Every shuck of an oyster shell at three area restaurants could help build a reef. A grant supported by Gulf Power Company and its environmental stewardship partners is helping the budding shoreline project in Bayou Texar.

A $20,000-plus grant through the Five Star Restoration program supplements the Five Star grant of $27,150 last year.

Project OYSTER will use 84 tons of oyster shells collected from local restaurants to restore oyster reef and intertidal marsh habitat along 1,200 feet of Bayou Texar. The group will plant marsh grass and will build 79 reefs using recycled shells. The project will help to increase oyster populations, provide nursery and foraging grounds for finfish, shellfish and wading birds, and aid in filtration of storm-water runoff into the bayou. The shells are recycled from partner restaurants Peg Leg Pete’s, The Marina Oyster Bar, The Grand Marlin, Goat Lips Deli and Shaggys. 

The project volunteers will haul a reef from Bayview Park to its resting place in the water at Paradise Point in Bayou Texar. Volunteers who want to assist in bagging oyster shells can participate at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection greenhouse at Ellyson Field Industrial Park. Visit Keep Pensacola Beautiful on Facebook for additional event information or call 438-1178 to sign up.

The grant to Keep America Beautiful, combined with a match from partners, brings the impact to more than $84,600. Partners include Florida Department of Environmental Protection Ecosystem Restoration Program, Bayou Texar Shoreline Property Owners, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Coastal Program, University of West Florida/Community Volunteers and the Bayou Texar Foundation.

“This project continues what we are trying to help promote along our coast: help restore our shorelines and the precious natural habitat and healthy ecosystem that they support,” said Jeff Rogers, Corporate Communications Manager for Gulf Power. “These partnerships — and the volunteerism and community spirit they instill — can help inspire more projects to help sustain our precious natural resources.”

Past grant recipients include restoration for Project Greenshores in Pensacola Bay and Deadman’s Island in Gulf Breeze, as well as a shoreline restoration in Liza Jackson Park in Fort Walton Beach.

Gulf Power participates in Five Star through its parent, Southern Company, which is the Southern regional lead corporate sponsor for Five Star Restoration. This national program’s focus is to support water-related conservation, in partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Association of Counties and the Wildlife Habitat Council. 

In addition to Five Star Restoration, the Southern Company-NFWF partnership supports projects to conserve birds characteristic of the South through the Power of Flight program and to restore the region’s longleaf pine ecosystem through the Longleaf Legacy/Longleaf Stewardship Fund.   

Southern Company this year is providing $216,163 in Five Star Restoration grants that, combined with partner-matching funds, will result in a total of $999,416 to help restore more than 149 acres of wetland, riparian and coastal habitat and 8,210 feet of riparian buffer in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi — the states in which the company’s retail utilities operate.

Gulf Power Company is an investor-owned electric utility with all of its common stock owned by Atlanta-based Southern Company. Gulf Power serves more than 430,000 customers in eight counties throughout Northwest Florida. The company’s mission is to safely provide exceptional customer value by delivering reliable, affordable and environmentally responsible electricity while strengthening our communities. Visit online at GulfPower.com or on the company’s Facebook page, “Gulf Power Company.”