NEWS FROM THE DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL
Feb. 10, 2009 - Vol. 39, No. 45
For more information, contact Jennifer Wheatley, Division of Soil and Water Conservation, 302-739-9921; or Melanie Rapp, Public Affairs, 302-739-9902.
Volunteers Needed For Beach Grass Planting Event March 21 - Event Helps Protect Delaware Coastline; Sign up by March 7
Environmental enthusiasts, families and students are encouraged to volunteer for Delaware’s annual beach grass planting event 9 a.m. - noon, Saturday, March 21 at beach locations along the Delaware Bay and Atlantic Ocean. The event, now in its 20th year, helps protect Delaware shorelines by planting Cape American beach grass on sand dunes damaged by coastal storms.
“Volunteers are the backbone of Delaware’s shoreline stabilization effort,” said Jennifer Wheatley, environmental scientist with DNREC’s Shoreline and Waterway Management Section. “Last year more than 450 people participated in our event and planted about 95,000 stems of grass along three miles of coastline between Fenwick Island State Park and Lewes Beach. We encourage people to sign up and help protect one of Delaware’s most valuable natural resources – our sand dunes.”
Volunteers are encouraged to sign up by March 7 either online at http://www.swc.dnrec.delaware.…s/BeachGrassPlanting.aspx, by email: Marcia.Cagle@state.de.us or by calling 302-739-9921.
Sand dunes are essential for protection against damaging coastal storms. When sand dunes are destroyed, storm waves can rush inland, flood properties and put lives at risk. Stabilized dunes absorb wave energy and act as major sand storage areas which replenish sand to eroded beaches during a storm.
Beach grass helps to build and stabilize dunes by trapping windblown sand. As the grass traps the sand, it builds the dunes higher and wider, which makes it more protective of the structures behind it. Since the program was introduced in 1989, almost 4.9 million stems of beach grass have been planted by dedicated volunteers.
Beach grass will be planted in areas along shoreline where dunes were damaged. In May 2008 an especially strong coastal storm ravaged parts of the Delaware Bay shores and ocean beaches.
DNREC’s Division of Soil and Water Conservation Shoreline and Waterway Management Section coordinates the annual beach grass planting event. The section also implements beach replenishment and erosion control projects along Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay communities to enhance, preserve and protect private and public beaches.
