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A person wearing personal protective equipment hauls a large tangle of vines to a pile of cut vegetation.

A Woodchucks member hauls a large tangle of vines into a pile of cut vegetation. Park staff, in partnership with AmeriCorps Cape Cod members and park volunteers, began the groundwork to clear freshwater vegetation that has encroached into the former tidal floodplain around the Herring River in Wellfleet. The area has seen increased freshwater vegetation since 1909 when saltwater flow in the river was blocked by the installation of the Chequessett Neck Road Dike. Before the dike was built, most of the Herring River supported highly productive salt marsh, dominated by cordgrass and other native salt tolerant species. The lack of tidal exchange and saltwater input into the estuary led to the conversion of salt marsh to freshwater wetlands. All these freshwater wetland species will eventually die-back as the native salt marsh is revived by restored tidal flow. Removing the dead vegetation at Duck Harbor will promote the natural recruitment of salt marsh plants and increase the ecological productivity of the area.

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NPS Photo/Kristin Vinduska

Public domain:Full Granting Rights

Image

Cape Cod National Seashore, Code: CACO

Cape Cod National Seashore, Barnstable County, Massachusetts
Latitude: 41.959098815918, Longitude: -70.0053024291992

NPS.gov Collection

11/22/2022

11/22/2022

Public Can View

Monday, February 27, 2023 8:30:58 PM

Monday, February 27, 2023 9:01:28 PM

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NIKON CORPORATION NIKON CORPORATION, NIKON D750

10/2500 sec at f / 8

65 mm

ISO 320

Tuesday, November 22, 2022 12:12:35 PM

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20.2 MB

Scenic