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Connecticut salt marshes have suffered losses of 27% since 1900 and continue to decline despite that passage of tidal wetland legislation in the 1970’s. Along the densely-populated Connecticut shoreline, these habitats are squeezed by rising seas on one side and development (homes, seawalls, roadways, and other hard structures) that prevent marshes from migrating landward.
The impacts of these losses are many and growing. Saltmarsh Sparrow populations have declined by over 80%, and may go extinct in our lifetime. Unhealthy marshes will no longer provide important buffers for local communities against major storms. Before it's too late for birds and people, Audubon and partners across the coast are taking action on-the-ground.
In this presentation, Corrie Folsom-O’Keefe, director of conservation for Audubon Connecticut, will describe three projects on which Audubon is working to implement strategies that will increase the resilience and slow the loss of current salt marsh and associated species, and facilitate the effective transition of upland habitats to functional tidal marsh.
The three marshes are Guilford’s East River Marsh, Great Meadows Marsh in Stratford, and the newest at Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison. Each marsh has unique characteristics that require different strategies for restoration. Corrie will outline the strategies and explain how the ways they work to restore the marshes to provide improved ecosystem services.
Corrie Folsom-O’Keefe is the Director of Bird Conservation for Audubon Connecticut, the state office of the National Audubon Society. In this position she oversees Audubon’s on the ground coastal stewardship and resilience efforts. Corrie leads the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds, which assists the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s Wildlife Division with the management of the Piping Plover and other beach-nesting birds. She also co-leads the WildLife Guards and Salt Marsh Stewards programs which educates, mentors, and employs Bridgeport, West Haven, and Stratford high school students as coastal bird stewards.
Corrie completed her master’s degree at Connecticut College. She has conducted field work involving birds in Belize, the Bahamas, Nova Scotia, the Farallon Islands, and Connecticut; gained significant experience as an educator while employed at The Children’s Museum; and enjoys flying airplanes and playing mandolin in the bluegrass band, Sperry Creek.