*Featured Image by Anna Soccorsi @ Gaia Aerial Imagery*
The Climate Action Program Spotlight highlights the incredible work our chapters are doing nationwide to protect our coasts and communities. Whether by leading their own restoration and climate action efforts or supporting existing local projects, chapters are driving meaningful change on the ground.
Fifty hands helped us replant this tiny but mighty dune in East Hampton, and a few months later, it faced a major test when a powerful Nor’easter swept the coast.
On April 25th, 2026, 25 volunteers from the Surfrider Foundation's Eastern Long Island Chapter, Group for the East End, East Hampton Middle School's Surfrider & Do Good, Be Good Clubs, came together to help plant a tiny—yet vital—dune at Maidstone Park Beach.
Image Credit: Bobby Alan Hamski
In less than two hours, volunteers planted 2,000 American Dunegrass plants from Peat & Son, over an area of over 2,300 square feet along Baby Beach—a popular drive-on beach among Springs and East Hampton residents along the channel into Three Mile Harbor.
While just a small part of Surfrider's suite of Earth Day activations and calls-to-action, I believe this one may have been one of our most impactful.
Image Credit: Bobby Alan Hamski
Not only did we get folks outside to enjoy the beautiful day and participate in hands-on coastal restoration work, but we also helped revitalize the habitat; each of the fifty hands restored habitat that has gone on to host insects, avian visitors, and even a few dune plant colonists. I mean, look at all that green! 🌱
Image Credit: Anna Soccorsi @ Gaia Aerial Imagery
Most importantly, however, is seeing coastal resilience in action. Dunes provide habitat for native plants and wildlife while helping reduce coastal erosion and flooding. Dunegrass traps windblown sand, and its roots help anchor the sand in place, allowing dunes to grow, shift, and recover naturally with the seasons. But dunes face pressures from unmanaged foot traffic, coastal development, invasive species, and coastal erosion and flooding. By planting native dunegrass, we’re working with nature to help restore these natural systems and build healthier, more resilient coastlines.
This newly restored dune took root over the spring and summer, surviving a recent record-breaking Nor'easter despite six high tide cycles at sustained tropical storm-force wind speeds. Essentially, a lot of water was thrown at the dune repeatedly; you can see the evidence of such erosion and nearby coastal changes below.
May 2026, Image Credit: Anna Soccorsi @ Gaia Aerial Imagery
September 2026, Image Credit: Anna Soccorsi @ Gaia Aerial Imagery
These images show clear shoreline erosion at Maidstone Park Beach and Baby Beach. Perhaps the clearest evidence of the storm’s strength is the damage to the end of the Maidstone Park Jetty and the movement of sand into the channel leading to Three Mile Harbor.
Typically, during a storm of this strength and size, the nearby road will temporarily flood during high-tide cycles. Initial observations suggest our dune and its grass helped prevent floodwaters from directly inundating Madistone Park Road, forcing the water to take a long detour around our dune and up the drive-on access, preventing—or at least reducing—major impacts to local infrastructure.
September 2026, Image Credit: Anna Soccorsi @ Gaia Aerial Imagery, Captions by Brody Eggert
On a more micro level, the slider images below demonstrate how coastal flooding and erosion impacted this brand-new dune, and how the dune functioned exactly as intended to survive, thrive, and support coastal resiliency..
Image Credit: Anna Soccorsi @ Gaia Aerial Imagery
Erosion is most visible along the dune’s harbor-facing side, where sections have flattened under the force of the storm and a distinct eroded face has formed. Yet the dune held its ground. Its overall structure remained intact thanks to the newly established dunegrass roots that helped anchor the sand and keep the dune from being washed away by rain and storm surge.
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May 2026 (<1 month post-planting) |
Sept. 2026 (Post Sept. Nor'easter) |
A storm of this intensity offers an encouraging first look at how this newly restored dune can contribute to coastal resilience. In our mission for coastal resilience and restoration, we must remember the simple, small projects such as this that not only restore vital habitat, but also protect critical human and beach access infrastructure.
What's more, partnerships like these help get people involved in the climate work that impacts their day-to-day life, empowering our volunteers to be a part of the solution.
Thank you to Group for the East End for hosting this event with us and helping us secure the plants while we permitted the event.
Huge thanks to Anna at Gaia Aerial Imagery for these amazing pictures, but also for technical documentation of the dune not only after completion, but also after the recent storm to evaluate the impacts on the dune and the dune's impact on the Maidstone Park Area. Thank you for supporting a local nonprofit; your work is incredibly invaluable.
Want to learn more about the Surfrider Foundation's Climate Restoration work? Check out our Climate Action program page. Be sure to also check out our other restoration projects here!