight inches in size.

The state reserves the responsibility of the upkeep of the island, the maintenance of fill levels, and the management of vegetation.

Commission member Lawrence Dorman’s main concern was about the logistics of the project’s staging area at Town Wharf, although Burnett said he had spoken with Harbormaster Michael Cormier and they came up with a plan for parking, storage areas, and use. Burnett said workers on the project are restricted from working during the summer months when the terns are nesting on the island, so the project would not affect those using the wharf during busy summer months.

“[Cormier] made it very clear that he didn’t want us interfering,” said Burnett.

The commission still voted to make regular updates on staging area activities at the wharf part of the conditions for approval.

Also during the meeting, the commission approved the amending of an Order of Conditions for Kate Mahoney of 40 Dexter Road to add an outdoor shower to the existing deck of her house.

The next meeting of the Marion Conservation Commission is scheduled for July 8 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Town House.

By Jean Perry

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