Habitat Restoration & Protection Database

The Lynde Point tidal marsh, which was filled with sandy dredged sediment during the 1940s, had lost all of its natural tidal wetland functions and values. The marsh was used as a disposal site for the hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of material dredged out of the federal navigational channel in the Connecticut River. Over the years, the site had become recolonized with plant species regarded as weeds, which provided poor-quality habitat for the local wildlife as well as for migratory birds. As the marsh below the filled area began to compress and subside, some sections became wetter once again, a result of infrequent tidal flooding and poor drainage. With only the slightest tidal influence, the site began to show the characteristics of a typical degraded New England tidal marsh. By the 1980s, the degraded and filled wetland had become dominated by common reed (Phragmites australis) in the wetter areas, while several other species of non-native upland plants were invading at slightly higher elevations.