Dauphin Island Native Vegetation Planting
On November 19, 2016, 87 volunteers came out to Dauphin Island East End Beach to plant 3,500 sea oats, 840 panic grass cells and 75 dune elders, and install 900 feet of sand fencing, along the recently-restored beach. View a photo album from the event, and view a video from the unveiling of an educational sign.
As these plants grow, they will stabilize the sand, create dunes and protect the beach from storms and strong winds, allowing future generations to appreciate Alabama’s coastal heritage.
Please visit the volunteer page to sign up to volunteer your time to improve and protect our coastal environment.
Sea oats are a long lived, slow growing, perennial grass commonly associated with the upper dunes along beach fronts. They are highly drought, salt and heat tolerant. This makes the plant ideal for planting on sunny, sandy barrier islands. Sea oats are responsible for protecting dunes during storms, maintaining a healthy beach, forming new dunes, and providing habitat for certain fringe species.
The Alabama Coastal Foundation would like to thank all the volunteers, the Town of Dauphin Island, the Dauphin Island Park and Beach Board and the Dauphin Island Sea Lab for making this project possible. Funding for this project is provided in part by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, State Lands Division, Coastal Section and NOAA’s National Coastal Zone Management Program.