Completion of the Marysville restoration project- A decade in the making.

October 21, 2021

We are excited to announce that as of Wednesday, October 13th, 2021 we will have completed the tree planting phase of our restoration work on the 27-acre floodplain property owned by the City of Fredericton, Marysville Flats. The completion of tree planting at this property marks an important milestone in the Nashwaak Greenway Project. This community-based project has involved collaborations between the NWAI and dozens of community organizations, businesses, NGOs and funding partners. It has taken over 10 years, hundreds of volunteer hours and thousands of trees to bring this dream to fruition.

The restoration of floodplain forest is important for:

Mitigating flooding by storing and slowing the movement of water
Filtering surface runoff of pollutants before it enters the river
Reconnecting the river with its floodplain
Providing aquatic and terrestrial habitat for native species
Shading our river
Providing a green space for the local community
Carbon sequestration

The Nashwaak Watershed would like to thank all of our funders, volunteers and partners for making this project possible. Our organization is in the process of finalizing a conservation easement with the City of Fredericton on this property to protect and conserve this area for generations to come.

Our Changing Forest

October 15, 2021

Many woodlot owners are wondering how their forests will change over the next 50 years, with predictions of climate warming and changes to precipitation regimes.

How will the tree species we have respond to such changes?

Is there anything we can do to help our forests become more climate-resilient?

This fall, NWAI has been connecting with woodlot owners in the watershed to discuss forest management practices that support resilient and healthy forested ecosystems.

There are many excellent resources available for landowners that have been produced by our partner organizations. One such resource is the engaging and informative video series, “Our Changing Forest,” produced by the NB Federation of Woodlot Owners and their partners (Community Forests International, UNB, and the NB Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development).

This video series is the perfect first step to understanding how your forest might change and how you can help it to become more resilient.

The video series is divided into three parts:

Part 1 of the video series covers the general changes to forest composition expected for this region:

White spruce and balsam fir are not predicted to do well in the face of the changing climate, whereas white pine and red oak are some of the emerging “superhero trees.” The more diverse a forest stand, the more likely it will have some species that will be resilient – complexity is correlated with the ability to adapt to changing conditions.

Part 2 details the predictions of how various species will fare with climate change:

The viewer is taken to three different stands of trees (a black spruce dominated site, mature mixedwood, and a balsam fir dominated stand), and is guided through an assessment of the risk of these stands due to climate change. In the latter two stands, we learn that if balsam fir is a prominent component of the overstory and understory, the stand is at a higher risk from climate change. Balsam fir is sensitive to extremes in weather, is susceptible to pests, and is vulnerable to wind events. If the regeneration in a forest stand is predominantly balsam fir, the stand may be stuck in a “successional loop” and may not move to a more resilient and diverse forest type naturally.

Part 3 of the series takes a deep dive into three stand types, with recommendations for management options to improve carbon storage and create resilience.

Balsam fir-dominated stands – a common situation in many New Brunswick forests. To break the cycle of balsam fir regeneration and improve resilience, the foresters recommend planting other species (like acorns from red oak trees) and gradually removing the balsam fir in the overstory to create an irregular, multi-aged stand.

The second and third stand types covered include Mature mixedwood and Younger mixedwood stands. The recommendations here include leaving the more resilient species (e.g., red maple, red oak) and thinning the spruce and fir.

The video series encourages landowners to understand what species are present in their forests, and to consider the broad spectrum of management options available rather than the conventional recommendations of clearcutting and short-rotation softwood production. A focus on maximizing softwood timber supply could put forest owners in a vulnerable situation when the changing climate is considered.

For a more detailed description of management interventions to adapt to climate change, landowners can consult the silvicultural prescriptions in this companion document: Climate Change Resilience and Carbon Storage: Silvicultural Prescriptions for the Acadian Forest Regio

Campbell Creek Dam Removal Project

October 1, 2021

*Photo: Campbell Creek freely flowing for the first time in over a century!*

The Campbell Creek dam removal has been completed and the former headpond has been replanted with native grasses, willows and Acadian Forest species! This vegetation will serve to restore the former dam headpond to its original forest cover, shade the creek, and increase the stability of the riverbank by reinforcing the soil and preventing erosion. For the first time in over a century the creek is freely flowing!

*Photo: The Campbell Creek dam prior to removal*

Numerous partners came together to bring this project to fruition, and we feel privileged to be part of this Wolastoqey-led initiative. The removal of the dam and restoration of the former headpond will provide habitat for aquatic species-at-risk: Atlantic salmon and American eel, as well as other coldwater fish (brook trout & sea lamprey), and terrestrial species. In addition, the restored creek will provide improved water quality, landscape connectivity and downstream regulation of water & sediment flow.

Now that the dam has been removed, we will move onto the last phase of our Dam Removal and Riparian Restoration Management Plan: Post-Restoration Monitoring. This will continue each year until 2024 and will include studying changes in local ecology, water quality, hydrology, and environmental DNA sampling. This monitoring will ensure that the ecosystem is returning to its natural state.

Our project partners include: the Maliseet Nation Conservation Council, Saint Mary’s First Nation, Wolastoqey Nation New Brunswick, the City of Fredericton, the Atlantic Salmon Federation, Community Forests Canada, Colbr Consulting and Hilcon Engineering. Funding for this work was provided by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Atlantic Salmon Conservation Foundation and WWF-Canada.

*Photo: Tree planters from Community Forests Canada*

Special shout out to the amazing tree planting crew from Community Forests Canada who helped us plant the entire headpond in just several hours.

For more information, be sure to check out these articles on the dam removal:

How To Remove a Dam: A Case Study

Fredericton’s Campbell Creek flows freely for the first time in a century

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

September 27, 2021

The NWAI acknowledges the traditional landowners and stewards of the Nashwaak watershed. We pay respect to elders past and present of the Wolastoqiyik people. We will be taking time for reflection and education on September 30^th, in honour of National day of truth and reconciliation.

Information on how to become an Ally and other educational resources can be found at:

Ally Toolkit

We encourage our members, collaborators and supporters to use this information as a starting point in the journey to reconciliation. This information is provided by the Wolastoqey Nation in New Brunswick. They are a not-for-profit organization that represents the six Wolastoqey Communities in New Brunswick: Matawaskiye (Madawaska), Neqotkuk (Tobique), Pilick (Kingsclear), Sitansisk (Saint Mary’s), Welamukotuk (Oromocto) and Wotstak (Woodstock).

UNB students “Dig deep” with NWAI

September 22, 2021

Happy National tree day!

UNB students from the Bachelor of Education were at the Marysville flats completing an Indigenous education module led by local elders on Saturday, September 11th . The group, which consisted of over 100 volunteers (Our largest ever volunteer event!) then came to help NWAI with our revegetation project by planting over 720 trees along the floodplain in the Nashwaak watershed.

Elders talking to UNB Bachelor of Education program at the Marysville flats

With the help of these very enthusiastic volunteers we were able to plant silver maples, butternut, and bur oak in record time. These species will restore the biome of the floodplain by stabilizing the bank, mitigating the impact of seasonal flooding, and encourage wildlife diversity in the watershed.

**Students planting trees in our pre-flagged plot on the Marysville flats**

The weather was perfect for tree planting and the students were able to learn about the importance of restoring native watershed forests. Thank you to all the volunteers and your hard work!

Learn more about NWAI’s restoration projects here:

Riverbank Stabilization

Completion of the Marysville restoration project- A decade in the making.

Our Changing Forest

Campbell Creek Dam Removal Project

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

UNB students “Dig deep” with NWAI

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