**Gloucester Daily Times**

November 21, 2003

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# Culverts to help restore salt marshes

By JOSH ODELL

Staff writer

A trio of salt marsh restoration projects have not only set a local tone
of environmental awareness but have given residents, as well as state
and local officials, plenty to celebrate.

About 100 people gathered at a reception at City Hall yesterday to view
exhibits and discuss the impacts that new culverts will have at the
Eastern Point Wildlife Sanctuary in Gloucester, the Seaview Street salt
marsh in Rockport and the Island Road salt marsh in Essex.

In their basic capacities, each of the three new culverts will replace
inadequate models and break trends of restricted tidal flow in order to
bring salinity levels back up in local marshlands.

By doing so, explained Massachusetts Audubon Society President Laura
Johnson, the culverts are expected to push out invasive plant species
and bring more varied marine ecosystems to the areas.

Looking deeper, said state Sen. Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, the new
culverts do much more. They strengthen a marine ecosystem in a place
where fishing represents the \"soul of the community,\" he said, and
bring together several different groups for a common goal.

\"These are three very important projects, each very real in their
construction, but also in their symbolism,\" said Tarr.

Addressing the groups that funded the efforts or pitched in to bring
them to life \-- groups that represent not only state and federal
agencies but local organizations, schools and even private businesses
\-- Tarr said the three Cape Ann communities have set important examples
for projects to come.

\"There is a real, sacred trust in this room,\" he said. \"We need to
hold it together.\"

Looking back to the 1970s, when he served on the City Council, Mayor
John Bell said it\'s easy to see a notable amount of progress in terms
of how communities grasp the importance of such environmental projects.

\"Back then there was a very low understanding of those things,\" Bell
said. \"We\'ve learned a lot about the importance of taking care of our
environment in Gloucester.\"

Recognizing that \"no coastal community stands alone,\" Bell said he
hopes to see more of the regional teamwork that helped the Gloucester
and Rockport culvert projects reach completion last week.

Though the actual groundwork is firmly set, the Essex project at Island
Road won\'t officially get underway until Dec. 1, said National Marine
Fisheries Service representative Eric Hutchins.

Along with Mass Audubon and the three communities, organizations such as
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Habitat Restoration
Center, the Natural Resource Conservation Service, the Massachusetts
Wetland Restoration Program, the Eight Towns and the Bay Committee and
Ducks Unlimited lent services and grants to the projects.

Also helping were school groups such as the Rockport Middle School
Science Club, which helped conduct fish sampling studies around Seaview
Street, and the students at St. Mel\'s Day School, who volunteered at
Eastern Point and were present for yesterday\'s assembly.

For \"working around the clock\" to push the projects along, Johnson
also gave special recognition to Tim Purinton, community outreach
coordinator for Mass Adubon\'s North Shore conservation advocacy office.

In replacing the former culvert, one that was entirely blocked by
sediment and debris after heavy storms in the 1990s, the Eastern Point
project is designed to bring in tidal flow to oust invasive vegetation
like the common reed and the purple loosestrife. A reduction in flooding
and the return of small fish like killfish, silversides and stickleback
are also expected.

The new culvert at Rockport\'s Seaview Street has similar intentions,
because only invasive plants and mummichogs have been found in the
low-saline areas of the area\'s marsh. The larger box culvert, which was
installed last week and paved over this week, came with an estimated
cost of \$25,000.

At the Island Road marsh, planners will soon replace the existing
24-inch culvert with a 3-by-4 foot box culvert, increasing the flow
capacity by over 400 percent at an estimated cost of \$38,000.

By strengthening the roots of the area\'s marine ecosystem, the culverts
could play major roles in the future of the local fishing industry, said
Rolland Schmitten, director of NOAA\'s Office of Habitat Conservation.

\"Regulations alone will not restore our fisheries without a healthy
marine habitat,\" Schmitten said. \"This is a key habitat for our
coastal marine species or their prey.\"

Schmitten also credited the corporate partners whose contributions that
helped pay for the Eastern Point project, estimated at a cost of
\$89,000. Among those pitching in were Judith Nitsch Engineering Inc.,
Good Harbor Fillet Co. and Pigeon Cove Whole Foods Markets.

Steve Parkes, a representative of Pigeon Cove Whole Foods Markets,
echoed the sentiments of many on hand by crediting the team effort that
went into the projects.

\"Technically we\'re digging tunnels, but what we\'re really doing is
building a bridge,\" he said. \"Just think of all the things we can
accomplish if we work together.\"

Eastern Point resident Gordon Baird said such unity may be required in
the future, because \"there are many other places in Gloucester and all
over the Cape that are in danger,\" such as the Eastern
Point-neighboring Niles Pond.

For the time being, Baird said efforts shown by those involved in saving
local salt marshes are admirable.

\"Thank goodness that individuals have had the knowledge to protect out
environment,\" he said. \"It\'s the ultimate wealth that surrounds us
all.\"

Also on hand yesterday were elected officials such as Ward 1 City
Councilor

Joe Ciolino and Rockport Selectman Nicola Barletta.

State Rep. Anthony Verga, D-Gloucester directed all the credit to those
involved and gestured to a message written across the front of City
Hall\'s Kyrouz Auditorium, which reads, \"Build not for today alone but
for tomorrow as well.\"

\"That\'s exactly what we\'re doing today,\" Verga said. \"We\'re going
to rectify the mistakes of the past and make sure our environment is
healthy for tomorrow.\"