New Bedford Harbor Island Permanently Protected

22-Acre Site to be Restored, Made Publicly Accessible

The largest remaining stretch of undeveloped land in inner New Bedford Harbor is now permanently protected thanks to the efforts of The Coalition for Buzzards Bay and The Fairhaven-Acushnet Land Preservation Trust (FALPT) and nearly half a million dollars in funding from The New Bedford Harbor Trustees Council (NBHTC).

The land deal protects the remaining 8 acres of land on the southern end of Marsh Island, a 22-acre peninsula that juts into New Bedford Harbor just south of Interstate 195 in Fairhaven.  The island was once a rich coastal habitat dominated by a large salt marsh and two tidal creeks, but has been significantly altered over the past 80 years after becoming a disposal site for dredge spoils in the late 1930s and early 1950s.  Today, the island is dominated by low quality upland habitat and much of the remaining marsh has been choked out by invasive vegetation. In 2003 the Coalition and the FALPT acquired the northern 14 acres of the island with funding from the NBHTC, who administers penalty funds collected from the companies responsible for the toxic pollution of New Bedford Harbor.

According to Mark Rasmussen, Executive Director of The Coalition, with the site now fully protected, plans are underway to pursue saltmarsh restoration efforts and make the island accessible to the public for passive recreation. Restoration and access planning is being closely coordinated with the New Bedford Harbor Trustees Council and the ongoing cleanup of New Bedford Harbor.

This spring, the Coalition will continue to expand their Adopt-A-Shoreline trash and marine debris removal program to the southern end of the island and plans to add Marsh Island to its long-term water quality and habitat monitoring programs.

The NBHTC funding for Marsh Island is part of more than $4.4 million recently awarded to the Coalition and FALPT to protect riverfront lands along the Acushnet River and New Bedford Harbor. Together, the Coalition and FALPT have established a strong track record of land protection in the Acushnet River/New Bedford Harbor environment and have worked in partnership with the NBHTC to protect more than 700 acres of land in the past nine years.

Photos ©Tim Sylvia