Contact:  Melanie Rapp, Public Affairs, 302-739-9902; Photos are available by contacting Public Affairs.

800 volunteers plant beach grass to stabilize restored sand dunes

DELAWARE Beaches (March 30, 2011) – Almost 800 volunteers endured chilly temperatures to plant more than 150,000 stems of beach grass on restored dunes along 4 miles of coastline between Broadkill Beach and Fenwick Island. The beach grass planting event, which was held this year on March 26, is Delaware’s largest annual volunteer effort to stabilize restored sand dunes along Delaware’s coast.

“Stabilizing sand dunes has proven effective in protecting our coastal properties from flooding and intense storms,” said DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara. “Delaware’s shoreline stabilization program of beach nourishment, dune construction and grass planting makes a tremendous difference in protecting lives and property.”

Volunteers spent three hours planting Cape American beach grass on sand dunes at four beaches – Broadkill, Cape Henlopen, Bethany and Fenwick Island – in areas particularly hard hit by northeasters and other storms. Following the completion of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers beach nourishment project in Bethany Beach in early March, almost 500 volunteers planted about 100,000 units of beach grass along Bethany’s dunes that were newly constructed by DNREC.

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.

Sand dunes are essential for protection against flooding and damaging storms. When sand dunes are destroyed, storm waves can rush inland, flood properties and put lives at risk. Dunes stabilized by beach grass absorb wave energy and act as major sand storage areas which replenish sand to eroded beaches during a storm.

“Since our beach grass planting event was introduced in 1989, more than 5 million stems of beach grass have been planted on Delaware’s ocean and bay beaches,” said Jennifer Wheatley, environmental scientist with DNREC’s Shoreline and Waterway Management Section and coordinator of the event. “Our thanks go out to the many volunteers, who return every year to help plant the dunes.”

This year the towns of Bethany Beach and Fenwick Island and the Broadkill Beach Preservation Association promoted the event to their communities and helped with organization. The Delaware Mobile Surf Fisherman and various businesses donated refreshments and also helped to make the event a huge success.

For more information, contact Jennifer Wheatley at 302-739-9921 or visit DNREC’s website by clicking Beach Grass Planting.

Vol. 41, No. 127

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DNREC’s 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.