Department of Defense’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) program announced it will award $1 million to fund the planting of 2,100 linear feet of living shoreline along the Neuse River bordering the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, Carolina Public Press reports.
The project is a partnership between the military, state and national organizations including Pew Charitable Trusts, Duke University and the N.C. Coastal Federation. The project will also repair 5,600 linear feet of shoreline matched by $8 million in additional funding.
The primary objective of the project is to transplant natural flora and fauna to the banks of the Neuse River in order to create a natural, resilient, border against future major weather events (e.g. hurricanes and coastal flooding).
“Mission comes first, but our responsibility is to preserve our resources and leave it better than we found it,” said MCAS Cherry Point public affairs officer 1st Lt. Aaron Ladd. “The Marine Corps has a commitment to excellence to everything we do.”
Read in further depth on how living shorelines are a more resilient alternative to concrete sea walls and bulwarks.
Photo Courtesy of the NC Coastal Federation
