The East Branch Restoration Program - Comprehensive Planning and Prioritization of Natural Infrastructure in Rural Communities
Gary L. Henry, PG
Kelley Tucker
Ausable River Association
Wilmington, NY
The East Branch Restoration Program (EBRP) is a comprehensive strategy for protecting the lower East Branch Ausable River while creating flood resilience for the communities alongside it. The restoration program was developed in response to Tropical Storm Irene—the largest flood on record in the Ausable watershed, which devastated the region in 2011. The logging and iron ore industries of the late 19th and 20th centuries deforested the mountainous watershed, manipulated streams for log drives, and devastated habitat for native brook trout and myriad other species. With funds from the NYS Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery, the Ausable River Association (AsRA) convened a team of experts in 2018 to develop a plan to improve flood resilience and restore aquatic habitat within the lower 12 miles of the East Branch that flows through the Town of Jay. Rich Starr of Ecosystem Planning and Restoration led the planning process with technical assistance from the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Cortland NY Field Office (USFWS). Working closely with USFWS, AsRA staff conducted intensive field assessments and engaged stakeholders in the community to help with planning and prioritization efforts. In 2019, the team completed a detailed report that identified and developed conceptual designs for 13 restoration projects within this section of the river. Supervised by the USFWS and AsRA, the first two projects were constructed in 2021 and 2023. AsRA continues to move the program forward with another project fully engineered and two projects currently under design. A third construction project is expected to start in summer 2025. Next year, AsRA will work with its partners to extend the EBRP to the upper 13 miles of the East Branch through the Town of Keene. While funding is always a challenge, AsRA has successfully pulled together a variety of federal, state, and local sources to continue making progress on this critical initiative.
About Gary L. Henry, PG
Gary Henry, PG has worked in the environmental field for over two decades. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in geology and has been a licensed professional geologist since 2006. His professional connection to rivers began in graduate school when he started working part-time on geomorphic assessments of rapidly urbanizing streams in north-central and central Texas. After completing his master’s thesis work in 2004 under the geology department’s geomorphology professor, he took a full-time position as a project hydrogeologist at an environmental engineering firm in Dallas while continuing his part-time freelance work as a fluvial geomorphologist. In 2009, Gary joined the faculty at SUNY-Clinton Community College in Plattsburgh where he developed two environmental science degree programs and taught environmental science and geology coursework. In 2017, he was presented with the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching for his project-based learning approach, modeled on his experience as an environmental engineering consultant. Since joining the science staff at Ausable River Association in 2021, Gary has led geomorphic surveys for culvert and bridge replacement and river restoration design on many miles of stream channels in the Ausable and Boquet River watersheds. He also served as lead daily oversight on several large stream restoration projects on the East Branch Ausable River, including two large projects in Upper Jay with budgets of nearly $1 million each. In addition to his assessment, design, and implementation oversight work, Gary is also leading two grant-funded research projects to (1) develop bankfull hydraulic geometry curves for the Ausable watershed and (2) monitor the geomorphic stability of restoration sites.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-l-henry-pg-85255388/
About Kelley Tucker
Kelley Tucker is the Executive Director of the Ausable River Association, an independent conservation nonprofit working in the 6-million-acre Adirondack Park of northern New York State. The 11 person staff works to build a better future for the Adirondacks through effective, science-based stewardship of freshwater systems. Kelley has worked for 30 years in the national, international, and local non-profit conservation sectors moving science and technical knowledge into public discussions and creating solutions that protect freshwater and wildlife, sustain ecological diversity, and support local communities.
She established and currently guides the implementation of Association projects that restore self-sustaining stream health, aquatic organism passage, and native habitat diversity, protect water quality, and build flood resilience. The organization’s stream restoration models have been highlighted by New York State agencies, the National Flood Coalition, and others. Kelley is an appointed member of the Advisory Board of the New York State Centers of Excellence in Healthy Water Solutions and serves on the Lake Champlain Sea Grant Public Advisory Committee.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelley-tucker-6a24721a/