Restoring Wetlands Near Cayuga Inlet: Presentation December 1
A program to be held December 1 will present results of research showing how
Cayuga Inlet wetlands lost over the past two centuries might be restored.
The Tompkins County Environmental Management Council (EMC) recently reviewed
written records, aerial photographs, and maps to determine the extent of
wetland loss in the vicinity of the Cayuga Inlet during the past 200 years.
Wetlands can reduce flooding and erosion, act as a sedimentary trap, improve
water quality, and provide wildlife habitat. Wetlands have been lost during
this period primarily as the result of the use of dredged materials to fill
those wetlands adjacent to the Inlet and from increased land development in the
Elmira Road/Taughannock Boulevard area flood plain.
The EMC will sponsor a program “Cayuga Inlet Dredge Material: Opportunities for
Restoring Ecosystem Functions and Services” on Thursday, December 1, 7:00 –
9:00 p.m., in the Borg Warner Room of the Tompkins County Public Library, 101
E. Green Street, Ithaca. Cornell University Associate Professor Tom Whitlow and
his fall semester students in Restoration Ecology will present the results of
their research.
The class will also report on their trip to observe the Baltimore Harbor
dredging project. That dredged material is being utilized to restore Poplar
Island located 34 miles south of Baltimore in the Chesapeake Bay. The island,
formerly approximately 1,000 acres in size in the early 1800s, had shrunk, due
to erosion, to three small parcels of less than 10 acres. Today it is 1,140
acres and expanding, consisting of half wetlands and half uplands of valuable
wildlife habitat.
A display of aerial photographs and maps will be available for inspection
during the program.
The EMC is a citizen board that advises the Tompkins County Legislature on
matters relating to the environment and does not necessarily express the views
of the Tompkins County Legislature.
Contact: Brian Eden, Tompkins County Environmental Management Council,
607-592-5041.
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