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  Keeping Seafood Safe and Plentiful

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  Salmon Creek Estuary Restored
  

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  Marine Debris Powers New England Town
  

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  Fish Friendly Wine
  

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  Dry Tortugas Ecological Reserve
  

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  Planning Before Planting
  

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  Marine Protected Areas
  

Planning Before Planting

Sustainable Habitat Restoration

Wetlands and marshes provide many social, economic, and environmental benefits, including natural beauty, flood protection for coastal towns and cities from waves and storms, as well as living, breeding, and feeding areas for many birds, fish, and other animals. However, these areas are being lost at an alarming rate, making conservation and restoration of these natural resources more important every day. Restoration of these fragile ecosystems must be carefully planned and executed to ensure long-term health and functionality.

Measuring and Understanding the Coastal Environment

The common boundary between land-water is complex and dynamic, with water levels and land masses rising and falling at different rates throughout the United States. Understanding the relationship between the land and water over time will ensure successful planning of coastal features, from sea walls and levees to newly-created marshes.

Scientists at NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) and National Geodetic Survey (NGS) have collaborated to form the Coastal Oceanographic Applications and Services of Tides and Lakes (COASTAL) Program. COASTAL uses long-term water level and coastal land elevation data, gathered by NOAA to support safe navigation, to improve habitat restoration practices and other important efforts. 

Fort McHenry: A Success!

A small marsh lies just southwest of Fort McHenry National Monument in Baltimore, Md., (best known as the birthplace of the Star Spangled Banner). This marsh was created in the 1980s following the construction of the interstate tunnels that run through Baltimore today. As originally built, this marsh was too high above the harbor to be flooded regularly by tides, provided no access to fish, and became overrun with garbage and invasive plant species. 

In 2004, NOAA began working with several organizations to reconstruct this marsh to maximize its health and long-term sustainability. Accurate water levels were measured at a tide station and detailed elevation information was collected. This information was used to redesign the marsh surface, including new tidal creeks to maximize fish passage. The marsh surface was re-graded and marsh plants were carefully selected and planted at appropriate locations on the new surface, based on elevation and tidal information, to help them withstand the environment, take root, and spread. These techniques proved successful, and more than three years later, the marsh has never been healthier!

Working Together to Protect our Environment

Habitat restoration has a much higher likelihood of success when carefully planned and executed in concert with natural processes. NOAA works with other federal, state, and local agencies, private organizations, and academic institutions to provide accurate oceanographic and geodetic information. NGS enables monitoring of large and small-scale changes in the height of the land, caused by forces such as plate tectonic motion, subsidence (sinking of the land), and changes in sediment. CO-OPS measures water level heights and analyzes seasonal changes in flooding and sea-level rise. Using this information, COASTAL enables restoration practitioners to plan for the future, and ensures the continued existence of these beautiful and important resources.

Coastal wetland restoration also is a primary focus of NOAA’s Habitat Restoration Center, a part of NOAA’s Fisheries Service. The Restoration Center works with local communities through its Community-based Restoration program to not only physically restore coastal ecosystems, but also teach people how to better care for these important ecosystems. Through a number of hands-on programs, the Restoration Center has successfully restored more than 60,000 acres of wetland, shoreline mangroves, oyster reefs, seagrass, and kelp forest around our nation.