The Littoral Society's New York office recently received 13 boxes filled with American Beach Grass culms from Church's Garden Center in Cape May, NJ. The beach grass was generously purchased by the National Wildlife Federation in preparation for a series of planting events that will involve hundreds of students from communities across NYC.

During the next few weeks, these grasses will be planted in partnership with NYC Parks and alongside 25 school teams coordinated by the National Wildlife Federation. The purpose is to make Coney Island a more resilient place for people and the nature.

We are very excited to plant these grasses with students in order to restore and create more resilient shorelines in Brooklyn's Coney Island Creek Park. Safe to say that Don Riepe, the Littoral Society's Jamaica Bay Guardian, and Northeast Chapter Director Alexandra Kanonik will be sweeping up loose beach grass stems from the office for the rest of the Spring season!

The American Littoral Society has been a partner on the National Wildlife Federations Resilient Schools and Communities program in NYC since 2020. 

In a related event, the Littoral Society's New York State Beach Cleanup Coordinator Jessica Klich led a pop-up St. Patrick's Day cleanup along Coney Island Creek ahead of the dune grass planting days. Big thanks to our intrepid crew of seven volunteers, who picked up a total of 245 pounds of trash!

​Since 1987, March has been designated as Women's History Month, which celebrates the contributions women have made to the United States and recognizes the specific achievements women have made over the course of American history in a variety of fields.

During Women's History Month the American Littoral Society is profiling women who have made a positive impact on the environment.

Heather Robinson, Rumson Environmental Commission

What are you most proud of in your work?
I’m most proud of the work I’ve done with the Rumson Environmental Commission and the Rumson Garden Club to promote native plants and green infrastructure.  We have two rain gardens installed, at Forrestdale School and Victory Park (in Rumson Borough), and our third will be planted this spring at Riverside Park.

With horseshoe crab spawning season fast approaching, the Littoral Society's restoration team have been pushing hard to complete our National Fish and Wildlife Foundation funded habitat restoration efforts in Fortescue, NJ.

Our project team was able to place 10,000 cubic yards of sand on the town's south end beach to complement the 35,000 cubic yards of sand placed last year in conjunction with the NJ Department of Transportation Office of Maritime Resources’ channel maintenance in Fortescue Creek.

This year’s sand placement was focused on a bend in the beach face where erosion is especially harsh. This is also where we are placing a series of three 100-foot-long rock breakwaters just offshore to reduce the waves’ punishing assault on the beach.

By adding sand and breakwaters we are creating suitable horseshoe crab spawning beaches sheltered from disruptive waves and adding to the availability of foraging areas for migratory birds, including the threatened Red Knot.