By Dr. Jen Karberg, Research Program Supervisor, Nantucket Conservation Foundation
Nantucket, the Far Away Land, is a county, a town and an island isolated ~30 miles out to sea. On this little sand spit, one is never far from the sound of the ocean! The beauty of Nantucket’s natural coastline is what brings many of us to call Nantucket home for a week, a month, a season or all year long.
As the impacts of climate change, erosion and sea level rise become clearer, so too does our understanding of how important these natural areas are to this little sand spit’s long-term resiliency.
The Nantucket Conservation Foundation (NCF), as the Island’s largest landowner, is fortunate to provide stewardship for over 9000 acres of open space; open space key to providing island-wide resiliency. NCF’s science staff uses Nantucket as a living laboratory studying island ecology and, increasingly, the resilience of our shoreline. Salt marshes are natural sponges and one of our best tools to fight storm surge and rising seas. Of the ~1600 acres of salt marshes around the island, NCF is proud to own and protect ~1200 acres.
NCF is assessing salt marsh conservation: identifying open space behind salt marshes to protect, giving marshes space to migrate with rising seas or removing culverts and dike roads that restrict saltwater movement.
Intact dunes provide everyday resilience to a constantly eroding and moving shoreline. NCF and The Trustees protect the Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge in partnership, where we are currently examining the resilience of this barrier beach that creates Nantucket Harbor and protects the Town. Assessing future impacts of sea level rise on the Refuge will allow us to design nature-based adaptations to sustain the beach and enhance ecological habitat. On a small island like Nantucket, collaboration will be key to our resilience.
Natural buffers are key to resilience but we will have to make hard choices about the protection of historic, cultural and economic areas. Resilience may require harder structures but they can and should be combined with natural solutions. A bulkhead with a salt marsh fronting it can hold more water and survive more intense storms. In 2021, NCF started a pilot oyster reef installation in Polpis Harbor. This oyster reef is a semi-hard structure that will reduce wave impacts to an eroding salt marsh shoreline. These innovations will help Nantucket stay ahead of projected sea level rise impacts while also maintaining the unique, natural and beautiful character of our island.
As an island, our culture is deeply connected to the ocean, the natural coasts. And Nantucket’s future will be rooted in how we adapt to the pressures of climate change. NCF will continue to research protecting and enhancing our natural buffers while advocating for nature-based coastal solutions on our properties and around the island.