When the tides are restored, the freshwater vegetation will be killed off by the daily inundation of salt water. The project's vegetation management program calls for physical removal of the dead flora. An unintended (but not unexpected) consequence of this plan is that the feathered and furry occupants unable to adapt rapidly enough to the loss of their habitat will perish by drowning or starvation.
Reptiles, too! A 2016 Mass. Audubon report observed that "Box turtles often exhibit high site fidelity and in some cases live out their entire lives in an area no larger than a football field." The Herring River Restoration Project Environmental Impact Statement notes on page 23 that "Changes in vegetation types could cause populations of eastern box turtle (Terrapene c. carolina) [and other] species that rely on freshwater and upland habitats, to shift their range and move to adjacent habitat." If the turtles do not have sufficient mobility to escape the restored incoming tides created by the project, they are likely to perish.