“We want to ensure the dredged material continues to be viewed as a resource for habitat restoration,” said Doug Myers, senior Maryland scientist for the Bay Foundation. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation and other conservation groups have been complimentary of the Poplar restoration and are watching the James and Barren projects closely. The twin projects will help to improve the bay ecosystem’s fragile health, engineers say, by reducing the amount of sediment that washes into nearby waters and enlarging nesting areas for rare and threatened bird species. “This area of the bay has some of the highest erosion rates,” said Ray Tracy, the Army Corps’ project manager. The $1.9 billion undertaking, known as the Mid-Chesapeake Bay Island Ecosystem Restoration, also includes using local dredge sites to add 72 acres to Barren Island, another Dorchester land mass in danger of disappearing. Once complete, James Island will encompass nearly 2,100 acres of new ground. The rebirth of James Island off Dorchester County, if all goes according to plan, will be on an even grander scale and shore up a second island as well, officials say. ![]() In need of somewhere else to deposit the sediment, the agencies are turning to a location about a dozen miles to Poplar’s south.Īfter 20 years of planning, the next phase is set to make history again. Poplar’s state and federal managers estimate that the island will reach its 1,715-acre capacity by 2030 or 2031. ![]() ![]() The new terra firma is composed of muck sucked up from the bottom of Chesapeake Bay shipping lanes, which must be cleared of sediment every year to ensure safe passage for large vessels.
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