Volunteers, staff take part in refuge planting
REFUGE/DDWS
The J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge reported that volunteers and staffers helped plant 1,125 sand cordgrass clusters on July 8-10 on the North Botanical Site marsh unit, located south of The Sanibel School on Sanibel. They planted a mixture of 4-inch- and 1-gallon-sized plants. The refuge will monitor the success of the plantings over the coming months, with the potential for supplemental plantings down the line. The next steps in the restoration of Sanibel’s central freshwater marsh include the continued treatment of encroaching woody vegetation, like cabbage palms and buttonwood, paired with prescribed burns, which reduce fuels and stimulate new growth of sand cordgrass.