AP: Replanting project focuses on repairing Sandy-damaged coast

[Omaha Steve]

In this Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015 photo, Ken Greene, a co-founder of the Hudson Valley Seed Library, poses with Summer Sunrise Tomatoes in a field of Gift Zinnia in Accord, N.Y. The small business 70 miles north New York City makes seeds the old fashioned way. They are largely plucked, winnowed and packed by hand. They sell only heirloom seeds or varieties naturally pollinated by the wind, insects or birds, about 400 choices. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)



In this Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015 photo, a bee works atop Gift Zinnia at Hudson Valley Seed Library in Accord, N.Y. The small business 70 miles north New York City makes seeds the old fashioned way. They are largely plucked, winnowed and packed by hand. They sell only heirloom seeds or varieties naturally pollinated by the wind, insects or birds, about 400 choices. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/4a42ffbba3e14797ab319d81f85d2129/replanting-project-focuses-repairing-sandy-damaged-coast

By AMY ANTHONY
Sep. 7, 2015 2:04 PM EDT

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Vast stretches of the iconic tall grasses that dot the Atlantic coast were destroyed during Superstorm Sandy, removing a vital protective buffer for the region's shoreline.

Now, the New England Wild Flower Society and its partners are planning to collect the seeds of native plants like saltmarsh rush and little bluestem and replant them in areas battered by the deadly 2012 storm.

The $2.3 million project will help make these habitats more resilient to future storms, especially the coastal areas that act as a buffer during storms, the Society said. For inland states, the seeds will be used to help restore river banks in areas that flooded extensively during Sandy.

The two-year project is the first large-scale, coordinated, seed banking effort in the Eastern United States. It is part of the Seeds of Success program, a national initiative the Bureau of Land Management first established in 2001. Wildlife refuges in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island are participating in the New England collection effort.

FULL story and more photos at link.