Central Region Restoration & Education: Jones Island

jones-island

Jones Island Begins New Life As Environmental Education Center

Jones Island, in the middle of the White Oak River near Swansboro and one of three islands in Hammocks Beach State Park, has begun a new life as an the Environmental Education and Restoration Center. [ Map ] 

The N.C. Coastal Federation has partnered with the park to establish and operate the center to promote coastal stewardship by teaching people about restoring coastal habitat and protecting water quality. Throughout the summer, visitors to the island will help plant grasses to create marshes and build small offshore walls of oyster shells. The projects will stabilize eroding shorelines, improve water quality and create marine habitat.  While working on the projects, visitors will learn about the ecosystems and environment of the White Oak River and how they can protect these vital coastal habitats.

Restoration Projects

jones-restorationThe federation bought much of Jones Island in 2005 and donated it to Hammocks Beach. It began restoring oyster and marsh habitat on the island two years later to protect and stabilize an eroding shoreline and to create additional marshes and oyster reefs. More than 1,700 volunteers have logged more than 10,350 hours helping with shoreline plantings, bagging recycled oyster shells and marl and then moving and placing these bags in the water to create oyster reefs. Volunteers have so far:

  • Planted over 43,000 marsh plants.
  • Created 700 feet of sills, or small walls, using over 6,400 bags of recycled shells and marl.
  • Deployed more than 10,000 bags of oyster shells and marls create more than two acres of new oyster reefs.

The work on Jones Island has attracted students and scientists from the universities of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Wilmington and Charlotte, who now conduct research on oysters, habitat and water quality. 

Numerous partners have helped pay for the work: the N.C. Division of Soil and Water Conservation’s Community Conservation Assistance Program, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Community-Based Restoration Program and Restore America’s Estuaries, a coalition of 11 conservation organizations that includes the federation. Project partners include Hammocks Beach State Park and the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries.

Educational Projects

The federation pairs the restoration of the island with educational programs for school groups and the public on habitat restoration, water quality, oyster reef habitat and estuaries. The programs usually included a hands-on component to allow students to pull a seine net through marsh waters to discover the diversity of its inhabitants.

For more information, please contact Sam Bland.

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