Poplar Island and Draper Aden Associates: A Success Story
When a barrier island fades away and disappears—whether due to natural or human-influenced causes—it’s rare that it’s given a second chance to reappear. Thanks to the Army Corps of Engineers and the Maryland Port Administration, along with help, in part, by Draper Aden Associates, one such success story exists—Poplar Island. Located some 34 miles southeast of Baltimore, Poplar Island is now a textbook example of barrier island restoration gone right. Up until the 1920s, the Island was home to a small community of fishers and farmers and then, eventually, acted as a hunting retreat until 1946. During that time however, the island quickly eroded, a natural process intensified by rising sea levels, and by 1990, only five of the original 1,100 acres remained. Talks began in the early 1990s to establish a restoration plan for Poplar Island. Given that the Port of Baltimore dredges an estimated 4.7 million cubic yards of...
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