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This page describes the second annual NOAA Restoration Day event at the Webster Field Naval Air Station Complex on June 14, 2005. It includes details about the day's activities and background information about Webster Field.
2005 Event Details
The 2005 NOAA Restoration Day event was held on Tuesday, June 14, 2005 at the Webster Field Annex, PAX Naval Air Station (approximately 2 hours from Washington, DC). NOAA Restoration Day 2005 Overview (pdf, 1 page, 140KB)
It was a fun-filled day bringing over 110 NOAA colleagues together with 10 Navy staff to help the nation's largest estuary stay healthy and support the One-NOAA vision. The staff-led effort (administered by a team from NOS Special Projects, NOAA Restoration Center, and the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office), supplemented an existing restoration project at the Navy site supported by NOAA’s Community-based Restoration program.
2005 Restoration Activities
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Bay Grass Planting - Planted 51 trays of bay grasses that were previously grown in 17 grow tanks by NOAA in the Silver Spring offices (read more about bay grass initiative...)
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Native Oyster Restoration - Waded out to spread 100 bags of native oyster shell and spat onto an offshore oyster reef. Oyster material was donated by the Oyster Recovery Partnership. (More details about oyster seeding - pdf, 1 page, 36KB)
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Wetlands Planting - Helped stabilize the shoreline and prevent erosion by planting 5,400 emergent marsh plants and shrubs on the sandy shore. (More details about wetlands planting - pdf, 1 page, 40KB)
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Shoreline Clean-up - Removed trash and debris from along the 1,200 acre shoreline. This includes picking up trash and some woody debris that has washed up on the beach. (More details about the shoreline cleanup - pdf, 1 page, 52KB)
- Invasive Species Removal - Removed non-indigenious vegetation including a species called the Tree of Heaven, some invasive ivy growing on a historic building as well as three stands of Phragmites. This activity was rather physical using handsaws and bushwacking. (More details about Phargmites remove - pdf, 1 page, 40KB or more details about invasive ivy and Tree of Heaven removal - pdf, 1 page, 64KB)
Site Selection Process
Webster Field Annex was selected as the site for this year's NOAA Restoration Day because of the continuing need for shoreline protection and an existing partnership with the NOAA Restoration Center. This initial effort was recognized by Coastal America in October 2004 as it helped to restored over 1,300 feet of highly eroding shoreline via wetlands and breakwater creation, created an offshore stone breakwater/oyster reef, and an eelgrass bed in the area behind the breakwater. NOAA provided significant technical assistance to this project as well as $42,000 through the Chesapeake Bay Small Watersheds Grant program.
About Webster Field Annex, PAX Naval Air Station
The Webster Field Annex, PAX Naval Air Station - is located approximately 2 hours away from Silver Spring, MD. The Annex covers 1,000-acres and is located 13 miles southwest of NAS Patuxent in St. Inigoes, MD. The Webster Field Annex is used as an auxiliary field for daylight testing. Coast Guard Station St. Inigoes is also located at the Annex. As this station is located in the upper corner of the St. Mary's River, it is responsible for the waters and the tributaries along the lower Potomac River and part of Chesapeake Bay. The Navy owns many miles of shoreline resources in the Chesapeake Bay and is experienced in conducting large-scale shoreline restoration projects through partnerships with a variety of Chesapeake Bay stakeholders.
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On-going Restoration Projects at Webster Field
NOAA Restoration Center has provided $41,900 to this project through a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation/Chesapeake Bay Small Watersheds Grant program grant to the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay. Since 2002, NOAA field staff have provided extensive time on site selection and surveys, boat time, plant collection, NOAA divers for transplanting, follow-up dive monitoring of the eelgrass beds, coordination with the Oyster Recovery Partnership to arrange for seeding of the new breakwater reefs, site demarcation and final footprint of the breakwaters, and collection of native oyster samples for background disease analysis.
The Navy continues to be a willing and strategically important partner to NOAA's coastal habitat restoration goals. As a federal agency with a valuable coastal landholdings, the Navy demonstrated itself to be a committed land steward, identifying internal funds and collaborating with numerous partners to accomplish meaningful, innovative, and successful habitat restoration. These projects have melded water, wetland, and nearshore habitats into comprehensive coastal habitat restoration.
More Information about Webster Field:
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