Project Page

DWH Project Funding

$10,836,055

Known Leveraged Funding

$0

Project Description

The goal of this restoration project is to enhance 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 also a small, two-mile-long area on the Gulf side of the Fort Pickens area where sections of the old road and miscellaneous chunks of concrete may be removed from the intertidal and subtidal zones. Asphalt debris ranges in shape and size from large slabs down to brick- and pea-size. These materials originated from roads being damaged by storms and hurricanes over the decades. Debris removal methods will involve primarily mechanized equipment, supplemented by small crews using hand tools. The majority of materials are expected to be less than six inches deep, although slabs several feet deep may be found. Approximately 10% of the total area to be mechanically cleaned contains vegetation that will be destroyed in the cleanup process. Where vegetation does not regrow, it will be re-planted. Project objectives, then, are: 1) to remove as much asphalt debris as possible from beach habitat, focusing on areas where visitors frequent; and 2) to re-establish vegetation that was destroyed by cleanup activities but did not grow back. The restoration "approach" (from the PDARP/PEIS) is to "enhance recreational experiences" and the "technique" is to "reduce and remove land-based debris." Cleanup activitie...click on "More Info" link below