Turkey Foot Restoration at John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge

The Turkey Foot project is approximately 7.5 acres within the greater 1,200-acre John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) at Tinicum. The NWR is located within the City of Philadelphia and neighboring Tinicum Township in Philadelphia and Delaware Counties.

The refuge protects approximately 200 acres of the last remaining freshwater tidal marsh in Pennsylvania and represents an important migratory stopover along the Atlantic Flyway. It also provides protected breeding habitat for State-listed threatened and endangered species, as well as many neotropical migrants, such as the American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus), Least Bittern (Ixobrychus exilis), Black-crowned Night-heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), King Rail (Rallus elegans), Great Egret (Ardea alba), Yellow-crowned Night-heron (Nyctanassa violacea), and Sedge Wren (Cistothorus stellaris).

The Turkey Foot project area is an example of one of the historically impacted ecosystems at the Refuge and lends itself to ecological restoration. The approach for this restoration project focused on the creation of approximately four acres of contiguous wetland habitat bordered by a functional riparian buffer.

The proposed design produced by Princeton Hydro resulted in the creation of three habitat zones: 1) intertidal marsh, 2) high marsh, and 3) upland grassland. The integration of high marsh into the proposed design satisfies the refuge’s request to establish foraging, breeding, and nesting habitat for black rail (Laterallus jamaicensis), a proposed threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Our approach also included a robust invasive species management plan and adaptive management monitoring program that guided the development of the restored site towards the ultimate goal of establishing a diverse and productive coastal ecosystem within the Turkey Foot project area.

Princeton Hydro conducted wetland delineation, biological benchmarks, and reporting, including a Wetland Delineation Report prepared in compliance with the USACE Nationwide Permit #27 requirements. Additionally, Princeton Hydro’s role included developing engineering plans for the restoration and enhancement of the Turkey Foot project area, mapping topographic and bathymetric existing conditions, assisting with permitting and regulatory approvals, and overseeing construction implementation.

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