PREFACE 



This report, containing results of a 5-year field study, is published to assist coastal 

 engineers in developing cost-effective methods for using natural grasses to build and stabilize 

 foredunes as effective barriers against storm surge, and to enhance the environmental quality 

 and productivity in the coastal zone. The work was carried out under the coastal ecology 

 research program of the U.S. Army Coastal Engineering Research Center (CERC). 



The report was prepared by Dr. Bill E. Dahl (principal investigator) and Mr. Bruce A. 

 Fall, of the Department of Range and Wildlife Management, Texas Tech University (TTU), 

 Lubbock, Texas; and by Drs. Alan Lohse and S. G. Appan, of Gulf Universities Research 

 Consortium (GURC), Houston, Texas, under CERC Contract Nos. DACW72-69-C-0012 and 

 DACW72-72-C-0013. Drs. Dan E. Feray and Alan Lohse, and Mr. Thomas W. Bilhorn of 

 GURC were the project coordinators. Messrs. Bruce A. Fall, Lee C. Otteni, and Donald W. 

 Woodard, TTU field supervisors during the study, were primarily responsible for successful 

 conduct of the overall project. 



The authors express appreciation to the following individuals and organizations for their 

 assistance: Mr. R. P. Savage and Dr. D. W. Woodard, CERC; Chester L. Pawlik, Bard 0. 

 Gage, and R. Sarabia, U.S. Army Engineer District, Galveston; Gene Stanley, Lorraine 

 Carlisle, and other staff members, South Padre Investment Corporation; J. McLaughlin, 

 Ernest Borgman, and others of the Padre Island National Seashore; Rodger L. Baker, TTU; 

 W. W. Woodhouse, Jr., and Ernest D. Seneca, North Carolina State University; J.Philip 

 Dering and Fred B. Jones, Corpus Christi, Texas; Arnuflo Guajardo, Hilario Gonzalez, and 

 other personnel of north Padre Island; the Rob and Bessie Welder Wildlife Refuge, Sinton, 

 Texas; and the U.S. Soil Conservation Service, Plant Materials Center. 



Dr. D. W. Woodard, who made constructive and significant improvements to the 

 manuscript, was the CERC contract monitor for the report, under the general supervision of 

 R. M. Yancey, Chief, Ecology Branch, Research Division. 



Comments on this publication are invited. 



Approved for publication in accordance with Public Law 166, 79^" Congress approved 

 31 July 1945, as supplemented by Public Law 172, 88^ Congress, approved 7 November 

 1963. 



JAMES L. TRAYEF 



Colonel, Corps of Engineers 

 Commander and Director 



