In 2024, New Jersey began restoring a 290-acre marsh and former industrial site

In New Jersey, a restoration project at Higbee Beach Wildlife Management Area is bringing back the natural function of a coastal marsh that human activity had previously impacted.The project, which began in February 2024, covers a 290-acre section of the wildlife management area in Cape May County and includes Pond Creek marsh, Davey's Lake and land occupied by a former magnesite manufacturing facility and its associated landfill. Two years into the restoration, the changes are already conspicuous, with ospreys, bald eagles, great blue herons and several other bird species observed using the newly built waterbodies.According to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Spring 2026 project update, the restoration is being led by its Office of Natural Resource Restoration and Office of Coastal Engineering, in partnership with the state's Division of Fish and Wildlife. The primary objective is to restore tidal movement through much of Pond Creek marsh, which had been affected by earlier modifications to the landscape.The former Harbison-Walker Magnesite facility had a considerable influence on the surrounding area. The plant extracted magnesium from seawater, and historical changes to the site interrupted the natural tidal connection between Pond Creek marsh and Delaware Bay. With the movement of water restricted, parts of the marsh became degraded and were increasingly dominated by non-native common reed, known as Phragmites australis.As seawater moves…