Briefing Paper on Past and Present Management of the Herring River Estuary
Portnoy J. 2003. Briefing Paper on Past and Present Management of the Herring River Estuary. National Park Service
The rebuilding of the Herring River Dike was very controversial because, by the early 1970s, scientists, resource managers and the public were beginning to understand that salt marsh estuaries had important social, economic, cultural and aesthetic values. As early as 1973 eminent estuarine ecologists John Teal and Ivan Valiela, of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Boston University, respectively, recommended that the Town restore the salt marsh by replacing the dike with a bridge. Since that time a huge body of literature has accumulated that demonstrates the role of productive salt marshes in pollution control, storm surge protection, fish and shellfish nursery habitat, waterbird use and overall near-shore marine productivity. It has also been shown that the productivity of New England salt marshes increases along with increasing tidal range (Steever et al. 1976).
- Type
- Unpublished Report
- Authors
- Portnoy, John
- Date of Issue
- 2003-12
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- CACO
- Keywords
- Bridge, CACO, Cape Cod National Seashore, Dike, Herring River, Restoration, River, Salt Marsh, Tides, Wellfleet