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  • February

    Restoration Regulation

    A $30 million project on the Manokin River in Somerset County is on track to be the world’s largest oyster restoration effort. For any restoration project, permits are required to evaluate potential project impacts - both positive and negative - on the environment before work can proceed. While USACE has been the lead for reef construction efforts on other tributaries, in the case of the Manokin, USACE played the role of regulator.

  • July

    Man in front of sign that reads, "CAUTION Access Point Between Reefs" and holds drill

    Seagrass restoration part of lower Chesapeake Bay Watershed ecosystem project

    The Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers placed safety signage for the Lynnhaven River Basin Ecosystem Restoration Project’s submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) planting efforts in Broad Bay, near First Landing State Park, within the Lynnhaven River watershed, July 30.

  • May

    MATHEWS COUNTY, VA – Contractors use a crane to place granite along the bottom of the Piankatank River near Gwynn, Virginia. The granite is being used to create 25 acres of new sanctuary reef habitat for oysters in the river. (U.S. Army photo/Patrick Bloodgood)

    Reef building to begin on Piankatank River

    Oysters are receiving a new $2 million, 25 acre reef in the Piankatank River as part of the Chesapeake Bay Oyster Recovery Project.
  • Piankatank River Oyster Restoration Location Map

    Reef building to begin on Piankatank River

    Oysters are receiving a new $2 million, 25 acre reef in the Piankatank River as part of the Chesapeake Bay Oyster Recovery Project.

  • April

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, along with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Oyster Recovery Partnership, resumes oyster restoration on approximately 10 acres in the Tred Avon River sanctuary, April 18, 2017. (U.S. Army photo by Sean Fritzges)

    Oyster restoration resumes in Tred Avon River sanctuary

    The Baltimore District along with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Oyster Recovery Partnership resumed oyster restoration on approximately 10 acres in the Tred Avon River sanctuary, April 18, 2017. This restoration effort was included as an option as part of an approximately $ 1-million contract awarded Sept. 26, 2016, to Blue Forge LLC that entailed the restoration of eight acres of mixed-shell reef in the Tred Avon.
  • The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, along with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Oyster Recovery Partnership, resumes oyster restoration on approximately 10 acres in the Tred Avon River sanctuary, April 18, 2017. (U.S. Army photo by Sean Fritzges)

    Oyster restoration resumes in Tred Avon River sanctuary

    The Baltimore District along with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Oyster Recovery Partnership resumed oyster restoration on approximately 10 acres in the Tred Avon River sanctuary, April 18, 2017. This restoration effort was included as an option as part of an approximately $ 1-million contract awarded Sept. 26, 2016, to Blue Forge LLC that entailed the restoration of eight acres of mixed-shell reef in the Tred Avon.

  • September

    Corps of Engineers awards contract to resume oyster restoration in Tred Avon River

    The Baltimore District awarded an approximately $1-million contract Sept. 26, 2016, to Blue Forge LLC to construct oyster reefs in the Tred Avon River Oyster Sanctuary in Talbot County. Eight acres of reef are planned for construction using mixed shell with the option for an additional 10 acres. Work will occur between December 2016 and March 2017. The Oyster Advisory Committee recommended Aug. 1, 2016, that the Corps and non-federal sponsor Maryland Department of Natural Resources continue oyster restoration in the Tred Avon River after an initial delay was requested in December 2015 to review restoration progress.

  • Corps of Engineers awards contract to resume oyster restoration in Tred Avon River

    The Baltimore District awarded an approximately $1-million contract Sept. 26, 2016, to Blue Forge LLC to construct oyster reefs in the Tred Avon River Oyster Sanctuary in Talbot County. Eight acres of reef are planned for construction using mixed shell with the option for an additional 10 acres. Work will occur between December 2016 and March 2017. The Oyster Advisory Committee recommended Aug. 1, 2016, that the Corps and non-federal sponsor Maryland Department of Natural Resources continue oyster restoration in the Tred Avon River after an initial delay was requested in December 2015 to review restoration progress.

  • August

    Army Corps of Engineers implements federal process improvements for oyster aquaculture in Chesapeake Bay

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District (Corps) has decided to reinstate, effective today, August 16, 2016, the suspended 2012 Nationwide Permit #48 (NWP #48) with revised regional conditions for new and existing commercial shellfish aquaculture activities in Maryland tidal waters, pursuant to Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.

  • Army Corps of Engineers implements federal process improvements for oyster aquaculture in Chesapeake Bay

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District (Corps) has decided to reinstate, effective today, August 16, 2016, the suspended 2012 Nationwide Permit #48 (NWP #48) with revised regional conditions for new and existing commercial shellfish aquaculture activities in Maryland tidal waters, pursuant to Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.

  • July

    Corps of Engineers, DNR request comments on oyster restoration in shallower waters in Tred Avon River

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District (Corps), and non-federal sponsor Maryland Department of Natural Resources (MD DNR) have initiated a public review, July 19, 2016, on oyster restoration into shallower water depths than are currently allowed in the Tred Avon River Oyster Sanctuary in Talbot County. This work supports large-scale oyster restoration efforts in the Chesapeake Bay, as part of the Native Oyster Restoration Master Plan (2012) that was developed in coordination with several federal and state agencies.

  • May

    Corps of Engineers, partners start oyster restoration in the Tred Avon River, as restoration in Harris Creek nears completion

    Baltimore District and partners began constructing oyster reefs in the Tred Avon River, April 30, 2015, just as restoration on 370 acres wraps up in Harris Creek. These efforts are part of the Maryland statewide oyster restoration program that identifies tributaries in the Chesapeake Bay for restoration.

  • December

    Kristen Donofrio, a biological scientist with the Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers since 2009. Her passion is ecology - the study of environmental systems, or as it is sometimes called, the economy of nature. According to Donofrio, environmental usually means relating to the natural, versus human-made world, and by its very nature, not just the components of nature but how the parts interact.

    Careers don’t always STEM from childhood dreams

    On sunny days, Kristen Donofrio’s long strides carry her toward her beloved sport bike. The biologist reaches the parking spot and swings a leg over her cobalt blue motorcycle, slides a slick, made-for-speed helmet over her dark brown bob, and turns the engine over. Her pianist fingers play over the bike’s grips, and she launches herself into Norfolk’s afternoon traffic. On the ride home, shorelines and wetlands churning with life blur past her – ecosystems that, as a biologist, she is committed to saving.

  • October

    Jennifer Armstrong (right), a Norfolk District project manager, shows Jo-Ellen Darcy, the assistant secretary of the Army for civil works, fossilized oyster shell stored at the district's Craney Island Dredge Material Management Area in Portsmouth, Va. The shell is destined to be used in Corps sanctuary oyster reefs in the Elizabeth River as part of the Craney Island Eastward Expansion project environmental mitigation plan. The mountainous piles of shell were obtained from the Commonwealth of Virginia through an agreement between the Norfolk District and the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. (U.S. Army photo/Patrick Bloodgood)

    Going big: district tackles oysters, Lynnhaven

    Contractors for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are moving mountains of fossil oyster shell from Craney Island in Portsmouth, Va., to build 16 acres of sanctuary reefs in Elizabeth River and some of its tributaries, while the work to bring environmental restoration on the Lynnhaven River is ongoing.
  • Jennifer Armstrong (right), a Norfolk District project manager, shows Jo-Ellen Darcy, the assistant secretary of the Army for civil works, fossilized oyster shell stored at the district's Craney Island Dredge Material Management Area in Portsmouth, Va. The shell is destined to be used in Corps sanctuary oyster reefs in the Elizabeth River as part of the Craney Island Eastward Expansion project environmental mitigation plan. The mountainous piles of shell were obtained from the Commonwealth of Virginia through an agreement between the Norfolk District and the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. (U.S. Army photo/Patrick Bloodgood)

    Going big: district tackles oysters, Lynnhaven

    Contractors for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are moving mountains of fossil oyster shell from Craney Island in Portsmouth, Va., to build 16 acres of sanctuary reefs in Elizabeth River and some of its tributaries.

  • July

    Location where the six reefs will be constructed.

    Craney Island’s oyster mitigation project set for summer launch

    Oysters are expanding their real estate in the Elizabeth River and Hoffler Creek this summer, thanks to a USACE, VPA partnership to construct 16 acres of oyster reef, part of the Craney Island Eastward Expansion project.
  • PORTSMOUTH, Va. -- The Craney Island Dredged Material Management Area here is a temporary home for thousands of cubic yards of dredged fossil shell being dredged from Tribell Shoal in the James River. On July 8, the site began storing the shell, which will be used for the construction of six oyster reefs for the Craney Island Eastward Expansion project. Construction of the $3.6 million environmental restoration project is set to begin in August of this year. Reefs will be built in Hoffler Creek, Baines Creek, Blows Creek, the Lafayette River and two in Gilligan’s Creek.

    Craney Island’s oyster mitigation project set for summer launch

    Oysters are expanding their real estate in the Elizabeth River and Hoffler Creek this summer.

  • April

    Going Green: Army Corps unveils new master plan for oyster recovery

    Since the turn of the 20th century, oyster populations in the Chesapeake Bay have declined dramatically, largely due to disease, overharvesting, loss of habitat, and degraded water quality. With the State of Maryland placing increased emphasis on restoring the Chesapeake Bay, oyster restoration remains paramount in improving the Bay's vitality.