Frequently Asked Questions

How will the project be constructed? How will it benefit wildlife?

The project plans to utilize clean dredged sediments that are stored in the Confined Disposal Facility at Gravens Island located off Avalon Blvd. Sediment will be trucked to the site for placement. This will return the sediments to the marsh ecosystem for the benefit of wildlife and people rather than removing them from the systems that need them.

Scientists from The Wetlands Institute have been working with environmental engineers to design the trail and marsh revitalization. Once the trail elevation is raised, fill will be placed at ecologically important elevations to construct sloped or tiered gradients to the existing marsh elevation thereby restoring lost or drowning marsh, and creating new, stable high marsh habitats. High marsh and upland habitats will then be planted with native vegetation in a manner preferred by pollinators and diamondback terrapins for nesting. The new low marsh area will be allowed to revegetate naturally in the same manner as at the Scotch Bonnet marsh project thus further restoring drowning marsh.

The project will increase the amount of suitable nesting habitat for diamondback terrapins and replace lost high marsh habitat that may be utilized by marsh-dependent birds.

What does the reimagining include?

The reimagining encompasses the initiatives we’ve been talking about for quite a while: raising The Salt Marsh Trail, restoring and protecting our marshes, reconstructing our main building, and working with nature to create a more resilient campus.

How far along are you on this project?

We’ve applied for the permits to reconstruct the main building into something that will serve us into the future, and to raise the elevation of The Salt Marsh Trail, which is increasingly flooded by high-water events. At the same time, we’ll restore marsh habitat that has been lost to repetitive flooding from rising seas. We were awarded a $2.75 million grant through New Jersey’s Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Natural Climate Solutions program to support raising the Salt Marsh Trail and marsh restoration. The first phase of environmental permits have been received. We are in the late stages of the campus and building design and process and we’ve also secured significant funding from major donors toward construction.

Why are you doing this?

The Wetlands Institute was founded more than half a century ago to protect wetlands and coastal ecosystems through research, conservation, and education. Now, wetlands are facing a new threat: the impact of rising seas. To carry our mission forward and to position the Institute for the next environmental challenge, we need to secure our facilities from rising seas and expand our infrastructure.

Our campus is experiencing more frequent and severe flooding as a result of higher sea levels. This is limiting access for our education programs and visitors, and it is damaging the delicate marsh environment. These higher water events are killing mature trees, and flooding habitat, including terrapin and coastal bird nesting areas.

Our work, our education programs, and the number of people visiting The Wetlands Institute has grown dramatically over the more than half century since our founding. Rising seas are threatening The Wetland Institute’s sustainability and negatively impacting our campus and our work. At the same time, we’ve seen unprecedented growth in our research, education and visitor programs, but the age and size of our original building are holding us back. That led us to reimagine The Wetlands Institute with a state-of-the-art, purpose-built facility to support our work for the next 50 years, and a campus transformed into a living ecosystem.

What will the new building look like?

The new building will pay homage to the original building and will be designed to be a gateway to the marsh more than a destination. It will be a mass-timber structure so that it fits in with the coastal setting. Mass timber buildings are a modern, sustainable approach to construction that has reduced environmental impact while being beautiful and appropriate for the harsh environmental conditions of our marsh campus.

How will this help protect and save coastal wetlands?

Expanding our facilities to support our mission into the future is just the start. We’re creating a more inviting gateway to the marsh so that visitors can better experience nature firsthand and develop a deeper connection to the marsh and coastal ecosystem.

But the impact goes much further. We are using innovative nature-based solutions that benefit nature, connect people to the environment, and provide protections to our campus and building. Rather than walling off our facilities, we are elevating the grounds and salt marsh trail and then using sloped and tiered berms designed at elevations that create habitat for native plants and wildlife.

The reimagined campus will harmoniously integrate buildings, landscape, and sustainability to create a living ecosystem. The campus will become a living model on how resilient architecture, native plantings, and nature-based solutions work together as a model for sustainable development in coastal areas. What we’re creating on our campus is innovative and has global applications.

Why is it so important to restore marshes?

Healthy marshes are vital to the environment, our coastal communities, and the economy.

They:

• Host more biodiversity than rain forests
• Provide nurseries for fish and shellfish that support 75% of our commercial fisheries
• Shelter endangered, protected, and at-risk wildlife, including terrapins and coastal birds
• Protect our coastal communities from flooding and reduce damage from storm-driven waves
• Absorb and hold carbon from the atmosphere

What are you going to do to prevent damage to the wetlands and protect wildlife during construction?

We wouldn’t be undertaking this project if we felt it would harm the very things we’re dedicated to protecting. Because we’re located on wetlands and natural areas, we have to go through extensive permitting, but we’re going beyond those requirements. At every stage, we’re being very purposeful, working with nature in our designs. Our site plan concept has won awards, and we’re working with partners who share our vision.

We’ll also take very specific steps to protect wildlife. The most disruptive phases of construction work will occur after the migration and breeding season. Every year, we have extensive programs in place to relocate terrapin nests and protect them from harm. Hatchling terrapins will be released back into the marsh when they hatch. We expect to complete the revitalization of The Salt Marsh Trail between nesting seasons so that returning terrapins will find enhancing nesting habitat that is increased in size. When the campus work is completed, we will have removed non-native and invasive plants from our site and replanted it with thousands of native plants, designed to benefit wildlife.

How can I learn more?

We’ll update our webpage at every major stage in the project, while continuing to provide updates via our website calendar and news pages, through social media, in our newsletters and emails, and through local media, including The Seven Mile Times and Cape May County Herald.

When will work on the Marsh campus start?

We are planning to start construction in the fall of this year, after the summer season is over and when seasonal wildlife have left the area. This is a planning target.

Why do you have to remove the original building? Can’t you renovate or expand it?

We worked with building experts to explore all the options, and it became clear it was not feasible to adapt the old building and that it made more sense to rebuild. The original structure was built to 50-year-old standards, including accessibility, fire safety, energy use, and resilience. To increase our resilience and meet new building requirements, the building must be elevated. The foundational structure of the existing building cannot be raised. Finally, even if we were able to renovate, meeting new code requirements would result in an approximately 40% reduction in usable space.

But the building is special…

The style and design of the new building will pay tribute to architect Malcolm Well’s design for the existing building. Wells was an advocate for environmental responsibility in architecture, and that philosophy is present not only in the design of the new building but also in the way we’re working with nature to restore marshes and protect against the impacts of rising seas. The new building is being designed to LEED standards continuing along the pathway the Wells advocated.

How will the new building be better/different?

In addition to incorporating the latest in LEED sustainable and resilient building technologies, the new building will provide the additional space and resources to support our mission into the future:

• By elevating the building, we gain space under the building, creating new spaces for educational programs, storage, and terrapin conservation work
• More effective use of space throughout the new purpose resilient building solves long standing space limitations in our current building.
• Increased classroom space and the addition of a dedicated classroom. This includes adding three outdoor classrooms that will nearly triple the amount of outdoor learning space.
• A 50% increase in the aquarium and state-of-the-art life-support systems for enhanced animal care.
• More than double the lab space, with up-to-date equipment designed for today’s research and for the research we have yet to imagine.
• Adding a wellness room to better accommodate visitor and staff needs.
• Ensuring all spaces are fully ADA accessible.

What impact will this have on your visitors and programs?

The spring and summer of 2026 will be unaffected. We are working with fellow organizations to provide interim sites for staff, along with our research and education programs in 2027. This will allow us to continue most of our work uninterrupted. While we’ll have to close the campus to visitors during construction, our many education programs and volunteer opportunities will continue, and we’ll have activities for summer visitors. Our research programs will be largely unaffected.

What will happen to the old building?

The existing structure will be cleared to make way for the new main building.

What will happen to the animals that live in the current building?

We will move the aquarium animals to a temporary location at the Aquaculture Innovation Center working in partnership with colleagues at Rutgers University.

What will your volunteers do during construction?

With most of our programs moving to alternate locations and the continuation of our terrapin programs, we’ll continue to depend upon our volunteers during construction. Some volunteer activities will be suspended but other opportunities will be available. They will be posted on our normal volunteer pages on the website. Volunteer opportunities for 2026 are unaffected.

Will the Tidepool Shop still be open?

Yes. The Tidepool Shop will be open in our transitional location, 600 N. Delsea Drive (the former NJ Audubon – Center for Research and Education), and online at https://tidepool-shop.myshopify.com/.

Will the adoption program still continue?

Yes! Adoptions programs for the 2026 season are unchanged. For 2027 adoptions, the only change will be the release locations for the terrapin adoption program.

Will the terrapin rescue program continue?

Yes! Our research and conservation team will be maintaining the mark and recapture program and road patrols. We are always sensitive to the needs of nesting terrapins that utilize the Institute property and Salt Marsh Trail. We are planning to locate and relocated nests during the 2026 nesting season that would be in harms way during construction. This is an approach that has been used successfully by our team when nests are at risk of impact from other construction or roadway projects, and the approach for our construction project has been researched and planned by the scientists at TWI with consultation with other experts.

How and where nests are being relocated?

Ahead of the nesting season, we will construct and install a series of nest boxes to relocate terrapin nests. Inside each nest box will be space to mimic conditions for eggs from about 50 terrapin nests to develop successfully. The nest boxes will be located as close as possible to areas where terrapins typically nest. To complement the nest boxes, we will relocate eggs from some nests to incubators at The Wetlands Institute, as we do each year for our terrapin headstart program.