As part of the USDI Fish and Wildlife Service’s refuge system, Barren  Island is an asset to the Chesapeake Bay and its inhabitants. It helps  protect submerged vegetation, which in turn provides habitat for fish and shellfish. Isolated from the mainland, it offers prime wintering,  breeding, and nesting habitat for migratory waterfowl and birds, including brown pelicans. It also harbors threatened and endangered  species including bald eagles, least terns, and black skimmers.

 

The island was severely eroded from a combination of high wave energy, rising sea levels, land submersion, ship wakes, and the natural  ebb and fl ow of barrier islands. In fact, it was eroding at the rate  of 15 feet per year. Without the island, it’s likely that waves would  eventually destroy the underwater vegetation and erode the shoreline  of Southern Dorchester County, especially during storms.

 

The CORPS, NOAA, and FWS scientists were weighing restoration/  protection options when they realized that coupling habitat  restoration with the ongoing need for places to dispose of clean,  locally dredged material could facilitate restoration while resolving  the challenge of disposal.

The NOAA Community-based Restoration Program, NFWF, and the Fish America Foundation have been working on Barren Island restoration since 1997. About 1,300 feet of shoreline and 20 acres have been added to the island, reducing shoreline erosion and  creating new low marsh wetlands. The project has also field tested several types of geotextile tubes for shoreline armoring. Partners are considering additional expansion to provide greater habitat  enhancement and protection.

 

With assistance from the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Army Corps of Engineers, FWS, and other partners and community organizations, more than 1,000 volunteers have restored and  replanted 22 acres of coastal wetland. More than 450 students raised and planted 20,000 tidal wetland plants at the restoration site. In October 2004, the Aquarium, NFWF, NOAA, and 22 partners received a Coastal America Special Recognition Award for the Schoolyard Spartina project.