Work should begin next spring to restore Yanty Marsh, a seven-acre wetland in Hamlin Beach State Park.
The project will include the creation of perching and basking areas for reptiles and amphibians and an additional deepened area in the marsh. There are now two such depressions that fill with water and they serve as important habitat and breeding areas for various species.
It will also have a heavy focus on removing invasive plants, particularly non-native cattails, and deepening some areas to keep them from growing back.
"Just improving the drainage, the depth of the water systems in those wetlands, and replacing those invasives with native vegetation just kind of improves everything all the way around," said Arthur Briley, regional director for the state's Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation. "Not only for the ... plant life that's in there, but the ecology of all the wildlife in the same area."
Briley added that the project will build on improvements made in 2016, which included work in the wetlands and construction of a boardwalk.
"Since then, to now, we've come up with a little bit more information, better practices for improving wetland areas," he said. "So this is going to give us that opportunity to continue that project with some improved processes."
The project has an estimated cost of $1.3 million. It is being funded with federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiative money.
Separately next year, an anti-erosion project will reshape the beach promenade on the park's east side into a winding path that incorporates boulders and cobblestones to dissipate waves. It will also entail the removal of a concrete barrier placed in the area five years ago.
In 2017 and 2019, high water levels caused extensive erosion in that part of the park.
