The final phase of the Bird Island restoration will begin in September.

Bird Island is one of the few nesting habitats for roseate terns, a federally recognized endangered species. Heavy storms and rising seas have eroded the island over the years, affecting the terns’ habitat and causing the need for restoration.

After getting equipment on the island and building about 300 feet of the seawall, the contractor will return to the island in September to complete the addition of 600 more feet of seawall and to place fill to bring it up to elevation.

“That should just about finish off the project,” Marion Harbormaster Isaac Perry said. “Logistically it was getting everything out there that was tough.”

A ramp had to be built in order to get the equipment off the barge, due to shallow waters around the island’s shore.

“A lot of that has already been done, so I would think they’ll do a lot of the work starting this fall,” Perry said. The workers can only work until the beginning of April because that is when the terns start to return to the island.

The project was able to move forward after voters approved an easement of the terns habitat to the Division of Marine Fisheries and Wildlife at the annual Town Meeting in the spring of 2015. The approval of the easement designated that the site would be set aside for permanent conservation.

The town has been working in collaboration with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to restore the site. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Program requires the federal agency to contribute 65 percent of the project’s cost. With this program, a local sponsor pays the remaining 35 percent. In this case, the local sponsor is the Division of Marine Fisheries and Wildlife.

The lighthouse on Bird Island was built in the 1800s, as a way to help guide ships into Sippican Harbor. It serviced the harbor for 114 years before being taken out of service.