by Dave Wilson (Wilson is the public outreach coordinator for the Maryland Coastal Bays Program)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Isle of Wight Management Area project is setting an excellent example of how to do construction work that minimizes environmental impacts.

In 2000, the Corps, along with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, embarked on the project to make the island between Ocean Pines and Ocean City more user friendly. At the same time, plans were to restore the natural environment on the site by disposing of the concrete riprap on the island’s southern shore and to replace it with salt marsh. But nature has a way of being uncooperative. During the feasibility study completed in 1998, there was no seagrass on the site and the plans to restore 11 acres of salt marsh outward from the southeast corner of the island seemed firm. However, within the next two years, several acres of seagrass appeared at the exact spot where the marsh restoration was to occur.

To minimize the conflict between habitat types, the Corps not only scaled its marsh restoration back to eight acres, but paid to have much of the seagrass on the site mechanically removed and replaced at another location adjacent to the 232-acre island. The Corps and DNR are both continually monitoring the transplanted seagrass to insure its survival. The transplant work is serving as a great cutting-edge research project on seagrass removal and re-planting.

More recently, the Corps paid $28,000 to control sediments clouding the water during construction. Although not mandated by state or federal law, the Corps installed mesh turbidity curtains in the water last month to keep mud and sand from leaving the site and murking the waters of Isle of Wight Bay.

To help save money on the $2.7 million project, the federal agency is now doing the salt marsh restoration in conjunction with their scheduled maintenance dredging of the Isle of Wight channel. The dredged material from the work is being used for marsh substrate and other upgrades on the island. This beneficial use keeps the Corps from having to scramble for scarce spoil sites and eliminates would-be transportation costs to them.

Part of the 1995 Ocean City and Vicinity Water Resources Feasibility Study, the plans include an observation walkway extending 450 feet into the bay, a new roadway extending east toward the pier, and a new walking path going from the improved cartop boat ramp to the east end of the island. The improved access to the island will include picnic tables and bathrooms. In all of this work, the Corps has removed only two trees.

Established in 1988, the state-owned refuge boasts upland forest with surrounding salt marsh, perfect for migrating shorebirds, nesting terrapins, and a viable population of chuck-wills-widows.

With a healthy population of fiddler crabs nearby, the salt marsh restoration will create a spartina subdivision of sorts for the crabs which have struggled as salt marsh has been filled, disturbed and built upon near Ocean City over the past 40 years. Salt marsh serves as a primary consumer of nutrients and chemicals and along with seagrass, is a primary feeding and safety ground for juvenile crabs, fish and shellfish. Native plants and trees are far superior to stone riprap or bulkheading for protecting wildlife and water quality.

The Corps’ work will go a long way toward not only protecting the natural assets on the fertile island, but also giving visitors a chance to enjoy the natural amenities which bring them to the coastal bays in the first place.