{"id":63588,"date":"2025-12-15T15:17:45","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T20:17:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/?p=63588"},"modified":"2025-12-15T15:36:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T20:36:09","slug":"news-2025-12-25-coastal-habitat-restoration-projects-using-beneficial-use-of-dredged-material","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/news-2025-12-25-coastal-habitat-restoration-projects-using-beneficial-use-of-dredged-material\/","title":{"rendered":"Coastal Habitat Restoration Projects Using Beneficial Use of Dredged Material"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

New Jersey Fish & Wildlife (NJFW), through the Bureau of Land Management\u2019s Coastal Unit, is partnering with federal, state, academic, and nonprofit organizations on a series of coastal habitat restoration projects utilizing Beneficial Use of Dredged Material (BUDM) across three Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) in southern New Jersey. These projects aim to enhance coastal resilience, restore degraded marsh habitats, and support both species of greatest conservation need and popular game species managed under the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration (WSFR)<\/a> <\/i> nexus through nature-based solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What is Beneficial Use of Dredged Material (BUDM)?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Beneficial Use of Dredged Material is a nature-based solution that repurposes clean sediment from navigation channels to restore degraded coastal habitats. In New Jersey, many saltmarshes are experiencing net habitat loss due to sea-level rise and erosion. Traditional marsh accretion processes are often insufficient to keep pace with these stressors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By strategically placing dredged sediment to raise marsh elevations, BUDM helps restore proper tidal inundation, promotes the growth of native saltmarsh vegetation, and enhances habitat resilience. These projects support biodiversity, improve flood protection, and align with conservation goals outlined in New Jersey\u2019s State Wildlife Action Plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following BUDM projects are expected to be implemented in January 2026 and are to be completed by March 2026. Due to the hazardous conditions associated with unconsolidated dredge sediment, these areas will be closed to public access through the sediment consolidation period, which will be monitored by project partners. Please check the Wildlife Management Area System<\/a> webpage and the Wildlife Management Explorer<\/a> <\/i> for updates and information on closure areas. We appreciate the public\u2019s understanding as we restore and enhance habitat for the benefit of wildlife and wildlife-related recreation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gull Island \u2013 Cape May Coastal Wetlands WMA<\/h4>\n\n\n
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Located in Cape May County, Gull Island is a 287-acre marsh island that has largely subsided below mean high water. Historic dredged material placement has created remnant high marsh areas that support significant wading bird colonies, accounting for nearly one-third of nesting activity in New Jersey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building on prior restoration efforts under the Seven Mile Island Innovation Laboratory (SMIIL)<\/a> <\/i> lead by The Wetlands Institute<\/a> <\/i>, the upcoming phase will expand beneficial use placements to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n