Salt Marsh Restoration
Salt Marsh Restoration Overview
York Land Trust (YLT) is working with partners at the York River Stewardship Committee, Wells Reserve, Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, and Maine Coast Heritage Trust to conduct salt marsh restoration on approximately 132 acres of salt marsh across YLT and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) lands on the upper York River.
Agricultural ditches and embankments from the 1700s and 1800s have changed the water flow and water levels in marshes throughout coastal New England, including those in the York River estuary. These changes have affected marsh plant communities, created large pools on the marsh devoid of vegetation, and are ultimately preventing the marsh ecosystem from keeping pace with rising seas, threatening this critical habitat.
In late 2024, the York River Stewardship Committee hired Geoff Wilson of Northeast Wetland Restoration to assess and design restoration plans for the salt marshes. Restoration designs for the 132 acres of salt marshes along the upper York River and Smelt Brook identify approaches to improve marsh hydrology, habitat, and long-term resilience so that marshes can naturally gain elevation with rising sea levels and continue to provide important ecosystem functions. Approaches include creating shallow runnels to reconnect mega-pools to marsh channels and filling some of the legacy agricultural ditches.
This project aims to restore tidal channel connections throughout the marshes. The field team will begin its restoration work in the marshes in the fall of 2026 and conclude in the winter of 2029, with pre- and post-restoration monitoring beginning in summer 2026 and continuing through late 2032.
The 132-acre project area with York Land Trust land in yellow and USFWS land in orange.
Project Info and Resources
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- York Land Trust’s project summary
- Maine Coast Heritage Trust’s March 2026 Salt Marsh Restoration Presentation and Q&A
- Salt Marsh Restoration Project FAQ
- Northeast Wetland Restoration’s project presentations: September 2024 and September 2025
- YRSC-MCHT presentation for York Land Trust’s October 2025 Annual Meeting
- MCHT’s Marshes for Tomorrow Initiative restoration overview – the two embedded videos that describe and show in-the-marsh restoration techniques for ditch remediation and runnel digging
- York River-Smelt Brook Salt Marsh Restoration Project Site Assessment and Preliminary Design Report
Restoration plan implementation will restore hydrologic pathways for improved marsh function. Image: NWR
Learn More or Get Involved
Interested in learning more or helping out? Volunteers will be an important part of pre- and post-restoration monitoring and data collection on the salt marsh. Contact York Land Trust’s Stewardship Director Liz Walworth at lwalworth@yorklandtrust.org with questions or to discuss volunteer opportunities.
Geoff Wilson of Northeast Wetland Restoration leads a guided walk in 2025.
Mega-pools on the salt marsh, a sign of a stressed ecosystem.