Management and Restoration

Significant damage to coastal communities and surrounding wetlands of the north Atlantic states was caused by Hurricane Sandy in late October 2012, mostly tied to an associated storm surge of record extent and impact.

CWPPRA outreach staff at WARC leads an outreach effort that educates and inspires a variety of audiences about Louisiana’s wetlands, land loss, and the CWPPRA wetland restoration program.

Throughout the past century, emergent wetlands have been declining across the Gulf of Mexico. Emergent wetland ecosystems provide a plethora of resources including plant and wildlife habitat, commercial and recreational economic activity, water quality, and natural barriers against storms.

USGS is committed to meeting the science needs of four Native American Tribes impacted by Hurricane Sandy in New England and New York: the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head - Aquinnah on Martha’s Vineyard, MA; the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe on Cape Cod, MA; the Narragansett Indian Tribe near Charlestown, RI; and the Shinnecock Indian Nation on Long Island.

This project will create a Climate Change Adaptation Plan for the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana (Chitimacha), serving as an implementable plan for coastal community adaptation to climate change that can be used as a model in other small communities.

Using historic maps and contemporary imagery, we will quantify and synthesize existing data on the distribution and abundance of shorebirds in North Carolina and changes in habitats related to storms, such as Hurricane Sandy; coastal development, such as the Intracoastal Waterway; inlet modifications; and shoreline erosion to give us a better understanding of historic trends for shorebirds and...

Mapping of Fort A.P Hill utilizes 2-D interpretation of 2013, 1-foot Color Infrared orthorectified imagery, affording greater detail in wetland interpretation and classification.

In Central America, “tropical dry wetlands” provide numerous ecosystem goods and services. The mosaic of wetlands within and around Palo Verde National Park (a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance) is one of the largest complexes in the region.

Storm surge waves and tides of hurricanes have the propensity to wash up marsh detritus of dead reeds and leaf debris along with plastic trash and lumber, commonly referred to as wrack, from overwashed beaches, marshes, forests, streets, and lawns.

Support tasks performed by the WARC Advanced Applications Team for Hurricane Sandy-related projects include aerial imagery capture and processing, standards-compliant data formatting and transformation, metadata creation, and visualization of data in a spatial context.

Mississippi River Hydrodynamic and Delta Management Study (MRHDMS)is the first large-scale, long-term restoration assessment initiated under the Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA) Program.

As custodians of ecological goods and services valued by society, coastal National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs) have an especially important role to play in helping socio-ecological systems adapt to global-change processes.