Letter to our daughter Samantha, a cadet at the Virginia Military Institute:
Glad you are talking about Tangier with your engineering professors at Virginia Military Institute. I truly believe you will help preserve the future of the island – especially if you score a slot serving in the Army Corps of Engineers.
Here’s an update as to ongoing projects to improve – save – the island. I’m optimistic about 2025.
Last August, US Senator Tim Kaine and Mark Warner announced an appropriation of $10.3 million to protect Tangier Island from erosion and sea level rise as part of the 2025 federal budget. Specifically, the funding will be used for design, environmental authorizations, plans and specifications, and award and administration of a contract to use dredged material to stabilize the shoreline. Sens. Warner and Kaine advocated for the funding and previously secured $800,000 to study and permit the use of dredged material.
On a related note, there was $500,000 appropriated in 2024 for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Tangier to continue design efforts for using dredged material for beneficial use, including obtaining the necessary environmental authorizations, and to execute contracts to build structures, such as breakwaters, to keep dredged material in place. These structures will help address the loss of habitat and eroding shoreline, recurrent coastal flooding, and coastal storms to protect residents and infrastructure on Tangier.
In 2024, the state’s Department of Environmental Quality awarded a $2.3 million grant to save the fuel facility that’s needed by watermen, Tangier Combined School, the fire department and even Swain Memorial Methodist Church. Of the 10 fuel tanks, only three were working and the pipes needed repairs. Grant will provide three new 10,000 gallon double-wall storage tanks, new pipes and get rid of the old fuel tanks. Project is poised for completion later this year – 2025. The grant will also pay for equipment and spare parts for the wastewater treatment plant and installing a check valve system.
In May, federal, state, and state and federal officials traveled to Tangier Island to meet with local leaders and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) to discuss challenges and solutions for the island.
According to CBF, folks from Tangier, the Virginia state government, the Accomack-Northampton Planning District Commission, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk District, and academic institutions and nonprofit organizations discussed developing a state-certified resilience plan for the Tangier Island system, including neighboring Port Isobel Island. The plan would help the community secure funding and implement projects to protect this unique place. An existing partnership between CBF and Old Dominion University’s Institute for Coastal Adaptation and Resilience can support Tangier in pursuing this plan.
“Nowhere is the ever-present threat of climate change felt more strongly than on Tangier Island,” said CBF President Hilary Harp Falk. “Now is the time to stand with Tangier and all the coastal communities along the Chesapeake Bay facing unimaginable change.”
And former Vice Mayor Cameron Evans secured a more than $300,000 state grant to do some things too — for research and formulating policy as to what the island needs.
In November, Tangier elected council members – Kelly Wheatley, Anna Parks, Elizabeth Thomas, Sharon Haynie, Tommy Eskridge and Tracy Pruitt – who will serve a two-year term that commences Jan. 1, 2025 and ends Dec. 31, 2026. James “Ooker” Eskridge was re-elected to a new term as mayor.
Moreover, Tangier has a new website too. And there is a concerted effort to share photos and positive news of Tangier’s people and places in social media.
Also, David Usui, director/producer, filmed a documentary of the island —”Been Here Stay here.” From the snippets I’ve seen on social media and at Usui’s website, I think the movie will be very good — not one of those negative stories that only focuses on the negative. Someone told me the film will be unveiled at the prestigious Venice Film Festival.
In recent weeks, the island has had snow – that’s neat.
Monday, Jan. 20, President Donald Trump will be inaugurated, so that is cause for celebration. Trump has expressed his support for Tangier in the past — even talked to Mayor Eskridge.
All in all, Tangier has a lot of promise – by God’s grace, good things will come.
— Miles Layton/Father
Tangier Island, Virginia 