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Gulf Guardian Award Winners 2006
Government Category - 3rd Place
| Company: | Deer Island Restoration Team: US Army COE, Miss Dept. of Marine Resources, Biloxi Port Commission |  Click on the picture to view a larger size. |
Presentation of the Gulf Guardian Award for Government, 3rd Place, to the Deer Island Restoration Team: US Army Corps of Engineers, Miss Dept. of Marine Resources, Biloxi Port Commission for their project, "Deer Island Beneficial Use/Marsh Creation". From left to right, pictured are Bill Walker, Gulf of Mexico Program Director Bryon Griffith, Curtis Flakes, and EPA Region 4 Administrator Jimmy Palmer. |
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| Project Name: | Deer Island Beneficial Use/Marsh Creation | |||
| Location: | Harrison County, Mississippi | |||
| Category: | Government |
Marsh erosion has increased wave energy along Mississippi. The U S Army Corps of Engineers is committed to beneficially using dredged material. The Army Corp identified a site adjacent to Deer Island to restore and create marsh habitat by using material from the Federal Biloxi Harbor navigation project. They partnered with Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) and Biloxi Port Commission to construct a containment structure and fill the site. Marsh plants were planted by volunteers – the general public, resource agencies, Naval Station Pascagoula, Jackson County Port Authority, etc . in April 2005. The restored marsh protects the shoreline from wave energy while also performing environmental functions, such as increasing water quality, promoting settling of suspended particulates, and providing habitat to various species of birds, fish, crustaceans, and other invertebrates. MDMR, Congressman Gene Taylor and other interested parties actively support the re-establishment of tidal marshes along Mississippi. As a result of this Deer Island project, tidal marsh habitat, which once existed and provided protection to larvae and juvenile species, was restored.
