Audubon Awarded $460,917 to Design Coastal Resilience Strategy for East River Marsh in Guilford, Connecticut

GUILFORD, Conn. — More than half of Connecticut’s salt marshes have been lost after hundreds of years of human intervention, but there is a growing movement to restore these habitats for the future. The National Audubon Society in Connecticut is prioritizing this work across the Long Island Sound and has just received a $460,917 grant from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) to develop a restoration design plan for the Guilford Salt Meadows Audubon Sanctuary.

The Guilford Sanctuary is a vital segment of the East River Marsh, a brackish and salt tidal marsh currently found to have ~40% of its previously vegetated marsh area stressed, degraded, or lost. The restoration design plan will focus on restoring native vegetation and creating limited high marsh habitat to strengthen the marsh’s resiliency to sea level rise.

The local community will have the opportunity to participate as the design plan moves towards completion. Project partners will host two public meetings for community feedback, and students from Bridgeport, Stratford, and West Haven will be invited on field trips to the site where they will perform small-scale conservation work like invasive species control and data collection.

A highlight for Audubon is the opportunity to provide habitat for marsh birds experiencing population declines, like the Saltmarsh Sparrow. “Baseline point count surveys in 2025 detected only Clapper Rail and Marsh Wren at the Guilford Salt Meadows Audubon Sanctuary, but we expect the habitat to have the potential to support a suite of tidal marsh-dependent birds including the Saltmarsh Sparrow, Seaside Sparrow, and Willet,” said Corrie Folsom-O’Keefe, director of bird conservation for Audubon in Connecticut.

Restoring the Guilford section of the East River Marsh will also provide more natural sandy creeks for blue mussel, spawning Horseshoe Crabs, and potentially Eastern Oyster. The marsh is also an important fish run for Alewife and Sea Lamprey, and Northern Diamond-backed Terrapin are commonly observed throughout. Each of these species would benefit from the improved water quality and hydrology.

“The East River Marsh is one of the largest and most important salt marsh complexes in the state, providing essential benefits to wildlife and the surrounding community. Audubon is excited to work with our partners and local stakeholders to protect and restore this invaluable natural resource,” said Jack Matthias, coastal resilience manager for Audubon in Connecticut. 

Through their newly created Long Island Sound Ecosystems Grant Program, DEEP has awarded a total of over $7.8 million to eighteen Connecticut municipalities and non-profits focused on improving water quality, enhancing ecosystem resilience, and improving fish passage within the Long Island Sound watershed.

Media Contact: Sharon Bruce, sharon.bruce@audubon.org

ABOUT AUDUBON
The National Audubon Society is a leading nonprofit conservation organization with 120 years of science-based, community-driven impact, dedicated to protecting birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow. Birds are powerful indicators of our planet’s health, acting as sentinels that warn us of environmental change and inspire action. Audubon works across the Western Hemisphere, driven by the understanding that what is good for birds is good for the planet. Through a collaborative, bipartisan approach across habitats, borders, and the political spectrum, Audubon drives meaningful and lasting conservation outcomes. Learn more about our work locally at audubon.org/connecticut.