Reclaiming the Land
A coastal community comes together to restore an urban forest in Bridgeport.
By Timothy Brown
It’s a brisk, but sunny December morning when I meet Roger Ludwig at St. Mary’s by the Sea, a coastal park located in Bridgeport’s Black Rock neighborhood that boasts spectacular views of Long Island Sound. Despite the steady breeze blowing from the water, people are outside enjoying the natural area: walking, pushing babies in strollers, or just sitting on benches, staring out at the Sound in quiet contemplation. Ludwig points to a Northern diamond terrapin nest located under a section of beach fence. Bits of eggshell are scattered around the shallow depression in the sand. The terrapin, a Connecticut state species of concern and the only turtle in North America that spends its entire life in brackish waters, is one of the many creatures that has recently returned to this beach thanks to an urban ecological restoration project spearheaded by Ludwig. Last year, they found 31 terrapin nests.
An unarguably beautiful setting, St. Mary’s overlooks the mouth of Ash Creek, a tidal estuary that separates Bridgeport from the Town of Fairfield. On the Fairfield side is a small boat basin. When Ludwig and his wife moved here nearly a quarter of a century ago, the town was still regularly dredging the creek to keep it open for boats. And in the process, they were destroying the small sand spit on the Bridgeport side where the terrapins now nest.
“Having spent my summers up on Cape Cod, on the salt marshes and in the coastal forests, I looked around here and saw a lot of similarities,” Ludwig says, “but I also saw all the abuse it was taking. It was just filled with mug wort and much of the soil was hardpan. There were communities of switch grass, sea lavender and saltmarsh aster that had somehow survived. There was American beachgrass and beach plum. These were native species that somehow, with all this abuse, were surviving.”
Concerned, Ludwig approached Ash Creek Conservation Association—a local non-profit working to protect and restore Bridgeport’s shoreline—for help. They hired an ecologist to study the impact of dredging on the vulnerable species who called the beach “home.” When they presented the consultant’s report to the Town of Fairfield, town leaders responded positively. Today, it’s a protected site filled with beachgrass and other native species planted by Ludwig and his neighbors. “I don’t think it will ever be touched again,” he says proudly.
“You can’t do it without a team of people. And I’ve been lucky; we’re surrounded by great people here in Black Rock.”
Roger Ludwig
Across the street, a small urban forest was suffering a similar fate to that of the beach. After decades of neglect, mugwort, bittersweet, wineberry, and other invasive species had choked out native plants in the roughly two-and-a-half-acre plot. Ludwig saw another opportunity to make a difference.
“This coastal forest had become an impenetrable, tangled mess—it was engulfed,” he says. Then, to make matters worse, in 2012, Hurricane Sandy pounded the coast, toppling the highly invasive tree of heaven and scattering debris throughout the forest. Ludwig began the slow process of cleaning up, but despite his efforts, the invasives just kept roaring back. So, once again, he decided to approach his neighbors for assistance. Thankfully, people were onboard to help.
The neighbors hosted work parties where volunteers pulled invasives and removed litter. They held open forums where citizens voiced their concerns—and hopes—for the site. Finally, with support from Ash Creek Conservation, the community presented their recommendations for how to restore the urban forest to the City of Bridgeport. “You’re not always sure what’s going to work,” Ludwig admits, “but we did have a plan.”
Their plan included hiring professionals for technical jobs—such as removing large, non-native trees—and planting native species at the site, particularly those species that provide food and shelter for migratory birds and other wildlife. Given the proximity to the water, the group was adamant against the use of any herbicides or other chemicals to control invasives. Instead, they used cardboard and wood chips to smother them. But when the wood chips failed to stop the spread of mug wort, they laid down plastic tarps, which can generate enough heat to kill invasive plants and their seeds in a process called solarization.
In place of the invasives, they planted northern bayberry, a salt tolerant native species, along the permitter of the forest, along with several trees—red cedar, shadbush, elm, and pitch pine. They left brush piles and stacked rocks to create micro-habitats. And they partnered with conservation organizations such as Aspetuck Land Trust and Audubon, who provided plants and other materials, funding, and expertise. Gradually, the forest began to recover. Warblers, bats, hawks, monarch butterflies, and other migratory species returned. Today, it is once again a vital stopover for travelers along the Atlantic Flyway.
“You’ll never bring it back to where it was, but there are things you can do to enhance it,” says Ludwig. Equally important, they are connecting people to the urban forest.
“We use this as an educational lab,” he says. “If you come here in the spring, you’ll see kids here in hip boots and waders—and they love it!” Along with students from Bridgeport and Fairfield schools, organizations such as the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium and Black Birders also use the forest for research, exploration, or simply quiet contemplation.
“It’s really filling a lot of needs. It’s a passive recreation area, and that’s the key thing. We want to maintain its passive use,” Ludwig says.
In 2023, he enrolled in CFPA’s Master Woodland Manager program to learn more about conservation and land management. While the program is not specifically focused on coastal communities, Ludwig says he was able to apply what he learned to the urban restoration project.
“The Master Woodland Manager program helped extensively; I thought it was fantastic,” he says. One of the key takeaways for him was the importance of developing short-term goals for the property. “We need to come up with more 5, 10, and 15-year plans, because this place is going to evolve. We’re in its genesis.”
Despite all the hard physical work, money, and time Ludwig has personally devoted to the project, he is quick to acknowledge that it has been a community effort from the start. “You can’t do it without a team of people. And I’ve been lucky; we’re surrounded by great people here in Black Rock,” he says.
Still, environmental issues can be contentious and inspiring folks to not only support, but to help restore an urban forest isn’t always easy, especially when the fruits of one’s labor may not be visible for decades or even within one’s lifetime. “We have persuaded the community of the long-term benefits of this project,” Ludwig says. “We have shown them the benefits of good urban ecology.”
Ludwig is grateful for his neighbors’ time and contributions to the project. “Black Rock is a unique community where people are willing to give of themselves.”
Timothy Brown is the editor of Connecticut Woodlands.