Assateague State Park Changes Planned For Fall

ASSATEAGUE – Officials with Assateague State Park unveiled plans for a two-phased project last week that will relocate campground roads and fortify sand dunes.

Park Manager Angela Baldwin said a plan to redesign campground access began six years ago, in an effort to fix the eroding sand dunes and protect what is behind it.

“The plan has been in the works for a number of years now,” she said. “There were a number of steps involved.”

The campgrounds at Assateague State Park are sectioned into roads called loops. Each loop is U-shaped and contains an entrance, exit, and several camp sites in between.

The first phase of the Campground Improvement Project will shift six of these loops – C, D, E, F, G and H – back 20-100 feet to allow space for the dune system to move westward.

Although the loops will retain their shape, Baldwin said many of the eastern-most camp sites located at the curved portion of the road will either be relocated or eliminated.

Currently, eight sites will be eliminated from the campground, but remaining areas will either be relocated to spaces between other sites or to a southern location in Camp Loop J, called walk-in sites.

These walk-in sites will be the park’s first attempt to create sustainable and secluded campground areas, according to Baldwin.

“It’s a little more primitive, but folks will really like them because they are off the beaten path,” Baldwin said.

Phase I will begin after the campground closes later this fall and will finish before reopening in the spring of next year.

The second phase of improvements will begin in the fall of 2018 and will focus on reinforcing existing dunes.

Officials plan to broaden and strengthen the dune system by adding sand on its west side, installing fences and planting grass.

Baldwin said the intensity of storms, rising sea levels and high tides have affected the dune system more in recent years and officials now need to take preventative measures to protect the resources and amenities with in the park.

“That is what we continue to see and it has been progressing over many years,” she said. “The goal is to continue to allow access to the park and have an accessible beach that is safe for the public to use and have a dune to protect it.”

The Critical Area Commission will review the project in an upcoming meeting, and members of the public are encouraged to submit comments to [email protected] until Feb. 27.

“We are looking for ways to make the island accessible and have as many amenities as we can, but conditions are changing,” Baldwin said. “It’s a gradual process and we are doing it so the public can enjoy what they have always enjoyed.”

About The Author: Bethany Hooper

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Bethany Hooper has been with The Dispatch since 2016. She currently covers various general stories. Hooper graduated from Stephen Decatur High School in 2012 and the University of Maryland in 2016, where she completed double majors in journalism and economics.