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Wetlands Restoration Project Implemented at USDA-NRCS Easement in Papakating Creek Watershed

Eric VanBenschoten, the Agricultural Outreach Specialist for the WRWMG, played an instrumental role as the project inspector during the implementation of a USDA-NRCS wetlands restoration plan on a federal easement site in the Papakating Creek watershed. Some of the many conservation practices applied on the property include brush management, warm season grass planting areas, and riparian tree and shrub buffer establishment along Papakating Creek. Additionally, the project worked to restore the health of the wetlands habitat with ditch plugs, root wads, and microtopography. The overall goal of these conservation practices is to restore the stream channel and surrounding floodplains while simultaneously creating wildlife habitat and improving water quality over time.

The WRWMG’s involvement in this wetlands restoration project was made possible by its cooperative cost-share agreement with USDA-NRCS and its Papakating Creek/Clove Brook 319 grant funding from the NJDEP.