Randall’s Island Salt Marsh and Freshwater Wetlands
Nearly $6 million has been raised and spent to restore and preserve more than 9 acres of salt marsh and freshwater wetlands at Randall’s Island Park, which are now reducing water pollution and serving as habitat for a range of wildlife species. The Parks Department’s Natural Resources Group is now working closely with RIPA to preserve and maintain these resources, and to help RIPA bring increased volunteer stewardship to the sites. We are especially interested in increasing the number of “wetlands stewards” among local children – building an awareness of their connection to the natural world, in New York City and beyond. In keeping with our desire to get children more involved with nature and our wetlands, we have created a Randall’s Island Wetlands Stewardship activities booklet for children, which is both educational and fun. Download a printable version of the Randall’s Island Wetlands Stewardship Activities Booklet.
The Little Hell Gate Inlet – once part of a channel bisecting the Island – was restored as a fully functional salt marsh. After removing approximately 30,000 cubic yards of rubble, rebar and fill and regrading with clean sand, RIPA planted salt marsh grasses Spartina alterniflora to create over three acres of low marsh and with Spartina patens and Panicum virgatum to establish a high marsh/transition habitat. These marsh grasses are now soaking up heavy metals and petroleum byproducts, improving water quality and reducing nonpoint source pollution and nitrogen inputs into the East River and Long Island Sound. Shore and predatory birds, crustaceans, mollusks, riparian mammals and juvenile and adult fish have begun to forage, nest, and seek refuge in the reconstructed salt marsh.
To restore the adjacent freshwater wetlands, RIPA removed fill and construction debris and replaced invasive stands of Artemisia vulgaris and Phragmites australis with native herbaceous, shrub, and tree species, such as willow, dogwood, switchgrass and aster. The restored freshwater wetlands are now serving to absorb and filter nonpoint source pollution before runoff reaches the river. They are also providing critical breeding areas for butterflies and several species of dragonflies and damselflies that require slow-moving water to complete their breeding cycle, and excellent breeding and migratory habitat for birds such as red-winged blackbirds, marsh wrens, common yellow throats, swamp sparrows, and green herons.
With the restoration of the Randall’s Island Wetlands, RIPA truly has transformed Randall’s Island Park. Please contact Victoria Ruzicka, our Natural Areas Manger, if you wish to learn more about the wetlands.
For information on tours of the Randall’s Island Wetlands please click here.
