The NRCS Plant Materials Program newsletter for the conservation community 

November 2005 

Visit us: http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov 

Plant Materials Program

2005 Hurricane Season Proves to be Important Test for Plants as a 

First Defense Against Severe Storms 

National Plant Materials Center Develops Coastal Restoration and Protection 

Website 

After Hurricane Katrina swept through the Mississippi 

delta region last August, and a few weeks after Hurricane 

Rita came ashore in September, Gary Fine, manager of the 

Golden Meadow Plant Materials Center (PMC), which is 

situated on the delta, did not expect to find much remaining 

of the work recently completed on several barrier islands 

off the coast of Mississippi in the Gulf of Mexico. 

The work on the barrier islands was to be a type of livingoutdoor laboratory where scientists from the Natural 

Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), as well as those 

from other conservation organizations, could study the 

impact of severe storms and their tidal surges. 

However, Fine had hoped to have a few years of 

established growth on the barrier islands before a direct hit 

from a hurricane the size of Katrina. The enormous 

destruction left in the wake of Katrina (and Hurricane Rita) 

on the Louisiana and Mississippi delta region is well 

known. But what isn’t known to many is how well Fine’s 

outdoor laboratory held up against the tidal surges. 

When Fine and co-worker Plant Materials Specialist Scott 

Edwards finally where able to visit the Mississippi Gulf 

coast to look at the devastation left by Katrina, and to see 

how the PMC’s beach planting sites fared, they were 

astounded at what they found. 

“Before the hurricanes we had established three beachdune-creation and stabilization planting sites and one sea 

oats evaluation planting,” said Fine. “All survived the 

storms and an estimated 25-30 ft. storm surge. It is 

amazing but one of the few resilient remaining features 

along the coast is our plantings.” 

This type of success in helping to protect the region with 

plantings on barrier islands and sand dunes is nothing new. 

The NRCS Cape May PMC in New Jersey was created as a 

direct result of the March 1962 severe storm or northeaster 

that rolled through that region causing over a billion dollars 

in damage and taking hundreds of lives. 

Since 1965, the Cape May PMC has re-vegetated dunes to 

secure them against tidal surges. However, since the 

March 1962 northeaster, the region has not been hit with as 

powerful a storm, so the effectiveness of the plantings has 

never been tested on a major 4 or 5 category hurricane. 

The process of using plants such as sea oats is also being 

used by the NRCS Brooksville, Florida PMC in beach 

towns like Destin, Fl, where hurricane Ivan made a near 

direct hit several years ago. 

Fine’s Plantings One Year Before Katrina Fine’s Plantings One Month After Katrina 
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opportunity provider and employer. 

Visit us: http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov 

 “In the past, coastal erosion 

has been solved using 

constructed features such as 

sea walls. Now, many 

engineers feel that a plant 

materials such as sea oats is 

the answer,” said John 

Hovanesian, president, 

Coastal and Native Plant 

Specialist, who works closely 

with the Brooksville PMC. 

Because many scientists 

predict another possible 40 to 

50 years of severe Atlantic 

basin storm activities, a coastal restoration and protection 

database is being developed at the National Plant Materials 

Center in Beltsville (NPMC), MD. Accessible on the 

NPMC’s Website, the preliminary database is currently 

available to the general public and will expand over the 

following weeks. 

“Specifically, the database will allow NPMC Website 

visitors to download information on using vegetative 

solutions as a first line of defense to protect their 

communities against storm activities,” said Robert 

Escheman, the Plant Materials Program’s program leader. 

Back in Louisiana, Fine and Edwards will use their new 

findings to increase awareness about the benefits of using 

plants to secure areas against the devastating effects of 

severe storms. 

 

“Scott and I will be working to get the word out in 

publications and by whatever means we can,” said Fine. 

“Conservationist and lawmakers across the country need to 

know that plants can provide an effective solution to 

prevent or greatly reduce the effects of storm damage in the 

Gulf of Mexico region and the eastern seaboard.” 

For more information, visit the coastal restoration and 

protection website: 

http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/coastalareas.html

Contact: Robert Westover, 

robert.westover@md.usda.gov

Did you know? Wikipedia.org is an open-source free-online encyclopedia that allows you to create research 

Webpage articles that are reviewed by your peers and than published on the World Wide Web. It’s a great tool for 

getting information to the general public and scholars alike. Take a few moments to visit and see if it might help you in 

your research as well! Look up “invasive species” and notice a very familiar URL! 

 

Go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page 

Plant Solutions DVD

Our new Plant Solutions multimedia presentation includes an excerpt from the Discovery Science Channel’s 

documentary, ‘Coastal Crisis: Vanishing Lands’ with an overview of the Golden Meadow PMC in Louisiana. 

If you haven’t viewed our new Plant Solutions DVD... 

Download or order copies at: http:// plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/news/video/videoshort.html

Our Mission Statement: Deliver plant-science technology to meet the nation’s natural resources conservation needs.

Destin Dune Plantings

A Downed Tree Near Plantings That Survived 

Katrina’s 20-Foot Plus Tidal Surge