$5M Grant To Fund Shooting Island Salt Marsh Restoration

OCEAN CITY, NJ — Ocean City will receive a $5 million state grant to restore 136 acres of salt marsh on Shooting Island, part of a broader New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection funding package announced during Earth Week.

The DEP said the grant is part of $14.8 million awarded through its Natural Climate Solutions Grant Program for three projects in Cape May, Cumberland and Ocean counties. Acting Commissioner Ed Potosnak announced the awards during a news conference in Point Pleasant.

According to the DEP, the program supports projects that enhance salt marshes, tidal estuaries and forests to improve flood resilience in coastal communities. The latest funding round launched in August 2025. The awards were announced at a salt marsh restoration site in the northern Barnegat Bay region.

For Ocean City, the funding will go toward restoring Shooting Island, which sits along the Intracoastal Waterway west of Ocean City in Great Egg Harbor Bay. The DEP said the multi-phase project will begin with placement of about 11,200 cubic yards of dredged sediment to reestablish the island’s historical wetland footprint.

Later phases will involve applying thin layers of dredged sediment to interior ponds and other low-lying areas to support marsh creation and improve vegetation growth, according to the DEP. The agency said restoring elevation across degraded parts of the marsh is intended to improve ecological resilience to sea-level rise, protect nearby homes and community infrastructure, and support habitat goals for threatened and endangered bird species including the black rail and salt marsh sparrow.

“These projects deliver on Governor Sherrill’s mission to protect our communities from flooding and will directly protect property, infrastructure and local economies, and help avoid more costly repairs caused by severe storms,” Potosnak said.

Ocean City Mayor Jay A. Gillian said the city has focused on habitat restoration and living shoreline work as sea levels rise.

“Ocean City has been a leader in investing in solutions related to habitat restoration and living shorelines during an era of rising seas,” Gillian said. “The city is deeply grateful to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for the grant funding and the opportunity to partner in this important work.”

The DEP did not provide a construction start date in the announcement. It said the Shooting Island effort is a multi-phase project and identified the initial sediment placement and later marsh-building work as the next steps.