{"id":602,"date":"2017-06-08T12:26:00","date_gmt":"2017-06-08T12:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gulfofmaine.org\/public\/?page_id=602"},"modified":"2025-01-30T14:50:45","modified_gmt":"2025-01-30T14:50:45","slug":"2015-06","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.gulfofmaine.org\/public\/ecosystem-indicator-partnership-home\/monthly-journals\/2015-06\/","title":{"rendered":"Resiliency Taking Root in Coastal New Hampshire"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Cathy Coletti, N.H. Department of Environmental Services Coastal Program<\/h3>\n

In spring 2015, 65 volunteers, including 45 fifth grade students from Seabrook Middle School, used their hands to help build resiliency in the Hampton-Seabrook Estuary in New Hampshire. They enthusiastically planted more than 2,600 beach grass plants in a beach grass nursery garden at Hampton Beach State Park. The plants in this garden will be used to replant and restore trampled dunes at other sites within and near the park this fall.<\/p>\n

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Left to right: Seabrook Middle School student Sage Marquis; Alyson Eberhardt, project lead from NH Sea Grant\/UNH Cooperative Extension; and students Korrin Wein and Haley Eaton help plant a beach grass garden that will be used to replant and help restore sand dunes in the Hampton-Seabrook Estuary this fall. Photo by Gregg Moore, April 2015<\/em><\/p>\n

Restoring dunes is one of the many faces of shoreline management, an overarching term used to describe both structural and non-structural ways to make people and property safer on and behind the shore.<\/p>\n

Storms, wind and waves are a part of life on the sand dune, but the dunes can\u2019t recover naturally and build back up their sand after a storm without the beach grass to anchor them down. With climate change comes the risk of more intense storms that have bigger and stronger waves, which threaten both the dunes and the property behind them. Dunes are a natural buffer from storms and protect from flooding.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe dunes are the first line of protection against storms. They hold down the beaches and protect the homes and businesses behind them,\u201d said Alyson Eberhardt, project lead from the NH Sea Grant\/UNH Cooperative Extension. Gregg Moore and David Burdick with the University of New Hampshire Jackson Estuarine Laboratory are teaming up with Eberhardt on the project.<\/p>\n

The project is funded by a Resiliency Technical Assistance Grant from the Coastal Program at the N.H. Department of Environmental Services because of its contribution to protecting N.H.\u2019s coast from erosion, flooding and storms. The funds are being used to manage the restoration, coordinate volunteers and work with the community and beach users to use designated walking paths to avoid trampling and damaging the dunes.<\/p>\n

Many of New Hampshire\u2019s sand dunes have been destroyed by coastal development. The remainder of the dunes been loved to death by people unknowingly walking off designated paths and trampling the grass on their way to the beach.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Hampton-Seabrook Estuary was historically extensive and high functioning. Today dunes are patchy in distribution and what\u2019s left is at risk of loss. Trampling is a big issue,\u201d according to Eberhardt.<\/p>\n

So, how will the nursery be protected from human feet? Fencing has been put up around the growing plants to direct people away from them. Additional signs educating park visitors about the restoration project and why it\u2019s important to stick to designated paths will also be put up. After the restoration work, four paths will remain for foot traffic between the parking lot and the beach. And more signs and fencing will be installed to direct beachgoers away from the grass and to designated walking areas. Speaking of human feet, in addition to being transplanted on the dunes, some of the beach grass in the nursery will be replanted on a dilapidated dance floor. This relic is sitting in the sand dune in Hampton Beach State Park and hasn\u2019t been used since the early 1990s. The third transplant site will be at the Hampton Harbor Wildlife Management Area just down the road in the Hampton Seabrook Estuary.<\/p>\n

This fall volunteers will help transplant the beach grass grown in the garden to the damaged sand dunes. To connect with volunteer opportunities on this and other projects, contact Coastal Research Volunteers Program Coordinator Alyson Eberhardt at 862-6709 or alyson.eberhardt@unh.edu.<\/p>\n

This resiliency project was funded, in part, by NOAA\u2019s Office for Coastal Management under the Coastal Zone Management Act in conjunction with the NH Department of Environmental Services Coastal Program.<\/p>\n

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Super-volunteer Sherri Townsend uses a digging tool to make just the right sized hole for the beach grass. The volunteer event was publicized as part of the Coastal Research Volunteer program as well as through the Stewardship New England volunteer hub at: http:\/\/newengland.stewardshipnetwork.org\/<\/a>. Townsend has long been connected with volunteer opportunities in the area. Volunteers will also help transplant the beach grass grown in the garden to damaged sand dunes this fall. Photo by Kevin Lucey, April 2015<\/em><\/p>\n

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