Senator Reed joined representatives from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Nature Conservancy, and the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council on a boat tour of a saltmarsh restoration project in the Narrow River estuary at the John H. Chafee National Wildlife Refuge in Narragansett. In an effort to protect the marsh from rising sea levels and restore and strengthen saltmarsh habitats in the area, the marsh is currently being elevated by a process called thin-layer deposition, whereby material dredged from designated areas is placed on the existing marsh. As the former Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior & Environment in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, Senator Reed helped secure $1.4 million for the project as part of a $787 million recovery effort to help coastal wetlands, marshes, and similar locations in Rhode Island and nationwide recover from the damage caused by the hurricane and prepare for the impact of future storms and climate change.
