Dunes, marshes of Bolivar Peninsula must be restored after Hurricane Ike

News item No. 1: U.S. government scientists estimate that Hurricane Ike stripped away an average of 3 feet of elevation from the Bolivar Peninsula.

[Susan Obermiller]

How can we help plant native grasses to grow back the dunes? Is there a program that can be started there on Bolivar?

[TAMUG mom]

Has this been done yet? Is the peninsula going to be built up to AT LEAST pre-Ike levels? Have TAMUG students been tapped to help rebuild area as volunteers or coops/interns? What's the current status of the Highway?

[Beach Lover]

Unless the beaches are re-nourished along the peninsula- and especially along the old section of Hwy 87, not only will habitats be lost but the buffer zone will be lost as well.(The Beaumont Enterprise had a short, but good article on this) Considering the causeways (Port Isabel, Dauphin Island, all over Florida) that are all up and down the Gulf Coast, it doesn't seem like much of an argument that roads "will only be washed out again". Maybe co-opt part of the expense with the Houston Ship Channel or the chemical companies that operate in the marsh area (not sure if it's Chambers, Jefferson Co or both), for whom it would be mutually beneficial.

There are numerous companies in Florida who sell native grasses expressly for the purpose of restoration.(I haven't researched pickets for dune formation, but I'm sure they are available, too) This might make a good public service project for any group (schools, churches, Scouts, SURFRIDER FOUNDATION) wanting to help out- maybe sell beach plants the way you would have a bake sale or "memorial" pavers/ bricks kind of thing.