For More Information

podcast Restoration Day 2009 – Making Waves (audio podcast)
podcast What is an Estuary – Diving Deeper (audio podcast)

NOAA Restoration Day Web site

National Estuarine Research Reserve System

NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office

Maryland Chesapeake National Estuarine Research Reserve

external linkOtter Creek Park - Anita C. Leight Estuary Center

external linkFirst Landing State Park

 

NOAA Restoration Day 2009

On June 18, scores of NOAA employees and partners participated in the sixth annual NOAA Restoration Day at sites in Maryland and Virginia.

NOAA Restoration Day, organized by the National Ocean Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service, is one of the largest voluntary federal employee-sponsored environmental stewardship events in the Chesapeake Bay watershed region.

NOAA volunteers gather to prepare for the day. Despite heavy morning rains and thunderstorms, turn out was high for the event.

National Geodetic Survey employees (from left) Scott Farley, Jamaris Moore, and Courtney Jones take turns digging a deep hole in the ground to house a new bench mark at the entrance to Otter Point Creek.

Peter Bergstrom, NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office, and Stephanie Kavanaugh and Chris David from NOS Special Projects, along with several other NOAA volunteers plant underwater grasses.

NOAA employees Krissy Rusello and Angel Lewis clean out plastic tanks used to grow underwater grasses indoors in NOAA office buildings. At the event, NOAA volunteers plant the young grass.

Lindsay Carroll, Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (orange vest), and James Hawks, NOS Office of Coast Survey, along with twenty other volunteers remove and bag invasive wild rose using shovels.

Commander Richard Wingrove, NOAA Corps liaison to the Coast Guard, removes weeds to clear the way for native plants species around the Otter Creek Park-Anita C. Leight Estuary Center.

Leann Hogan, Fish Management Specialist with NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, removes bags of invasive plant species and weeds from the gardens surrounding the Anita C. Leight Estuary Center.

Cora Johnson, administrative officer with the National Marine Fisheries Service, bags weeds and clippings pulled from the gardens of the Anita C. Leight Estuary Center.

Brycen Swart, National Marine Fisheries Service volunteer, removes an invasive plant from the stream bank at Bosely Conservancy.

Sharyn Spray, Otter Point Creek volunteer, Gabrielle Schmidbauer, NOS Office of Coast Survey, and Kevin Watkins from NOS Special Projects help remove debris from the marsh.

Jason Rolfe, NOS Office of Response and Restoration, leads the tree planting activity for twenty volunteers. They planted forty native trees and added beaver protection.

David Wardlow, NOAA student from the Education Partnership Program (EPP), plants a tree while other NOAA volunteers assist. Twenty students from the EPP attended the event.

  • NOAA volunteers gather to prepare for the day
  • three people digging hole for benchmark
  • Peter Bergstrom, NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office, and Stephanie Kavanaugh and Chris David from NOS Special Projects, along with several other NOAA volunteers plant underwater grasses grown indoors for three months in twenty-two NOAA office tanks.
  • cleaning tanks used for growing underwater grasses
  • Lindsay Carroll, Maryland Department of Natural Resources Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (orange vest), and James Hawks, NOS Office of Coast Survey, along with twenty other volunteers remove and bag invasive wild rose using shovels.
  • Commander Richard Wingrove, NOAA Corps liaison to the Coast Guard, removes weeds
  • Leann Hogan, Fish Management Specialist with NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, removes bags of invasive species and weeds
  • Cora Johnson, administrative officer with the National Marine Fisheries Service, bags weeds and clippings
  • Brycen Swart, National Marine Fisheries Service volunteer, removes an invasive plant from the stream bank at Bosely Conservancy.
  • Sharyn Spray, Otter Point Creek volunteer, Gabrielle Schmidbauer, NOS Office of Coast Survey, and Kevin Watkins from NOS Special Projects help remove debris from the marsh.
  • Jason Rolfe, NOS Office of Response and Restoration, leads the tree planting activity for twenty volunteers. They planted forty native trees and added beaver protection.
  • David Wardlow, NOAA student from the Education Partnership Program (EPP), plants a tree while other NOAA volunteers assist. Twenty students from the EPP attended the event.

In Maryland, the volunteer day took place at Otter Point Creek, a component of the Maryland Chesapeake National Estuarine Research Reserve. The Virginia event was held at First Landing State Park on Cape Henry in northern Virginia Beach.

Restoration activities this year included:

NOAA icon Planting underwater Bay grasses grown indoors at over twenty NOAA offices from seed.

NOAA icon Removing trash and marine debris from the shoreline.

NOAA icon Planting native trees.

NOAA icon Removing invasive plant species.

NOAA icon Monitoring, tracking, and counting area birds, reptiles, fish, and amphibians.

NOAA icon Surveying and digital elevation mapping.

The event is an annual opportunity for NOAA employees to put into action the mission they support in their office work and to help restore and protect the Chesapeake Bay.