Conservationists are trying to protect Maine marshes from future storms
By Norah Hogan
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SCARBOROUGH, Maine (WMTW) — Conservationists have been working to protect Maine’s marshes for years. Now, as coastal storms grow more frequent and more intense, that work is increasingly important.
Marshes act as a natural storm barrier. They help protect the coast from flood damage during storms. If they wash away, that protection and the diverse ecosystems that within the marshes are gone.
“You lose your intertidal, you lose your marsh, and it just becomes a rock with some water,” said Keith Fletcher, the Southern Maine project manager at Maine Coast Heritage Trust.
That’s what conservationists like Fletcher are trying to prevent. They use specialized maps to identify places for the marsh to move onto as the sea level rises. Then, they buy the land so it can’t be developed.
“What people will do to defend their homes is, they’ll barricade the land, they’ll set up berms and rock walls and things like that, and when you do that, you actually lose everything, said Fletcher.
As intense storms batter the coast, their efforts have become a race against the clock.
“If we don’t protect the marshes, we will probably lose them,” said Fletcher.
Fletcher sees his work as an act of empowerment.
“It’s a message of hope really, because we’ve got a global problem right now with increased storm frequency and other things, climate change if you will — we’ve got that and yet there are local solutions.”
Purchasing a coastal property is expensive. Land trusts like MCHT rely on donations and grants to buy land and set it aside for the future of the marsh.
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