The Ed Pastor Kino Environmental Restoration Project (KERP) aimed to restore natural areas by redeveloping an unlined stormwater detention basin in Tucson, Arizona. KERP covers 125 acres and includes constructed stream courses, five vegetation-lined ponds, restored native vegetation communities, flood control structures, and a recreational path.

This project aimed to restore the Lavaca Bay from being contaminated by discharged mercury from a chlorine-alkali processing unit at its Point Comfort. A staged approach to restoration was adopted with the first stage focused on recreational fishing service losses. The second stage focused on natural resource injuries and service losses of an ecological nature.

This project aimed to restore the Lavaca Bay from being contaminated by discharged mercury from a chlorine-alkali processing unit at its Point Comfort. A staged approach to restoration was adopted with the first stage focused on recreational fishing service losses. The second stage focused on natural resource injuries and service losses of an ecological nature.

This project will restore 2,200 feet of eroding, degrading shoreline in the Little Lagoon area of Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge. The living shoreline will be comprised of of plantings of smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) and black needlerush (Juncus roemerianus), wave attenuation structures, and native mussel seeding. 

Long Beach Island, NJ is a barrier island that is heavily impacted by coastal storms and hurricanes. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the NJ Department of Environmental Protection created berms and dunes along the island with sand from an offshore borrow source to reduce flooding, erosion, and storm impacts on the island’s communities. 

This project aimed to restore beach, dune, and back-barrier marsh habitats at four barrier island locations in Louisiana (Chenier Ronquille, Shell Island, North Breton Island, and Caillou Lake Headlands). These restoration projects will restore habitat for brown pelicans, terns, skimmers, and gulls, and increase the resiliency of the islands to sea-level rise and storm surges.

The MacDill Air Force Base (AFB) Oyster Reef Shoreline Stabilization Project in Tampa, Florida is a collaboration between the base and Tampa Bay Watch, a local nonprofit. This living shoreline project reduces erosion, provides protection from storms and sea-level rise, improves water quality, and enhances habitat. 

The Maidford River Saltmarsh of Sachuest Point Wildlife Refuge in Middletown, Rhode Island was degraded as a result of sea level rise and powerful storm surges, particularly during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. This project was designed to improve the marsh’s resiliency against sea level rise, which involved a thin layer deposition and invasive plant species management.

Mangrove Reef Walls are seawall-enhancing panels that create engineered-living habitat along developed waterfronts. These were installed in two locations in Florida in 2016 and 2018. These can improve biodiversity and water quality, and reduce erosion in areas where “traditional” living shorelines are not feasible (high energy zones, narrow canals, steep slopes). 

The West Lake estuary and watershed is an urban/suburban estuary ecosystem with one of the largest ports in the USA (Port Everglades). Dredging and filling in support of this port have modified both the shallow edge and bottom of the estuary. This project successful establishment of 500 hectares of mangroves at West Lake in Broward County, Florida.

The New Jersey DOT implemented nature-based solutions to stabilize approximately 1 mile of eroding marsh banks, addressing boat wake concerns from the replacement of the Route 52 causeway near Ocean City, NJ. The design included shoreline regrading using onsite material, coir fascine edging to stabilize the marsh toe, and planting Spartina alterniflora landward of the coir fascine.

Marsh Island is a state-owned island in the Portersville Bay portion of Mississippi Sound, Alabama. This project will restore 50 acres of salt marsh at Marsh Island to prevent erosion and rebuild habitat. The site will include a permeable breakwater, added sediment, and added native marsh plantings.  

Maryland is continually losing islands, acres of shoreline, and critical coastal wetlands to sea-level rise, storms, and inundation. Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources and Department of the Environment analyzed future climate conditions using the Sea Level Affecting Marshes Model (SLAMM), and prioritized highly threatened coastal areas for conservation and restoration.

Masonboro Island, NC contains a back barrier tidal marsh that is unable to maintain a healthy elevation as sea-level rises. This project examined the effect of placing dredged material on the microtidal marsh environment. Thin-layer placement increased stem densities and can be used to mitigate effects of degrading marshes. 

This project aims to clear dead trees and debris deposited by Hurricane Andrew in 1992 from mangrove tidal passageways in Matheson Hammock Park on Biscayne Bay. In a five-year effort to prevent further damage to this sensitive habitat, the debris are removed by volunteers using canoes and manual labor instead of large machinery.

The St. Johns River is Florida’s most important commercial and recreational river. Mile Point, along the river in Jacksonville, has experienced severe shoreline erosion and has created dangerous navigation conditions. This project improved navigation conditions, reduced erosion, restored salt marsh habitat, and created new oyster habitat. 

This project aimed to restore oyster cultch areas in the waters of Hancock and Harrison Counties in Mississippi.  Cultch material, such as oyster shell or limestone, was deployed at a rate of 100 cubic yards per acre, and successfully restored and enhanced approximately 1,430 acres of oyster cultch area.

On August 4, 1984, the M/V Wellwood, a 122-meter Cypriot-registered freighter, ran aground on Molasses Reef about 6 nautical miles southeast of Key Largo in Monroe County, Florida. The Molasses Coral Reef Restoration Project, implemented by NOAA, involved the restoration of fourteen separate reef sites damaged during the 1984 incident.

Mordecai Island in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey suffered an erosional cut that separated off a portion of the island. This project filled in said cut and restored coastal habitat on the island with dredged materials from the NJ Intracoastal Waterway. This island protects local communities from storm and sea-level rise impacts. 

Nesting herring and great black-backed gulls (Larus argentatus and Larus marinus) were removed from a recently abandoned tern (Sterna sp.) colony in the Gulf of Maine through a combination of poisoning and shooting. All three species of tern that had nested in the colony prior to the arrival of the gulls returned and nested in increasing numbers.