City of Cape Canaveral to Host Huge Sea Oats Volunteer Planting Event on Feb. 15

Since 2005, volunteers and City Staff have planted 196,838 sea oats

BREVARD COUNTY • CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA — The City of Cape Canaveral will hold one of its largest volunteer planting events in the community’s history on Saturday, February 15, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with plans to plant 19,776 more sea oats across nearly two miles of our beach-facing dunes.

Years of education and excellent results have reinforced the success of this program. Since 2005, volunteers and City Staff have planted 196,838 sea oats. Each year, the City uses Brevard County’s Sea Oat Sales Program to acquire sea oats.

The City hosts an annual sea oat planting event to maintain and continually strengthen its dune system. Sea oats are a perennial grass native to the southeast of the US, found anywhere from Texas to Virginia.

As they grow, the roots of the plants burrow down several feet and form complex webs, which stabilize the dunes and hold them in place. Above ground, the sea oat’s long, wispy reeds catch windblown sand, often leading to a buildup of material at the base of the plants.

Over time, this buildup will cause the dunes to increase in height. This height increase adds to the overall resilience of the beach by allowing it to be able to stop higher tides and storm surges from breaching the dunes. Wherever possible, the City of Cape Canaveral utilizes green infrastructure to increase its resilience against climate hazards such as coastal flooding and sea level rise.

Being a barrier island municipality, the City regularly contends with increasingly powerful tropical cyclones and king tides. The City’s beach and its vegetated dune system are the first line of defense when mitigating the impacts of these hazards.

Since 2005, the City has spent just over $100,000 on this program, a relatively small investment compared to savings by protecting tens of millions of dollars in infrastructure and thousands of lives behind this enhanced dune line.

According to the City’s 2021 Resiliency Action Plan, Preparedness Target #11, page 49, the City will plant over 220,000 sea oats beachside by 2036. At the current rate of plantings, the City will meet this target ten years ahead of schedule.

• 2005: 2,950 sea oats planted
• 2006: 9,600 sea oats planted
• 2007: 9,600 sea oats planted
• 2008: 5,000 sea oats planted
• 2009: 7,500 sea oats planted
• 2010: 7,500 sea oats planted
• 2011: 8,000 sea oats planted
• 2012: 7,200 sea oats planted
• 2013: 7,200 sea oats planted
• 2014: 7,700 sea oats planted
• 2015: 7,700 sea oats planted
• 2016: 7,200 sea oats planted
• 2017: 7,200 sea oats planted
• 2018: 7,200 sea oats planted
• 2019: 10,000 sea oats planted
• 2020: 10,000 sea oats planted
• 2021: 20,000 sea oats planted
• 2022: 19,000 sea oats planted
• 2023: 18,528 sea oats planted
• 2024: 17,760 sea oats planted

For more information, visit the City of Cape Canaveral Website.

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