Projects and Research

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently oversaw the completion of a construction project that added more than 20,000 feet of protective sand and rock structures at Fog Point, a coastal section of Martin National Wildlife Refuge.  Utilizing federal Hurricane Sandy resiliency funds, this project will help reduce shoreline erosion, provide habitat for aquatic species and protect 1,200 acres of interior tidal high marsh against the effects of future storms. The living shoreline also will enhance the natural defenses of saltwater habitats important to the island's soft crab fishery, a natural resource upon which many local residents of Smith Island depend for their livelihoods.