Perspectives on NOAA Restoration Day ’09

Alison Hammer
NOAA National Ocean Service

June 29, 2009 — When nature sends an S.O.S., NOAA employees come to the rescue.

Each year in June, hundreds of NOAA employees, along with state and local partners, leave the comfort of their air-conditioned offices for a day of hard work along the Chesapeake Bay to take part in NOAA Restoration Day. Hardy volunteers from across NOAA’s line offices tackle projects to help restore the Bay and its surrounding areas to their former beauty and health.

Organized by NOAA’s National Ocean Service and National Marine Fisheries Service, Restoration Day is one of the largest voluntary federal employee-sponsored environmental stewardship events in the Chesapeake Bay watershed region.

This year’s event was held on June 18 in two locations. The main restoration activities were held near Abington, Md., at Otter Point Creek — part of the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. Farther south, a smaller group gathered at First Landing State Park near Virginia Beach, Va.

I have the privilege of organizing this event every year, and I have to say that this was the best one yet. The day started out with thunderstorms and torrential downpours, so I was so pleased to see how many volunteers turned out.

This event is so popular that we now have a waiting list. Six years ago for our inaugural event, approximately 50 people participated. This year, we had about 120 volunteers from NOAA line offices alone. If you add in all the volunteers, partners, and organizers at both locations, we had about 220 total participants.

Volunteers took part in a number of restoration activities such as:

• Planting underwater bay grasses grown in indoor tanks by employees from 20 NOAA offices.
• Removing trash and marine debris from the shoreline.
• Planting native trees and removing invasive plant species.
• Monitoring, tracking, and counting area birds, reptiles, fish, and amphibians.
• Surveying the reserve for accurate latitudinal, longitudinal and elevation measurements.
  

  

NOAA volunteers told me how reinvigorated they felt by getting out in the field to do this important work. It was an opportunity for those who work in offices all day to get outside into nature and get their hands dirty — literally. For some, it was an opportunity to remember why they got science degrees in the first place. It also was great for those without science backgrounds to learn about the positive impact NOAA can make on the environment.

Sean Corson, the deputy director of NOAA's Chesapeake Bay Office, felt the same way.

“I find this annual event very inspirational,” Corson said. “There’s really a wide cross section of people [who participate] and it’s really heartening to see how committed they are to restoring this shallow bay that we live on.”

To learn more about NOAA Restoration Day, visit http://restorationday.noaa.gov. You can also listen to a podcast on the NOS’s Web site, http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/podcast/supp_jun09.html#restorationday.