Volunteers hope to restore Island dunes

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND - The wispy stalks of sea oats and bitter panicum sporadically sprouting from the South Padre Island sands might not look like much now.

However, Nicole Eckstrom of the Galveston nonprofit organization Artist Boat hopes that the small plants will restore sand dunes eroded by Hurricane Dolly.

"Sand dunes are our first line of defense when a storm hits," said Eckstrom, who had to leave Galveston during Hurricane Ike and has since been living with her parents in Laguna Vista.

On Saturday, more than 150 volunteers from Artist Boat, the University of Texas-Brownsville and Texas Southmost College, and Port Isabel gathered on the beach to plant more than 1 1/2 acres of railroad vine, sea purslane, beach morning glory, sea oats and bitter panicum that will help sand collect in the regions of the beach usually occupied by sand dunes.

Saturday's project was made possible by a $50,000 grant given to Artist Boat by the Gulf of Mexico Foundation to educate people about habitat restoration.

After Ike, Eckstrom said she and her coworkers have struggled to continue the work they had started.

"We lost about 70 percent of our equipment," Eckstrom said. "Our office is still closed, so we're all trying to keep it going however we can."

Then she saw a local opportunity to continue the restoration she had started.

Town employees placed squares of fencing around sections of the plants to prevent beach-goers from stepping on them.

Port Isabel Junior High School National Junior Honor Society members were among those who gathered at the beach to plant for several hours.

Their sponsor, teacher Carmen Solis, said she remembers a different beach when she was her students' age.

"The sand dunes used to be everywhere," she said. "I came back and I was amazed at the erosion."

Solis said she was glad to help return the beach to its former beauty.

Eckstrom hopes this will lead to something more.

"The more people do for their environment, they're more likely to care for it in the future," she said. "Maybe just doing this will spark an appreciation that hadn't existed before."