BILOXI, Miss. – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Gulf of Mexico Program (GMP), alongside the Harrison County (Miss.) Sand Beach Authority and local partners, participated in a dune vegetation planting project of 3,000 sea oats along the shoreline of Biloxi beach March 22. “This dune development project is a great example of our state, federal, and local governments working together to increase community resilience while protecting our Mississippi Gulf coast,” said EPA Acting Region 4 Administrator Mary S. Walker. Dune grasses stabilize the beach and help build the dune systems, protecting infrastructure from flooding and erosion, according to beach authority director Chuck Loftis. The vegetation will stabilize the dunes, control sand erosion, provide a buffer against coastal hazards, and supply a unique habitat for wildlife. Students from Gulfport and Long Beach high school and local partner organizations, including Audubon Society, Mississippi State University’s Coastal Extension and Research Center, and Mississippi Wildlife Federation, assisted with the plantings. The beach was in critical need of more vegetation due to its proximity to development and increased levels of public use. GMP began in 1988 to protect, restore and maintain the health and productivity of the Gulf of Mexico’s ecosystem in economically sustainable ways. (Source: STL News 03/24/19)
Shipbuilding and maritime related news from the Central Gulf Coast region
