Dune Planting Cooperative Project

The State of Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Town of Ocean City have teamed up with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Cape May Plant Materials Center (PMC) located in Cape May Court House New Jersey to develop new cost effective dune-plant establishment protocols for additional native plant species.

The cooperative project located at 128th Street in Ocean City, Maryland will test a variety of species that will eventually be used to diversify the plant community on restored dunes. “There’s a need to use different plants and diversify the dune plant community,” states William Skaradek PMC Manager. “Municipalities generally focus on two primary species for the dune systems, American beachgrass and Coastal panicgrass. In natural dune systems saltmeadow cordgrass and coastal little bluestem are the most common grasses behind the primary dune. We want to enable land managers to use a wider variety of those plants nature has to offer.”

The PMC is optimistic that coastal little bluestem will become a widely used native plant for stabilizing and diversifying sand dune plant communities in the mid-Atlantic. Chris Miller is a Regional Plant Materials Specialist that serves New England and the Coastal Mid-Atlantic. Mr. Miller has noticed a shift in perspectives among coastal resource managers. Municipalities, working jointly with many natural resource management agencies, have more actively embraced the idea that a diversified plant community strengthens the dunes by expanding the erosion control function of the system and providing a wildlife habitat function.” Bill Skaradek points to the increased public awareness of migrating Monarch butterflies that grace our coastline each fall. “Seaside goldenrod is considered a primary food source in the fall when these wonders of nature pass our way.” The PMC has also been working on making Seaside goldenrod widely commercially available for local use.

Jordan Loran, the Ocean City Beach Replenishment and Hurricane Protection Project manager for the DNR, is quite excited about this joint project. "We recognize the importance of plant diversification on the dunes. When we first restored the dunes, almost 15 years ago, it was important to have a simple, fast approach to dune stabilization, which meant limiting the number of plant species we included in the project specifications. Now that the dunes have matured we have the opportunity to expend more energy on strengthening the plant community," explained Mr. Loran.

Helping with the planting was the Ocean City chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. Enlisting a crew of volunteers the Surfriders helped to augment PMC staff in getting the plants put in the ground. "It’s definitely a win-win situation for all parties involved including Mother Nature,” said Michael Brian, Chapter Chairman. The Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit environmental organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world's oceans, waves and beaches for all people, through conservation, activism, research and education. For more information visit Surfrider Foundation on the web at: http://www.surfrider.org/.

This PMC is a federal government facility that opened its doors in 1965 in response to the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962. The PMC develops plants and plant establishment technologies that help local citizens protect, conserve, restore and enhance natural resources along the coastal plain. The PMC serves the natural resource conservation needs of nine states extending from Cape Cod Massachusetts to Wilmington NC. For more information visit us at the web at:
http://plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/.