American Littoral Society presents restoration and K–12 programs; presenters say Fireman's Pond dredging to resume in mid‑March

Ryan Flood, representing the American Littoral Society and introduced as an Ocean Township resident, told the Environmental Commission on March 5 that the society has run coastal conservation and monitoring programs since 1961. He said the group works across the Mid‑Atlantic — including Sandy Hook, the Delaware Bay and Jamaica Bay — on projects ranging from volunteer fish tagging to multi‑million‑dollar federal oyster‑reef construction meant to limit erosion.

"We do fish tagging," Flood said, and described a citizen‑science network of volunteer taggers that he estimated in the hundreds. He said the society expects to reach about one million tagged fish in its historical records and sends aggregated tagging data to research institutions to track population health and migratory patterns.

Flood described a local pilot on Dorne Island to deploy experimental oyster‑reef prisms and cited a Shark River shoreline project on South Riverside Drive that used living‑shoreline techniques rather than a hard breakwater. He said those living shorelines are designed to trap sediment and help rebuild shoreline habitat over time.

Samantha Heming, identified as the society’s co‑coastal education coordinator, outlined the group’s K–12 programs for Ocean County and South Jersey schools. She described short in‑class visits paired with interactive labs (for example, a horseshoe‑crab lesson conducted under a one‑day permit and water‑quality testing), multi‑week in‑class programs that include field trips to Sandy Hook, a dune‑grass planting program that pairs classroom planting with on‑site restoration, and teacher professional development focused on New Jersey climate education standards.

Heming also described a paid Restoration Corps youth workforce program — a seasonal internship that the society says has trained more than 200 students and provides paid on‑the‑job experience in conservation and outreach.

Commissioners asked how widely the society serves the state and whether it could partner with local schools; Flood and Heming said the society maintains offices in Sandy Hook and South Jersey, serves Ocean County and can share educational packets and teacher contacts. Commissioners agreed staff could route the materials to school contacts such as Pat Sullivan and Miss Edson.

A local resident asked about the Fireman’s Pond remediation timeline. Flood said the dredging is expected to resume on March 16, though he and commissioners noted weather and contractor timing affect schedules and that staff would confirm exact sequencing with the project manager. Ed (a commission member) added that the pond has been dewatered and work was on track to resume soon but offered to follow up with the township engineer for precise timing.

The presentation closed with the commission thanking the society for the overview and noting commissioners would circulate educational materials through school channels.

The presentation was recorded on the township’s YouTube channel and the society offered to provide a list of projects and contact information for school‑program signups.