The Panhandle Dune Ecosystem Project

Grayton Beach State Park

This project focuses on two coastal units at the park—the Main Park Beach and Pine Street units. These two sites consist of approximately 1.5 miles of beach, dune, and scrub habitats alongside three coastal dune lakes, a unique geological feature that occurs only in a few places in the world. The dune system has not entirely recovered from significant storm surges in 1995, 2004, and 2005, resulting in weakened, non-contiguous, and less diverse primary and secondary dunes.

Deerlake State Park

This project focuses on the coastal unit of the park located south of Highway 30A and consists of approximately 0.5 miles of beach, dune, and scrub habitats alongside a coastal dune lake. The State Park is actively managed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Recreation and Parks for several state and federally listed species, water quality, invasive species, and public use and access. Increased storm activity has shortened the duration of recovery windows for dune vegetation and subsequent sand accretion, resulting in more extensive beach erosion.

Gulfarium

Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park provided a unique opportunity to restore a patch of dune habitat within one of the most highly developed sections of Okaloosa Island’s beaches (February 2024). The site’s dunes are subject to less human disturbance with tightly controlled visitor access, offering important protection for restoration plantings and beach mouse activity. Additionally, the project adds value to the Park’s existing dune habitat educational exhibits and signage by giving visitors a close up look at dune restoration and its benefits in real time.

Eglin Air Force Base

East Santa Rosa Island has four beach access points that impact dune system health. Open to the general public, the Airman’s Beach, Matterhorn Dune and Beach, and Princess Beach accesses needed assistance with access and erosion. The area also contains the remnants of two large oblique dune systems that are indicative of an old, stable system. With the addition of new dune vegetation (February 2024), the project team hopes to see improvement against erosion and human disturbance while also enhancing habitat quality/connectivity and storm protection.

Perdido Key State Park

This state park is an area that has been impacted heavily by the surrounding development of Perdido Key. This project will focus on the areas most impacted after Hurricane Sally that include the west end of the park and the two visitor access paths. By planting native dune vegetation at the park, the project can help prevent erosion by human disturbance as well as help grow and stabilize the frontline barrier that is needed to protect park infrastructure and habitat from wash over and wind damage.

Johnson Beach

Johnson Beach is part of Gulf Islands National Seashore and is one of the most visited beaches in the Panhandle. This project aims to assist with the ongoing issues of dune erosion, access control, and protection of the federally listed Perdido Key Beach mouse. With the addition of native dune vegetation and proper fencing, park infrastructure and habitat will be better protected and connected while also keeping the public out of the dunes.

Escambia County Beach Access Points

This project is focusing on three public beach access points in Perdido Key that are in need of assistance with human disturbance and erosion. These access paths are heavily used and coupled with frequent storm activity have resulted in the impairment of dune stabilization and growth. The addition of native dune vegetation will not only help control erosion created by humans and vehicles but will also create a frontline barrier against storm surge for county development.

Eastern Perdido Key

Eastern Perdido Key is the remaining portion of the Gulf Islands National Seashore's PK unit. The entirety of this area has faced extreme erosion due to heavy visitor use and frequent storms, including Hurricane Sally in 2020. This site is very narrow and regularly experiences extreme wash over. The team anticipates that by adding native dune vegetation along the island, we can increase the resiliency of park infrastructure and the system as a whole, add diversity that has been lost and unable to recover, and restore a natural pathway for the endangered Perdido Key beach mouse to travel across the site.

St. Andrews State Park

St. Andrews State Park is a smaller site that experiences heavy erosion and high visitor use along its beach. With the recent completion of a beach nourishment project that helped widen the beach, native dune vegetation can be planted to assist with keeping sand in place and creating dunes. The addition of plants will increase resiliency of the system as a whole and protect park infrastructure as well as existing dune features.

Grayton Beach State Park

This project focuses on two coastal units at the park—the Main Park Beach and Pine Street units. These two sites consist of approximately 1.5 miles of beach, dune, and scrub habitats alongside three coastal dune lakes, a unique geological feature that occurs only in a few places in the world. The dune system has not entirely recovered from significant storm surges in 1995, 2004, and 2005, resulting in weakened, non-contiguous, and less diverse primary and secondary dunes.

Deerlake State Park

This project focuses on the coastal unit of the park located south of Highway 30A and consists of approximately 0.5 miles of beach, dune, and scrub habitats alongside a coastal dune lake. The State Park is actively managed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Recreation and Parks for several state and federally listed species, water quality, invasive species, and public use and access. Increased storm activity has shortened the duration of recovery windows for dune vegetation and subsequent sand accretion, resulting in more extensive beach erosion.

Gulfarium

Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park provided a unique opportunity to restore a patch of dune habitat within one of the most highly developed sections of Okaloosa Island’s beaches (February 2024). The site’s dunes are subject to less human disturbance with tightly controlled visitor access, offering important protection for restoration plantings and beach mouse activity. Additionally, the project adds value to the Park’s existing dune habitat educational exhibits and signage by giving visitors a close up look at dune restoration and its benefits in real time.

Eglin Air Force Base

East Santa Rosa Island has four beach access points that impact dune system health. Open to the general public, the Airman’s Beach, Matterhorn Dune and Beach, and Princess Beach accesses needed assistance with access and erosion. The area also contains the remnants of two large oblique dune systems that are indicative of an old, stable system. With the addition of new dune vegetation (February 2024), the project team hopes to see improvement against erosion and human disturbance while also enhancing habitat quality/connectivity and storm protection.

Perdido Key State Park

This state park is an area that has been impacted heavily by the surrounding development of Perdido Key. This project will focus on the areas most impacted after Hurricane Sally that include the west end of the park and the two visitor access paths. By planting native dune vegetation at the park, the project can help prevent erosion by human disturbance as well as help grow and stabilize the frontline barrier that is needed to protect park infrastructure and habitat from wash over and wind damage.

Johnson Beach

Johnson Beach is part of Gulf Islands National Seashore and is one of the most visited beaches in the Panhandle. This project aims to assist with the ongoing issues of dune erosion, access control, and protection of the federally listed Perdido Key Beach mouse. With the addition of native dune vegetation and proper fencing, park infrastructure and habitat will be better protected and connected while also keeping the public out of the dunes.

Escambia County Beach Access Points

This project is focusing on three public beach access points in Perdido Key that are in need of assistance with human disturbance and erosion. These access paths are heavily used and coupled with frequent storm activity have resulted in the impairment of dune stabilization and growth. The addition of native dune vegetation will not only help control erosion created by humans and vehicles but will also create a frontline barrier against storm surge for county development.

Eastern Perdido Key

Eastern Perdido Key is the remaining portion of the Gulf Islands National Seashore's PK unit. The entirety of this area has faced extreme erosion due to heavy visitor use and frequent storms, including Hurricane Sally in 2020. This site is very narrow and regularly experiences extreme wash over. The team anticipates that by adding native dune vegetation along the island, we can increase the resiliency of park infrastructure and the system as a whole, add diversity that has been lost and unable to recover, and restore a natural pathway for the endangered Perdido Key beach mouse to travel across the site.

St. Andrews State Park

St. Andrews State Park is a smaller site that experiences heavy erosion and high visitor use along its beach. With the recent completion of a beach nourishment project that helped widen the beach, native dune vegetation can be planted to assist with keeping sand in place and creating dunes. The addition of plants will increase resiliency of the system as a whole and protect park infrastructure as well as existing dune features.