Hepburn Family Preserve Living Shoreline Project - October 23 Update

Dear Fenwick Friends and Neighbors,

The Hepburn Family Preserve restoration project is underway!

This email is meant to serve as a brief update on progress since its start on Tues., Oct. 13 and also includes a limited invitation for a tour of the site next Wed., 10/28.

Update:

With mobilization begun on Tues., 10/13, the project crew had to first build a temporary access road at the end of Mohegan Avenue, install erosion controls, and import materials --- 650+ tons of stone and 700+ tons of dune sand are now on site and staged for use.

As part of the living shoreline component of the project, the crew has since placed large boulders to anchor 3 of the 9 “stone sills.” These in-surf elements will mitigate wave energy while also promoting regrowth of marsh plants and shoreline habitat.

While construction of stone sills will continue on the dune’s Sound side, steps will begin in the next couple weeks toward the diversion of Crab Creek. Moving the creek inland will have multiple benefits, including providing room for dune construction. Residents will also continue to see delivery of dune and marsh sand.

Visit the new Lynde Point Land Trust website to see project photos and follow-along:  https://lyndepointlandtrust.org/

An Invitation:

We invite Fenwick residents and Lynde Point Land Trust members to visit the project area next Wed., 10/28. This will be a special opportunity to understand the project’s why’s and how’s with experts on site to explain and answer questions.

Tour recently begun Hepburn Family Preserve Living Shoreline & Dune Restoration
Wed., 10/28/2020
4:00 PM
Please rsvp to me, Brett Morrison, at bmorrison@ctriver.org / m: (802) 375-4519
Responses requested by 5:00 pm Monday, 10/26.

Tour hosts will include:
SumCo Project Coordinator Annie Procaccini;
CRC’s Executive Director Andy Fisk, PhD; and
CT Sea Grant’s Juliana Barrett, PhD.

This project to restore the dune and shore of the Hepburn Family Preserve will return natural infrastructure, better protect property, and safeguard key Fenwick features. Thank you to everyone who has helped make this restoration possible. Special thank you to donors within the Fenwick community and to the generous contributors from outside of the borough. See list of off-Fenwick contributors below.

Best regards,

Brett

Brett T. Morrison
Associate Director of Development
Connecticut River Conservancy (CRC)

*Special Thanks to donors from outside the Borough of Fenwick:

• John T. and Jane A. Wiederhold Foundation
• Robert F. Schumann Foundation
• Community Foundation of Middlesex County - Janvrin Fund for Wildlife
• National Fish & Wildlife Foundation - Long Island Sound Futures Fund

A Shared History. A Shared Future.

Fenwick residents have played leadership roles with the Connecticut River Conservancy and the clean-up of the Connecticut River since the early ‘50s when the recovery we now enjoy first began. Positioned at the mouth of New England’s longest river and largest watershed, the borough’s future will be heavily influenced by continued stewardship and restoration efforts upstream. Likewise, returning healthy populations of aquatic species across the watershed relies on decisions and stewardship in lower river communities like Fenwick. To learn more about the organization, upriver conditions and stewardship efforts, and to see a CRC timeline, visit: CRC history

Have project questions?  Feel free to reach out to CRC Executive Director Andy Fisk at afisk@ctriver.org or 413-210-9207.