OCEAN ISLE, N.C. — Dunes represent a natural coastal protection measure. Henry Cooke is trying to revitalize them in Brunswick County, making the beach fronts a buildable space and safer from flooding issues.
“Without an adequate dune system for protection, the town will not issue a permit to build housing,” Cooke said.
Homes are not built on the dunes themselves, but rather near the dune lines. However, the ground isn’t stable enough for construction, according to Cooke, who is working to make a difference on that front.
Dunes are essentially small sand hills, built up to serve as a defensive line against floods from hurricanes and other storms. Many are protected by different laws and ordnances to keep people from damaging them.
Cooke started Dune Doctor LLC as a way to help the beaches he loves. He began this journey to help the dunes after his family lost their real estate business in Brunswick County.
“We were unable to make any kind of profit last year due to two storms back-to-back, which took our entire rental season for an entire year,” Cooke said.
Cooke is now using plants to stabilize the beaches and help keep sand from washing away. He said it’s important to use native plants, including American Beach Grass.
“[It’s] native to North Carolina, and they are pasture grown in a field the same as tobacco or another plant. Just the same. They’re hardy, which makes them hardy and makes them stronger. They’ve already endured the wind and the cold,” Cooke said.
Cooke isn’t the only one trying to revitalize the beaches, however, as many towns across North Carolina are now using dredging, a process that involves pumping sand from the sea and adding it back to the shores to build up the beach.
“Dredging is the other side of it. We work with the sand. They work with the sand, but they’re just in the water, and they move it around a little bit differently, depending on when they depend on water. It’s a much bigger job that they do, but it’s very important, especially in this coast of North Carolina,” Cooke said.
Cooke said his efforts to replant the beaches are just one small piece to revitalizing them. As more dredging projects happen, the extra sand they dig up helps these beaches grow and gives Cooke and his team more to work with.
“It has helped. And I would say with the most recent job of dredging here, we’ve if not doubled, maybe even more, this the width of the entire beach here,” Cooke said. “I was here last year measuring for these plants, and we didn’t have near as much.”
Spectrum News Staff
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