U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Dr. Mary Foley National Park Service Chief Scientist, Northeast Region

Swimming beach at Fire Island National Seashore

Ocean fishing at Sandy Hook Gateway National Recreation Area Fisherman with Tuna

Birdwatching at Fire Island National Seashore

Otis Pike Federal Wilderness Fire Island National Seashore

Saltmarsh Habitat at Assateague Island National Seashore

Citizen Scientists working with NPS Scientists at Fire Island National Seashore Volunteers assist with Horseshoe crab monitoring

Post Sandy Impacts, Recovery, Restoration and Adaptation in Coastal National Parks Beaches and Dunes and Salt Marshes of Our Coastal National Parks in NY and NJ: Provided a natural defense for coastal communities. Demonstrated natural, physical and biological resiliency, recovering quickly post Hurricane Sandy.

Gateway National Recreation Area

Big Egg Marsh Before Restoration

Gateway National Recreation Area Big Egg Marsh After Restoration

Yellow Bar Hassock, October 11, 2012 Restoration construction was ongoing at Yellow Bar Hassock in October, Much of the orange perimeter fencing was damaged and some storm debris was deposited on the marsh during Sandy; however, the newly placed sediment and recently planted marsh grass were not impacted by the storm. Approximate location and direction of this photo is indicated by a white arrow on the November 11, 2102 aerial photo below. Gateway National Recreation Area Yellow Bar Hassock - November 11, 2012

Gateway National Recreation Area Yellow Bar Hassock Restoration Close up of spartina planted just before the storm by unaffected by it.

Breezy Point Tip Gateway National Recreation Area Breezy Point Tip rolling dunes pre Sandy

Breezy Point Tip Gateway National Recreation Area

Breezy Point Tip after 10 months Gateway National Recreation Area Breezy Point by August 28, 2013 showing dune grass recovery

Breezy Point Tip Gateway National Recreation Hurricane Sandy created substantial new habitat for shorebirds especially for the endangered species, Piping Plover.

Sandy Hook Unit, Gateway National Recreation Area Little evidence that the storm had a serious direct impact on breeding or wintering birds.

Question: How do beach systems recover after storms like Sandy and does this differ from recovery from lesser storms? Objectives: Characterize recovery on management time scales (years) in order to be able to understand processes of recovery and to predict response and recovery of future storms National Park Service

Fire Island National Seashore

November 1, 2012 Wilderness Area Fire Island National Seashore

Bessie White January, 2013 June, 2014 Recovery and Resiliency Fire Island National Seashore Bessie White, November, 2012

Beach Monitoring Profiles (and periodic shoreline updates) showing beach recovery Fire Island National Seashore

Wilderness Area Breach Fire Island National Seashore

Overwash and Breaches: Form sand flats that provide important feeding areas for migratory shorebirds and habitat for Horseshoe crab spawning

Salt marsh associated with a flood tide delta from Old Inlet (active from 1763 – 1825) or Smith’s Inlet (active 1773 – 1834) Source: Salt marsh (Leatherman and Allen 1985) (Roman et al. 2007) Salt marsh development in the location of past breaches on Fire Island National Seashore Overwash and Breaches : Provide sediment for saltmarsh development widening the coastal barrier (Protective Benefits)

Overwash and Breaches: Improve Water Quality in Great South Bay Wilderness Breach July 7, 2013 New inlet diluting brown Tide with ocean water. Photo by Christopher Gobler

Overwash and Breaches: Increase Recreational and Commercial Shellfishing and Finfishing Increase Recreational and Commercial

Water levels in Great South Bay in the Vicinity of the Wilderness Breach, Fire Island National Seashore Water level records from sensors deployed near the breach during from Oct 2009 to March Source: Dr. Charles Flagg, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University. USGS study showed post Sandy extreme water levels not caused by the breach. (Aretxabaleta et. al., 2014 )

Post Sandy Impacts, Recovery, Restoration and Adaptation in Coastal National Parks The National Park Service believes that it is critical to understand coastal resilience processes and how the undeveloped coastal national parks can continue to provide natural defenses to adjacent coastal communities while providing outstanding recreational opportunities.