The Winter Island Park Pathway and Bank Restoration Project will help address the severe and ongoing issue of erosion of its pathways and coastal banks, resulting from its unconstrained use and from climate change. Coastal erosion, combined with excess invasive bittersweet, at Winter Island Park threatens the Park’s goals to “enhance its unique natural resources, preserve its historically significant properties, and increase the public’s access and enjoyment.”
The project will focus on managing the heavy, undirected pedestrian use of the coastal bank and assess how the eroding banks and pathways can best stabilized. Managing the year-round pedestrian use of the park is the critical first step. The project aims to find solutions to this problem through community engagement and physical actions at Winter Island Park. Additionally, the area will be evaluated to begin the ecological restoration of the coastal bank process.
Here are some photographs of the areas in queston. (Photos taken 2019 through Spring 2023)
Should you have any questions about this project, please reach out to the Project Manager, Christian Thiim, at cthiim@salem.com or Barbara Warren at bw@barbarawarrenenvironmental.com
***This project is largely funded by a Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Coastal Resilience Grant from the MA Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs***
Resilient Together: Winter Island Park Bank Restoration Project Virtual Public Meeting
Join this virtual meeting to learn about the planned nature-based solutions to address coastal erosion and non-native invasive vegetation at Winter Island Park. With funding from the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management since 2023, the City of Salem has moved the project to a fully permitted design and is working to secure grant funding for implementation. Wilkinson Ecological Designs will explain the project’s next steps for creating a more resilient coastline at four areas: the northeast corner of Waikiki Beach, the Fort Pickering Headland, the southern Fort rampart, and the parking lot edge. Barbara Warren will share upcoming opportunities to learn more about Fort Pickering’s history and volunteer with non-native invasive vegetation control.
Link to Public Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84910077886?pwd=k1CRg1XdHLQRbNdRK8M9BW3DkahVfT.1