Along New Jersey’s Delaware Bay, restoring marshes and beaches isn’t just good for wildlife—it’s also a practical way to help protect nearby towns from flooding. The American Littoral Society’s Delaware Bayshore work is showing how investing in healthy coastal habitats can strengthen the shoreline, reduce risk, and support the communities that depend on a thriving bay. 

​On April 24, 2026, the New Jersey Association of Floodplain Managers visited the Delaware Bayshore to see these nature-based solutions firsthand. The group toured our breakwaters in the Northwest Reach from land and viewed our beach restoration work at Thompsons Beach from the A.J. Meerwald, a historic sailboat and New Jersey’s official tall ship. The Cumberland County Planning Department organized the trip to highlight the innovative approaches being used on the Bayshore—and to share examples that other coastal communities across the state can learn from. ​

This work comes at a critical time. Decades of elevation loss due to historic land use around the bay, combined with stronger storms and sea-level rise, have contributed to the loss of marshland and beach habitat. These natural areas are essential: they provide spawning beaches for horseshoe crabs, feeding habitat for shorebirds, and a protective buffer that helps absorb storm surge before floodwaters reach homes, roads, and businesses. 

​Our restoration approach focuses on both rebuilding habitat and making it last. It’s not only about putting sand back on the beach--it’s also about helping keep that sand in place. Offshore structures can reduce wave energy that would otherwise continue to erode the shoreline. At the same time, healthy marshes act like a sponge, soaking up floodwaters and storm surge.

In the Northwest Reach, our hybrid breakwaters are designed to do two things at once: protect what remains and help rebuild what has been lost. By reducing wave energy, the breakwaters help slow ongoing erosion of the marsh edge. They also trap sediment on the inland side, encouraging natural deposition that can gradually raise elevations and support marsh recovery. ​

Projects like this matter for every coastal community looking for cost-effective, long-term ways to manage flood risk. Nature-based solutions can complement traditional infrastructure while also delivering benefits that seawalls and bulkheads can’t—like habitat for wildlife and improved water quality. Here in Cumberland County, continued restoration helps protect marinas and bay-dependent industries in places like Fortescue, Commercial Township, and Maurice River Township—historic communities whose livelihoods are closely tied to the health of the Delaware Bay. 

​Looking ahead, we’re building on this progress. The American Littoral Society has been awarded an additional $5 million through the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Natural Climate Solutions grant program to add more breakwaters and expand the project across the Northwest Reach. This next phase will help scale up the protective and habitat-building benefits that the Floodplain Managers saw during their visit. 

What can you do? There are many ways to care for the coast. You can support the American Littoral Society’s work by becoming a member, making a donation, volunteering when opportunities are available, and sharing these projects with friends and family. Staying informed and talking about nature-based flood protection helps build the public support needed to bring solutions like this to more communities. 
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Restoring the Delaware Bay shoreline is about protecting places—both the wildlife habitats that make this bay globally important and the communities that call the Bayshore home. As this work continues, we hope it serves as a practical example of how restoration can reduce flooding risk while bringing the bay back to life. ​

Speaking from his experience as a former NJ Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner and builder, Littoral Society Board Vice President Mark Mauriello testified at the hearing, saying: "Will the REAL Rules positively impact me in my lifetime? Probably not. But will the REAL Rules positively impact my children and grandchildren? Most definitely."

"We’re proud to have board members like Mark contributing their expertise to ensure that regional coastal resilience planning protects New Jersey's future alongside us," Osborne said.
​
The REAL Rules are scheduled to go into effect on July 19.

***UPDATE*** the REAL Rules have been delayed by one year. 
A one-year delay for builders could mean decades of flood costs for New Jersey taxpayers.
New Jersey knows flooding is getting worse. So why are we building risky development for another year?
The REAL rules are common-sense protections that help make sure new development is built for the flooding we know is coming. Protecting homes for the long run, and protecting New Jersey taxpayers from future costs.
Tell Governor Sherrill: Don’t delay the REAL rules. Protect NJ taxpayers.
Call 609-292-6000
And sign LCV's petition here​

The American Littoral Society is advancing marsh restoration at the mouth of the Maurice River with new support from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection through the Natural Climate Solutions Program. Announced on Earth Day, the investment highlights how New Jersey is turning climate funding into on-the-ground projects that protect both communities and ecosystems.
 
The announcement was made during an Earth Day award ceremony in Point Pleasant, where Society staff joined partners from across the state and met with NJDEP Commissioner Ed Potosnak to recognize new investments in nature-based resilience projects statewide.
 
This phase of work will restore 13 acres of marsh directly while helping stabilize conditions needed to recover more than 375 acres of degraded marsh that protect communities along the Delaware Bayshore. By reducing wave energy and capturing sediment, the hybrid breakwater system rebuilds marsh elevation and strengthens the landscape’s ability to buffer storms, support fisheries, and store carbon. In a state surrounded by water, restoring marsh systems like these is one of the most effective ways to reduce coastal risk.

Projects like this move resilience from planning into construction. The Natural Climate Solutions Program enabling large-scale implementation that protects communities, working waterfronts, and critical habitat while strengthening one of the Delaware Bayshore’s most important natural protection systems.
 
Shane Godshall, Habitat Restoration Program lead on the project, said the investment “demonstrates the state's ongoing commitment to Delaware Bayshore communities and recognizes their contributions to South Jersey’s economy and culture. The project will directly benefit these communities by combating climate change and providing protection from open-bay conditions.”
 
Completing a critical line of protection
This phase extends the hybrid breakwater system across Northwest Reach, creating a continuous line of protection that reduces wave energy and allows sediment to settle and marsh elevations to recover over time.
 
Low-profile breakwaters and permeable sediment barriers are designed to work with natural tidal processes to capture suspended sediment and gradually raise marsh surfaces into the elevation range needed for healthy salt marsh vegetation. As elevations recover, marsh plants return, carbon storage increases, habitat improves for fish and coastal wildlife, and nearby communities gain stronger protection from storms. Techniques used at Northwest Reach will help inform restoration strategies across the Delaware Bayshore and other vulnerable coastal areas in New Jersey.
 
By combining engineered stability with natural sediment movement, the project strengthens shorelines in a way that is cost-effective and adaptable to changing conditions.
 
Supporting communities, habitat, and working waterfronts
Marsh restoration at the mouth of the Maurice River provides benefits well beyond carbion sequestration. Along the Delaware Bayshore, marshes reduce flooding, protect port infrastructure and working waterfronts, support fisheries, and sustain globally important habitat for shorebirds and horseshoe crabs.
 
During Hurricane Sandy, marsh systems like these reduced wave heights by as much as 80 percent in some locations. Restoring and protecting them now helps ensure they continue providing that level of protection in the future.
 
The project also contributes to long-term climate goals by increasing carbon sequestration and preventing the release of stored carbon from eroding marsh soils.
 
Advancing innovation in nature-based shoreline protection
A defining feature of this phase is the installation of permeable barrier systems designed to accelerate marsh elevation recovery by working with natural sediment movement. These techniques expand the set of tools available for restoring vulnerable coastal landscapes across the Delaware Bayshore and throughout New Jersey.
 
This work is being carried out in partnership with the Stockton University Coastal Research Center, Wildlife Restoration Partnerships, New Jersey Fish and Wildlife, and local Bayshore leaders, including the Bayshore Council. Together, these partners are helping translate public investment into measurable protection for communities and ecosystems.

Continuing a legacy of restoration leadership
This phase reflects the vision of Capt. Al Modjeski, whose leadership helped shape nature-based shoreline protection efforts throughout New Jersey. His commitment to creative, collaborative solutions continues to guide the Society’s restoration work today.
 
Through continued partnership with NJDEP’s Natural Climate Solutions Program, the American Littoral Society is helping ensure that New Jersey’s coast remains strong, productive, and resilient for generations to come. ​

Thousands of plants in the sand and hundreds of hands on the beach is the testament to another successful season of beachgrass planting at Coney Island Creek Park in Brooklyn, NY.

In March and early April, the American Littoral Society — in partnership with the National Wildlife Federation's Resilient Schools and Communities (RiSC) program and NYC Parks — brought in nearly 700 intergenerational volunteers to the park who helped plant 38,000 plugs of beachgrass along the shoreline in order to stabilize dune, reduce erosion and strengthen natural defenses against coastal flooding.

Along the way, the program also delivered hands-on environmental education to 520 students and 60 teachers, while also removing nearly 600 pounds of debris from the park. Together, these efforts are helping transform Coney Island Creek into a more resilient and ecologically vibrant space.

​This work is part of a multi-year collaboration focused on restoring dunes as natural defenses for coastal areas — solutions that not only protect coastlines but also create habitat and improve overall ecosystem health. The impact of this season’s work has already drawn broader attention, with PBS LearningMedia visiting the site on March 24 to film volunteers in action. The footage will be featured in an upcoming digital series, Our Climate Future, highlighting real-world climate solutions and community-driven change.

Looking ahead, partners at Brooklyn College and the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay will begin monitoring the newly planted grasses this April, helping to track their growth and inform a long-term maintenance plan for the site. This next phase is critical to ensuring the success and longevity of the restoration effort.

The collaboration also extends beyond New York. Through the RiSC program, 10,000 American beachgrass plants were donated to the Littoral Society’s Sandy Hook, NJ team, where they will be planted during an upcoming Earth Month volunteer event to support dune restoration along the Jersey Shore — another region facing ongoing challenges from coastal flooding and erosion. These plants were sourced from Church’s Garden Center in Long Island, a RiSC partner.

Every spring, something ancient and extraordinary unfolds along the sandy shores of the Delaware Bayshore. Thousands of horseshoe crabs — creatures that have roamed Earth's oceans for hundreds of millions of years — crawl ashore to spawn. And for over a decade, the American Littoral Society has been there to meet them, with tags in hand. 

For just as long, we've been joined there by countless volunteers who help put those tags on horseshoe crabs so we can better gauge the effectiveness of our work restoring habitat along the bay. ​

Registration recently opened for any who would like to lend a hand with our horseshoe crab tagging program — and this year, we're heading to new beaches. Whether you're a seasoned tagger or putting on a headlamp for the first time, you're invited to take part in this important effort. 

The tagging program came soon after as a way to measure whether restoration efforts were actually working: Were crabs returning? Were restored beaches being used to spawn?   
 
The answer, it turns out, is yes. Data collected from surveys shows that both horseshoe crabs and Red Knots prefer restored beaches over unrestored ones.  

Each tag attached to a crab becomes a data point in a growing picture of how this species moves through the bay. When tagged crabs are resighted — either on the same beach or a different one — researchers learn about seasonal patterns, year-over-year movement, and population distribution. One intriguing finding so far: while crabs tend to appear near the same beach during spawning season, the broader distribution of local populations across the bay shifts from year to year. 
 
Monitoring of the restored Delaware Bay beaches also includes counts of crab egg density and, through partners, Red Knot numbers, which offer insight into beach usage and ideal spawning conditions. That kind of nuance matters for management decisions — including identifying which beaches might be candidates for future restoration. 
 
To date, the Littoral Society's horseshoe crab tagging program — helped annually by hundreds of volunteers — has tagged nearly 40,000 crabs across beaches including Thompsons, Moores, Fortescue, Dyers Cove, Reeds, Cooks, Kimbles, and Pierces Point. This year, the effort is expanding to Bay Point and Green Creek. 
 
The Society has also operated smaller programs along the Shark River in Monmouth County, New Jersey, as well as Slaughter Beach, Delaware. 
 
Find more information on our website about our crab tagging program and how you can participate. Space is limited for each tagging session to ensure a quality experience for both volunteers and wildlife, so sign up soon! ​

Many of the shorelines we work on today were influenced by his innovative, science-backed approach to restoration. His commitment to restore beach habitat in Delaware Bay after Hurricane Sandy, strengthen coastal resilience for vulnerable communities, Like Shark River Bay, and bring fish and wildlife back to places that depend on thoughtful stewardship. His work reflected what the Society stands for at its best: caring for the coast by working alongside the people who love it.

Capt. Al helped shape not only the places we restore, but also the can-do work ethic and the salty, vibrant culture that defines the American Littoral Society. His contagious enthusiasm, knowledge, his “get ’er done” attitude, and his steady encouragement shaped our organization.

The Society is strong because of the program, people and partnerships he helped build, and we are committed to carrying forward his legacy along the coasts he cared for so deeply.

Our hearts go out to Capt. Al’s family, his daughter, and his close friends. We know many of you came to know and care about Capt. Al over the years and we are holding our members, partners, volunteers, and the broader coastal community in our thoughts as well. He will be deeply missed by all of us who had the privilege to know him. 

We will share ways to honor Capt. Al and his legacy in the coming weeks. If you have memories or stories you would like to share, we would be honored to hear them.

In the first, we will partner with the City of Bridgeton and Gateway Community Action for a citywide cleanup intended to help us protect the Cohansey River Watershed. Meet at the Gateway Warming Center, 7 Washington St, Bridgeton, NJ, at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 18. Water, T-shirts, gloves, and trash pickers will be provided. Kids must be accompanied by a guardian. Find more info.

Later that same day, we will join the Rockaway Film Festival for a shoreline cleanup with a creative twist at Dubos Point Wildlife Sanctuary in Arverne, NY. From 3-5 p.m., volunteers will collect debris, and items with "art potential" will be set aside for future collaborative workshops. The cleanup is bookended by film screenings at Arverne Cinema, making it a perfect blend of environmental action and local culture. Find more info on the Rockaway Film Festival website.

On April 21, the day before Earth Day, you can join us on Sandy Hook for spring cleaning of the pollinator garden in front of the Littoral Society headquarters building at 18 Hartshorne Drive, in the Fort Hancock Section of Gateway National Recreation Area. We will be removing winter ground cover, repairing small fencing, and deadheading plants but no prior gardening experience is needed. Whether you're a seasoned pro or a first-timer, we’d love your help "sprucing up" the Hook. Please RSVP so we know how many to expect.

Also, on April 21 we will be joining a Teen Rain Garden Planting, Cleanup & Pizza Party from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Cumberland County Library, Fairfield, NJ. We’ll start with a short presentation and some pizza before heading out to the library’s rain garden to cleanup and install new plants. This is a great opportunity for students ages 13–18 to earn volunteer hours. Registration is required.

We will conclude our Earth Month activities on Sunday, April 26 with a pair of events - one in New Jersey's Point Pleasant Borough and the other in Far Rockaway, NY.

The former is our annual Christmas in Spring event at the Slade Dale Nature Preserve along Beaverdam Creek. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., volunteers will help us place recycled Christmas trees in branchbox breakwaters - wooden structures set in stream that are designed control erosion by using trees and brush to slow currents and waves, as well as capture the sediment being carried in the water. The recycled trees were collected with the help of Point Pleasant Borough Public Works and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. Please RSVP if you plan to lend a hand.

That same Sunday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., we will be hosting a planting event at Arverne East Nature Preserve in Far Rockaway, NY. We will be planting a number of trees and shrubs to help beautify the new coastal park, and add wildlife habitat in honor and memory of local NYC native landscape gardener Cindy Goulder. Please RSVP on our website.

This Women’s History Month, we are proud to honor the legacy of Barbara Cohen, a woman and longtime member of the American Littoral Society whose volunteerism and passion advanced coastal conservation in New York. While we sadly said goodbye to Barbara in 2024, her impact remains visible on every shoreline across the state. ​

A lifelong educator with a degree in Art History from Hunter College, Barbara’s journey into environmentalism was fueled by a deep-seated commitment to activism. Alongside her late husband and "best friend," Mickey Maxwell Cohen, she spent decades marching for civil rights and anti-war causes before turning her formidable organizational skills toward the protection of New York’s natural spaces. 

Barbara was a driving force behind the New York State Beach Cleanup program, which is celebrating its 40th year in 2026 and is a cornerstone of the American Littoral Society’s Northeast Chapter. When she took over as lead volunteer coordinator in 1994, the program consisted of just four cleanup sites. Through her tireless advocacy, Barbara grew that effort into a massive network of 100 cleanup locations, coordinating an incredible 10,000 volunteers to participate in the International Coastal Cleanup. 

In 2024, more than 3,000 NYSBC volunteers collected 11,383 pounds of trash, with the most common items being cigarette butts, food wrappers, plastic/metal bottle caps, and small plastic pieces. 

Her leadership led to the removal of a staggering 107+ tons of debris from New York City’s beaches and natural areas. Beyond the cleanup, Barbara was instrumental in establishing Bayswater Point State Park, serving as its first caretaker alongside her husband Mickey. Her expertise and dedication earned her a seat on the Board of Directors for both the New York City Audubon Society - now named NYC Bird Alliance - and the New York State Marine Education Association. 

Barbara’s lifelong service was recognized with some of the highest honors in the field, including: 

• The Environmental Quality Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 
• ​The Matthew Fontaine Maury Award from the NYS Marine Education Association. 
• The Grass Roots and Longtime Service Awards from the NYC Audubon Society. 
• A Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Littoral Society. 

Named an "Everyday Hero" by New York Newsday, Barbara remained an active volunteer well into 2019. Her legacy lives on in the cleaner sands of the Rockaways and the thousands of volunteers she inspired to care for our coast.  ​

Special thanks to the Cohen family for sharing their memories and photos with us to help honor Barbara’s incredible contributions to coastal conservation.