St. Joseph
Peninsula (Cape San Blas), FL - The American
Shore and Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA)
announced today that St. Joseph Peninsula is a winner of
its 2009 Best Restored Beach Award. "ASBPA created the
Best Restored Beach award in 2001 as a way of
highlighting the value of America's restored beaches,"
said Harry Simmons, mayor of Caswell Beach, N.C., and
ASBPA president. "As Americans flock to our coastline
during the upcoming beach season, most don't even
realize they may be enjoying a restored beach."
The St. Joseph Peninsula beach
restoration program began after repeat storm events
eroded the natural shoreline to a point where it would
not recover without a full nourishment project. Property
owners lobbied County Officials to begin the process for
studying the feasibility of a nourishment project of
this magnitude. After three years of research, design,
funding, permitting and completion, the restoration
became one of the fastest projects to move through the
process in the State of Florida.
"It is an incredible story on how a
small group of property owners worked with the County
Commission, stakeholders, and the environmental
community to develop a local funding source and
construct the $21 million project in such a short period
of time," said Michael Dombrowski, Project Engineer, MRD
Associates. "The project will provide years of
protection to the upland properties, which just a year
ago a 20-year storm event would have resulted in 50 to
100 structures probably being condemned."
"Seeing the beaches of Cape San
Blas restored was a dream that many thought impossible,"
said Laurel Eiler, Chairman of the Gulf County Beach
Advisory Committee. "Only by working together as a
community we able to turn this dream into reality. I am
so proud of what we've achieved. Our beaches will
provide protection of homes and enjoyment for countless
visitors in the years to come. This award from ASBPA is
a huge honor for us!"
For the last 40 years, beach
restoration has been the preferred method of shore
protection in coastal communities on the east, west and
Gulf coasts. Beach restoration is the process of placing
beach-quality sand on eroding beaches to reverse or
offset the effects of erosion.
The three main reasons for
restoration are:
Storm protection - a wide sandy beach
helps separate storm waves from upland structures and
infrastructure.
Habitat restoration - numerous species
rely on wide, healthy beaches as a place to live, feed
and nest.
Recreation enhancement- America's
beaches have twice as many visitors annually as all of
America's national parks combined. Every year, there are
over 2 billion visitors to America's beaches.
In 2007, beaches contributed $322 billion to the
America's economy. More importantly, for every dollar
the federal government spends on beach nourishment, it
gets $320 back in tax revenues. Coastal communities,
along with various planning and funding partners, have
restored more than 370 beaches in the United States,
including such iconic coastlines as Miami Beach, Coney
Island and Southern California's Venice Beach.
Paula Pickett, Gulf County Tourism Director,
explains, "In a time of economic recession, the beach is
an even more desirable destination than other domestic
and foreign alternatives. Our beaches are the economic
engine, with over 300,000 visitors coming to Gulf County
annually; we can't afford not to maintain our most
valuable asset. We are honored to be recognized for our
project, and this award is for the many people who were
involved in this accomplishment."
To enter the competition, coastal communities
nominated their restoration projects for consideration,
and an independent panel of coastal managers and
scientists selected the winners. Judging was based on
three criteria: the economic and ecological benefits the
beach brings to its community; the short- and long-term
success of the restoration project; and the challenges
each community overcame during the course of the
project.
Other beaches honored this year include: South
Padre Island, Texas; Marine Park - Bellingham, Wash.;
Fire Island (New York); Encinitas (Pacific Station),
Calif.; Lido Key, Fla.; Duval County, Fla.
Past award winners include: Panama City Beach,
Fla., in 2002; San Diego Beach in 2003; Ocean City, Md.,
in 2004; Indian River County, Fla., in 2005; Rehoboth
and Dewey Beaches in Delaware in 2006; the Chaland
Headland Restoration Project in Louisiana in 2007; and
Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle, Wash. in 2008.
