By DEIRDRE STILES, UNE Communications Specialist
BIDDEFORD, Maine — For the second year in a row, University of New England students will help the Biddeford Pool Conservation Trust plant dune grass along a section of beach in Biddeford Pool to help make the beaches more climate resilient.
On Tuesday, March 10, from 11:30 to about 1:40 p.m. about 16 students from Assistant Professor Will Kochtitzky’s Geographic Information System (GIS) course will aid Biddeford Pool Conservation Trust President Lucie Fontein and around 10 volunteers from the nonprofit to plant dune grass in the three-day effort.
The same volunteer effort was taken last year to address the dune loss that resulted from the 2024 back-to-back January storms that caused an estimated $90 million in damages along the Maine coast, according to the state. This year, the Conservation Trust purchased 66% more dune grass: 20,000 stalks that will cover an estimated 20,000 square feet of beach.
The dune-grass initiative also will launch a new research project. This year dune grass stalks will be planted at both 18 inches and 12 inches apart, two different approaches that Kochtitzky’s classes will study in the years ahead using drone analysis and GPS surveys to determine the most effective method.
The Biddeford Pool Conservation Trust’s volunteer dune grass planting initiative is unique in that many nonprofits and coastal homeowners hire companies to plant dune grass to make beaches more resilient, but the Conservation Trust bought the dune grass independently and then recruited volunteers to assist in planting the grass.
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