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Restoration of Wind-tidal Flats Damaged by Off-road Driving
Padre Island National Seashore » Restoration of Wind-tidal Flats Damaged by Off-road Driving » Document List
Padre Island National Seashore is proposing to restore areas within the park's wind-tidal flats that have been damaged by off-road vehicles. The project would restore the surface hydrology of the tidal flats and allow for recovery of algal mats.
Wind-tidal flats are a very limited and specialized environment existing within a few centimeters of sea-level. As a result, wind-driven seawater moving across the flats is vulnerable to disruption from any change in topography. Vehicles driven on the tidal flats leave deep ruts and ridges in the soft sediment, which alter the natural surface flow of seawater. This damage may last decades, as there is very little wave energy necessary to resuspend and move the sediments.
Benthic invertebrates, such as polychaetes, crustaceans, and insect larvae, are vulnerable to the change in water level, and are often starved of seawaters. Blue-green algal mats, also dependent on the ebbing and flowing of Laguna Madre waters across the flats, provide some of the most productive shorebird feeding grounds. As a result of impacts to the algal flats and invertebrates, shorebirds, such as Reddish egret, Long-billed curlew, American oystercatcher, and the federally-listed Piping plover and Red knot, have lost potential foraging habitat.
A fundamental policy of the National Park Service is to preserve park resources to the extent that the resources will be left unimpaired for future generations. Tire tracks left behind by vehicles alter the physical, biological, and aesthetic components of these valuable wetlands, and may take years to decades to recover naturally.
The Seashore will be considering alternatives including:
• Restoring hydrology of tidal flats by physically returning the areas of tracks to natural elevations. Methods may include loosening the compacted sediments and flattening ridges using various hand tools
• Restoring hydrology of tidal flats by filling ruts with sand or a mixture of sand and organic material collected nearby
• Encouraging regrowth of algal mats on restored tire tracks by placing small algal plugs collected nearby
• Taking "no action" to restore damaged tidal flats, leaving the area impaired until geologic and biological processes eventually return the environment to a more natural state
In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), an Environmental Assessment (EA) will be prepared for this project. This process will provide the decision-making framework that (1) analyzes a reasonable range of alternatives to meet project objectives, and (2) evaluates issues and impacts to park resources and values.
Wind-tidal flats are a very limited and specialized environment existing within a few centimeters of sea-level. As a result, wind-driven seawater moving across the flats is vulnerable to disruption from any change in topography. Vehicles driven on the tidal flats leave deep ruts and ridges in the soft sediment, which alter the natural surface flow of seawater. This damage may last decades, as there is very little wave energy necessary to resuspend and move the sediments.
Benthic invertebrates, such as polychaetes, crustaceans, and insect larvae, are vulnerable to the change in water level, and are often starved of seawaters. Blue-green algal mats, also dependent on the ebbing and flowing of Laguna Madre waters across the flats, provide some of the most productive shorebird feeding grounds. As a result of impacts to the algal flats and invertebrates, shorebirds, such as Reddish egret, Long-billed curlew, American oystercatcher, and the federally-listed Piping plover and Red knot, have lost potential foraging habitat.
A fundamental policy of the National Park Service is to preserve park resources to the extent that the resources will be left unimpaired for future generations. Tire tracks left behind by vehicles alter the physical, biological, and aesthetic components of these valuable wetlands, and may take years to decades to recover naturally.
The Seashore will be considering alternatives including:
• Restoring hydrology of tidal flats by physically returning the areas of tracks to natural elevations. Methods may include loosening the compacted sediments and flattening ridges using various hand tools
• Restoring hydrology of tidal flats by filling ruts with sand or a mixture of sand and organic material collected nearby
• Encouraging regrowth of algal mats on restored tire tracks by placing small algal plugs collected nearby
• Taking "no action" to restore damaged tidal flats, leaving the area impaired until geologic and biological processes eventually return the environment to a more natural state
In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), an Environmental Assessment (EA) will be prepared for this project. This process will provide the decision-making framework that (1) analyzes a reasonable range of alternatives to meet project objectives, and (2) evaluates issues and impacts to park resources and values.