This particular case study focuses on the shellfish restoration project to restore quahog, bay scallop and oyster populations in the coastal Rhode Island salt ponds following injuries caused by the North Cape oil spill. This was attempted by replacing the quantity of biomass (direct mortality plus forgone production, estimated 1.0 million kilograms) lost due to the spill.

The National Park Service led an oak savanna restoration project along a 5-acre stretch of the Mississippi River Gorge in a Minneapolis neighborhood. The project sought to eliminate the threat of exotic species, reintroduce the appropriate gorge plant community, and address erosion concerns with the collaborative effort of national and local agencies, and the advocacy of the local community.

Coral reefs off the west coast of Maui are readily accessible and heavily used by visitors and locals alike. To restore declining reef habitats suffering from excessive algae growth, Hawai’i Department of Land and Natural Resources implemented a herbivore protection plan that restricts extraction of herbivorous fish and invertebrates from the reefs.

The Puyallup River in Washington state is channelized and disconnected from its floodplain due to levee construction and logging in the region. This has led to habitat degradation for important fish species and a higher risk of flooding and damage to important transportation infrastructure. This project will reconnect over 28 hectares of the floodplain. 

Planned and implemented by the Tribe’s Fish and Wildlife Department, this unique program of watershed restoration and riparian conservation has been rooted in traditional Zuni cultural values. The causes of degradation were man-made dams, channelization, and invasive plant encroachment (i.e. Tamarix pentandra). The project reintroduced 23 beavers to sites with impaired hydrologic flow regimes.

Between 1890 and 1940, extensive logging using narrow-gauge railroad technology cut over much of the Bluewater watershed. Led by USDA Forest Service, this project implemented a range of channel treatments and interventions to affect flow regimes, channel stability, and water quality, including not only dams and control structures but also riparian plantings, riparian pastures, and beaver management programs.

The Sugarloaf Cove site, historically a rare wetland on the north shore of Lake Superior, was used as a landing site for a pulpwood operation and was leveled and filled with gravel to build roads and buildings. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources led a restoration project in 1998 to excavate gravel and plant native plants onsite.

To restore a degraded but historically, culturally, and ecologically important watershed on O‘ahu’s Eastern Coast, The Nature Conservancy collaborated with local partners aiming to restore 405 acres of wetlands and promote traditional Hawaiian agricultural practices. The project involves removing invasive red mangroves, replanting native plants, and restoring natural stream flow.

Tulalip Tribe and other tribes in the Snohomish basin are concerned by the decline in salmon population in the region. Salmon loss is considered an economic, cultural, and spiritual threat to the tribal members’ lifeblood and identities. Local groups worked with farmers to control agricultural runoff that was found to be the major cause of salmon mortality.

The Uncompahgre Plateau (UP) Project was formalized through a joint partnership of federal and state governments to restore the ecological, social, cultural, and economic value of the over 1.5 million acres of Uncompahgre Plateau. The primary UP programs are: Landscape Scale Project Planning, Invasive Species Management, a Native Plant Program, On-The-Ground Treatments, and Education and Technology Transfer.

Country Acres Road- Richmond, Rhode Island, was once home to mixed temperate forest with seasonal freshwater wetlands before degraded by mining of sand and gravel and dominated by invasive plants. The goal was to restore the non-forested formerly mined acreage to native grass and wildflower meadow.

The Wood for Life partnership (WFL) was a collaborative network of organizations in northern Arizona including the USFS, Navajo Nation, and Hopi Tribe. They are working to remove thinned fuelwood from restoration projects in the wildland urban interface (WUI) to reduce the risk of wildfires, and make the removed wood available for Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe members.

The USFWS is working with the Arizona Department of Game and Fish, the White Mountain Apache Tribe (WMAT), and the USFS to recover Apache trout populations through a combination of stream restoration, captive fish production, and stocking in the White Mountains. Invasive trout species were removed through either chemical treatment (Rotenone) or mechanical removal.