Politics & Government

Moran, Department of Interior Officials to Announce Dyke Marsh Restoration Funding

Sen. Tim Kaine and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell will join other local officials to make the announcement Tuesday morning.

Rep. Jim Moran recently announced that nearly $25 million in investments has been received from major federal funding for the restoration of Dyke Marsh in the Alexandria area.

The funding is part of a $162 million investment by Interior in 45 restoration and research projects to restore wetlands and beaches, rebuild shorelines and research the impacts and modeling mitigation of storm surges. 

According to a recent news release, the funds were awarded as part of the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, and will immediately go toward restoration and long term preservation of the marsh.

“Dyke Marsh is the largest freshwater tidal wetlands in this area – its 485 acres offer us a truly unique window to an earlier time,” said Moran in a prepared statement. “Decimated by years of commercial dredging and naturally occurring storm surges, this federal investment will return the marsh to its former beauty and provide some resiliency to an area prone to flooding.”

Moran, along with the Department of Interior officials and Sen. Tim Kaine, will make a public announcement Tuesday at Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve in the Belle Haven Marina parking lot.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell will also join Kaine, Moran and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation at National Park Service’s Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve to mark the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy. The ceremony will include the announcement to launch a $100 million Hurricane Sandy Coastal Resiliency Competitive Grant Program.

"The program will use competitive grants to award funding for science-based solutions by States, local communities, non-profit organizations and other partners to help restore key habitats and bolster natural systems, enabling these areas to withstand the impacts and better protect local communities from future storms," according to a news release.

Following the announcement, Jewell will join local officials and students from the Alexandria Seaport Foundation to participate in a STEM-based outdoor learning activity in the marsh.


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