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Prime Hook restoration receives award

Courtesy of U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge.

An environmental restoration project in Delaware is being nationally recognized. 

The Tidal Marsh and Barrier Beach Restoration Project at Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) received a 2019 Climate Adaptation Leadership Award this week.

The award is given to projects that reduce climate-related threats. 

The Prime Hook project was finished in 2016.  It was a response to the destruction of much of the area’s freshwater habitat by Hurricane Sandy. The $38 million project rebuilt about two miles of sand dunes and 4,000 acres of tidal marsh. 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Project Manager for Delaware’s Coastal Complex Bart Wilson, PHD says the marsh was built to adapt to a changing environment. 

“As sea level rises and we get storm activity and we get pulses of saltwater coming over the beach face, there’s going to be a vegetative marsh that will intercept that energy and trap the sediment of the over wash,” said Wilson.   

Wilson says it’s the largest project of its kind along the Eastern United States. 

He says winning the award is important because it spotlights a successful project so others can learn from it and create partnerships for similar projects in the future.

“When you have these big projects succeed you really want to put that out there,” said Wilson. “’Hey this is something that can happen. This is something we can do.’”

He adds the marsh continues to hold up under intense storms and is now a habitat to plover chicks and horseshoe crabs.

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