TREASURE ISLAND, Fla. — The start of Hurricane Season is close to one month away and the City of Treasure Island is working to make sure the beach is protected.

On Saturday morning, city staff and volunteers planted 1,000 sea oats to help protect the coastline from storm damage.

What You Need To Know

  • Hurricane Season begins on June 1 and ends on November 30

  • On Saturday morning, volunteers planted 1,000 sea oats on Treasure Island beach to strengthen the dunes

  • Sea oats help dunes grow and keep them stablizied, which protects the beach from storm surge and erosion, according to city officials

City officials said sea oaks are a critical resource. The plants help dunes grow and keep them stabilized which, in turn, protects the beach from storm surge and erosion.

“If a storm surge ends up coming up on the beach, dunes and sea oats help stop some of those waves from reaching inland to our hotels, to our roads and other ways," said Jason Beisel with the City of Treasure Island. "Of course, you’re still going to get water over there, but it helps slow the surge.”

The city plants sea oats every year, but this year officials decided to do it before any storms roll in to make sure the coast is as protected as possible. Beisel said it's important to take care of the beach, but also educate people about how sea oats protect the eroding coastline. 

“They may walk by these dunes and they may look at it and think it’s a bunch of weeds, they may think ‘what why is this here’ and we just want to educate them more," Beisel said. "If their hands are in the ground and they’re helping plant them, we can educate them and let them know why they’re so important, why we need to protect them and why we need to continue to plant more and more to help protect our beaches.”

Jessica Waldo was one of about 50 volunteers on Saturday morning. She had never planted sea oats before but wanted to do her part to help the community. 

“We have to keep the dunes, we have to keep them up because if not, we have the flooding and the beach erosion and then we just don’t have any beaches left," Waldo said. "That’s what brings everyone here. We want the beaches. That’s why we live in Florida, right? If we don’t have the beaches what are we going to do?”

Pinellas County beaches are a major draw for tourists, who generate more than $10 billion in economic impact every year, according to Visit St. Pete/Clearwater. But for locals like Waldo, the beach is home – and she wants to do her part to protect it. 

“We come out here and clean the beaches all the time," Waldo said. "t’s something that we’re passionate about, my family personally so we like to come out and volunteer and do things for the community.”

Beisel said the city plans to put more sea oats to help combat erosion in other areas of Treasure Island – like Sunset Beach – after it's renourished, which is scheduled to happen later this year.

Meanwhile, beach renourishment on Sand Key – which stretches from Clearwater Pass to John's Pass – is on hold because of a policy by the Army Corps of Engineers that requires all homeowners to sign permanent easements. In March, Pinellas County leaders traveled to the White House to look for a solution. A spokesperson for the Army Corps of Engineers said they are still reviewing the matter, but Treasure Island and Long Key beaches will still receive its renourishment.