Rock Hall, M.D. – People living near Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge will benefit from a living shoreline project to protect marshes at Hail Cove. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last month awarded a $1.3 million contract for the project to reduce erosion and wave action to protect 400 acres of tidal marshes in the Chester River. Coastal marshes are natural buffers for communities against hurricanes and other severe storms.
Ayuda Companies of Broomfield, Colorado, will complete the work during the next two years under the contract.
The funding for the project is a portion of the $102 million in federal emergency funding allocated to the Service following Hurricane Sandy to complete projects to restore coastal marshes, wetlands and shoreline, create open connections to rivers and streams for fish passage fish passage
Fish passage is the ability of fish or other aquatic species to move freely throughout their life to find food, reproduce, and complete their natural migration cycles. Millions of barriers to fish passage across the country are fragmenting habitat and leading to species declines. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Fish Passage Program is working to reconnect watersheds to benefit both wildlife and people.
Learn more about fish passage , and reduce the risk of flooding from future storms.
Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge is a 2,285 acre island providing habitat for thousands of wintering waterfowl including the tundra swan. Surrounded by the Chester River and Chesapeake Bay, more than 240 bird species visit the refuge along with small mammals and many other wildlife species.
To read more about the coastal restoration project, click here. To view photos of the refuge, click here. To learn more about other U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Hurricane Sandy recovery and resilience projects, visit the Hurricane Sandy Recovery website.
