WELLS — In the wake of the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge has received federal funding to enhance the resiliency of salt marshes.

The Department of Interior recently allocated $162 million for 45 restoration and research projects that will better protect the Atlantic Coast from powerful storms in the future. Projects include restoring marshes, wetlands and beaches, rebuilding shorelines, and researching the impacts and modeling mitigation of storm surge impacts.

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell said in a written statement that during Hurricane Sandy, officials saw that public lands and other natural areas are often the best defense against Mother Nature.

“By stabilizing marshes and beaches, restoring wetlands, and improving the resiliency of coastal areas, we not only create opportunities for people to connect with nature and support jobs through increased outdoor recreation, but we can also provide an effective buffer that protects local communities from powerful storm surges and devastating floods when a storm like Sandy hits,” she said.

Locally, Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, which maintains salt marshes and estuaries in York and Cumberland counties, has received funding for work that includes the continuation of a project the refuge has been working on for the past couple of years ”“ a salt marsh integrity assessment. The assessments determine the health of the salt marshes, and give officials an idea of the life in the marsh.

So far, researchers have completed work in marsh areas in Ogunquit and Wells Harbor, and are steadily working up the coast, according to refuge biologist Susan Adamowicz. The work, said Adamowicz and Refuge Manager Ward Feurt, can be tedious and time consuming. Most jobs require a team of three people, and work is typically done in spring, summer and early fall.

To install monitoring sites in marshes, researchers must lug generators and other equipment and set up walkways that allow them access to the site while disrupting the marsh as little as possible. Surface elevation tables are used to measure rising or decreasing elevation, with a device mounted on top of a steel rod. The rods are drilled down into the marsh to the point of resistance, which can be as far down as 80 feet.

“It’s amazingly deep,” said Adamowicz.

Marshes move very little, thus measurements need to be “very precise,” said Feurt.

“Close is not going to be OK,” he said.

Movement is within millimeters, said Adamowciz.

The funding received will help the refuge work at a more rapid pace and will reduce the completion time by two years, said Adamowicz.

The information is recorded and compiled. The work done at the refuge will examine the marsh’s resiliency to go back to a stable state after a disturbance such as an extreme weather event and will help protect the marsh’s integrity.

Salt marshes are not only important for their natural beauty, said Feurt, but also have ecological benefits such as filtering water. Also, said Adamowicz, saltwater marshes provide a buffer that are important in shoreline protection.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.