None The Nature Conservancy in Virginia Press Releases Search All Press Releases David Dadurka 240-731-1606 ddadurka@tnc.org Joe Scalf 757-442-3049 jscalf@tnc.org

Nature Conservancy Rebuilds Forests, Restores Migratory Bird Habitat on Eastern Shore

North American Wetlands Conservation Act grant provides funds to plant 95,000 native hardwood trees and 25,000 native shrubs

NASSAWADOX, VA — The Nature Conservancy today began planting 95,000 native hardwood trees and 25,000 native shrubs on three Eastern Shore sites. The project is designed to restore coastal habitat for birds and other wildlife and help protect Chesapeake Bay water quality.

“This is the first substantial attempt on the Eastern Shore to restore high-quality habitat for migratory birds on a large scale,” said Joe Scalf, habitat restoration specialist for the Conservancy’s Virginia Coast Reserve.

The tree and shrub plantings, which are being conducted by Staunton-based Conservation Services Inc., are made possible through a North American Wetlands Conservation Act grant. Totaling 300 acres, the planting sites include Kiptopeke State Park and two Nature Conservancy properties.  The latter includes the site overlooking the Chesapeake Bay that the Conservancy purchased last year from Eastern Shore farmers Russell R. Dixon and Thomas H. Dixon. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Coastal Program is providing additional funding for the planting.

“We are trying to piece the forests of the Eastern Shore back together by filling in the gaps,” Scalf said. “The Eastern Shore is a critical flyway for migratory songbirds. Its forests and shrubs serve as rich feeding and resting habitats essential to the birds’ survival. These trees also will help provide greater protection for water quality and reduce the amount of pollution, such as sediment and nutrient runoff, that seeps into the Chesapeake Bay.” 

Habitat restoration is a key Conservancy strategy for combating threats posed by inappropriate coastal development and other types of habitat fragmentation.

Conservation Services Inc. will plant a variety of native tree and shrub species that provide sustenance and refuge for wildlife while protecting water quality. For example, the black gum tree, also known as tupelo, produces a tart blue fruit in the fall and winter that many birds and mammals relish. Its limbs also deteriorate early on in its life cycle, creating den holes for squirrels, raccoons, opossums and honeybees. Other native species to be planted include hackberry, sassafras, yaupon holly and flowering dogwood.

In 2005, the Conservancy was awarded a $918,736 NAWCA grant to help fund a series of conservation projects, called The Southern Tip Ecological Partnership I Project (STEP I). The project aims to protect important bird areas on the Eastern Shore and restore wetland and forest habitats that, through decades of logging, farming and development, have become rare on the Atlantic Coast. 

The Nature Conservancy, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation are key partners in STEP I. The project also will be supported by $2.4 million in matching funds provided, in part, by conservation easements donated by private landowners to The Nature Conservancy and the Eastern Shore of Virginia Land Trust.

The Virginia Coast Reserve’s great ecological and cultural significance has been recognized through the following designations: UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Reserve, U.S. Department of the Interior National Natural Landmark, National Science Foundation Long Term Ecological Research Site and Western Hemisphere International Shorebird Reserve Network Site.