Beach Enhancement Project at Gulf Islands National Seashore
Implementing Organization
US Department of the Interior
Overview
DWH Project Funding
$10,836,055
Known Leveraged Funding
$0
Funding Organization
Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustees (NRDA)
Funding Program
Natural Resource Damage Assessment NRDA
Details
Project Category
Recreational Use
Project Actions
Engineering and/or Construction
Targeted Resources
Recreational Resources
Project Description
This project enhances recreational use and visitor satisfaction by removing asphalt debris (primarily asphalt fragments and road-base rock) from the beach sand at Gulf Islands National Seashore (GUIS). This debris has been scattered widely over some or all of 2,017 acres and 14 linear miles of the Fort Pickens, Santa Rosa, and Perdido Key areas of the National Park Service (NPS) Florida District of GUIS. There is a small, two-mile-long stretch on the Gulf side of the Fort Pickens area where fragments of the old road were removed from the tidal zone. Additionally, a few small, abandoned parking lots were removed. Asphalt debris in the project area ranges in shape and size from large slabs down to brick- and pea-size. These materials originated from roads that were damaged by storms and hurricanes over decades. The primary debris removal methods have utilized mechanized equipment, supplemented by small crews using hand tools. Most of the materials were expected to be less than 6 inches deep, although materials deeper than this have been found and removed. Less than five percent of the total area that was mechanically cleaned contained vegetation that was destroyed in the cleanup process. Most of this re-grew, however; where it did not, it was re-planted. Cleanup activities will have occurred to one degree or another over the course of eight years, re-planting one year, and no work occurred in 2023, making the total project duration approximately nine years. Project objectives are: 1) remove as much asphalt debris as possible from beach habitat, focusing on areas where visitors frequent; and 2) re-establish vegetation that was destroy...click on "More Info" link below
Contact
Bruce Leutscher(850) 436-3248
bruce_leutscher@nps.gov
Project Website
None
For official trustee information regarding the Deepwater Horizon NRDA, including information regarding the NRDA process and the status of projects, see https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/