Major storms, such as Hurricane Sandy, which destroyed or damaged 346,000 structures across New Jersey in 2012, lead to significant economic losses and disruptions to the state’s tourism industry. Sand dunes are an effective solution for protecting coastal New Jersey municipalities from rising sea levels, beach erosion, and storm damage. As such, dune width and height were strong predictors of the likelihood of damage sustained from Hurricane Sandy. These sand dunes undergo upkeep through beach nourishment projects to maintain their integrity. Another method the Garden State has deployed to strengthen its dunes involves discarded Christmas trees.
Since 1936, $3 billion has been spent in New Jersey on beach sand replenishment from a combination of local, state, and federal funds. In 1980, the state legislature brought forth the Dune and Shorefront Protection Act to address the effects of a series of storms in the 1970s on coastal erosion through conservation rather than reliance on dredging sand from the ocean to replenish the beaches. The act would have prohibited repairs of homes severely damaged by storms and reconstruction of destroyed homes, and sparked widespread negative public reaction. Even after the proposal of the bill, beachfront property owners have continued to oppose any impairments to their beachfront residences and views. The bill was eventually scrapped, leading to the establishment of the New Jersey Coastal Management Program in 1980, which seeks to promote healthy coastal ecosystems, create coastal resilience, preserve the use of waterfront facilities, and restore natural spaces without the seizure of storm-damaged properties. The program encourages dune reconstruction for ecosystem regeneration, coastal resiliency, and erosion control.
Since the 1960s, discarded Christmas trees have been integrated into the management and restoration of dunes along the Jersey shore. The Garden State harvested 58,000 trees in 2024; when the holidays drew to a close, thousands of trees were repurposed as buffers to the winds, waves, and Nor’easters of winter. The use of trees to rebuff dunes has been commonplace since the 1960s, when Teamsters Union 153 donated time and equipment to haul 15,000 discarded trees to Long Island Beach, Sandy Hook, and Island Beach. The practice continues to this day at Island Beach State Park as volunteers seek to manage the increasing winds that blow across the shoreline during winter.
Healthy dunes are home to beach grass, rhizomes, and wildlife. The vegetation accumulates sand on the dune at a rate of two to four feet per year by trapping sand grains that are blown up the beach shore while roots hold sand together. Christmas trees assist in the accumulation of sand by trapping grains until the vegetation takes root. Even after the needles have fallen from the branches, trunks continue to strengthen dunes for up to four years as they decay and slowly release nutrients into the sands to support plant growth.
In 2021, the State of New Jersey discouraged the practice because of a few winter storms that dislodged and scattered unsecured trees across the beach, creating a waste management problem, but provided a series of standards for acceptable Christmas tree use for dune stabilization. These recommendations included only using whole, natural coniferous trees, overlapping and placing them in a straight line or zigzag to maintain stabilization against the wind, regularly monitoring newly placed trees, and planting beachgrass in and around newly deposited sand.
The use of discarded trees as a tool in a larger dune restoration effort can rebuild healthy dunes and protect coastal communities and habitats that are vulnerable to rising sea levels and intensifying storms. Discarded Christmas trees could provide an environmental win-win that upcycles trees to a second life, protecting the winter beaches of New Jersey.
References:
Bergen, Douglas (2012, December 6). In Ocean City, Owners Still Suing Over Height of Dunes. Retrieved 2025, December 21, from Patch.com https://patch.com/new-jersey/oceancity/in-ocean-city-owners-sue-over-dunes-that-saved-homes
Berman, Greg (2020, December). To Tree Or Not To Tree: The Use Of Discarded Christmas Trees for Dune Stabilization. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 2025, November 25, from https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/45705
Dune, Beach and Shorefront Protection Legislation (1979, April). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Division of Marine Services, Office of Coastal Zone Management. Retrieved 2025, December 21, from https://rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu/rutgers-lib/54222/PDF/1/play/
Dune Manual. New Jersey Sea Grant. Retrieved 2025, December 21, from https://njseagrant.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Basic-Dune-Physical-Characteristics.pdf
Economic impact of Visitors to New Jersey. New Jersey Division of Travel & Tourism. Retrieved December 2025, December 21, from https://visitnj.org/sites/default/files/2025-05/2024_-_Tourism_Economic_Impact_Study.pdf
Flanagan, Brenda (2024, May 28). NJ’s beaches wash away faster than feds can fix them. Retrieved 2025, December 21, from NJSpotlight News https://www.njspotlightnews.org/video/njs-beaches-wash-away-faster-than-feds-can-fix-them/
Hurricane Sandy: Beach-dune performance at New Jersey Beach Profile network sites. (2014). The Coastal Research Center at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. Retrieved 2025, December 4, from https://stockton.edu/coastal-research-center/njbpn/documents/reports/Atlantic.pdf
Gregory, Phil (2014, July 1). Dune damages add up to just $300 for N.J. Shore homeowners. Retrieved 2025, December 21, from WHYY.org https://whyy.org/articles/dune-case-settled-for-300-at-nj-shore/
NJ Coastal Zone Management Rules (2021, October 5). New Jersey Administrative Code. Retrieved 2025, November 25, from https://dep.nj.gov/wp-content/uploads/rules/rules/njac7_7.pdf
Ozbas, Birnur, Greenberg, Michael (2013, August). Correlation between Hurricane Sandy Damage along the New Jersey Coast with Land Use, Dunes, and Other Local Attributes. Retrieved 2025, December 4, from https://cait.rutgers.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/cait-utc-019-final.pdf
Remembering Superstorm Sandy. (2022). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Retrieved 2025, November 25, from https://dep.nj.gov/sandy-10/
Saulsbery, G. (2019). Island Beach State Park wants to save the dunes with your old Christmas tree. Retrieved 2025, November 25, from Njbiz, https://login.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Ftrade-journals%2Fisland-beach-state-park-wants-save-dunes-with%2Fdocview%2F2331550643%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D13626
Special to The New York Times. (1965, Jan 10). Discarded Christmas Trees Trucked to Jersey Beaches. Retrieved 2025, November 25, from https://login.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Fnewspapers%2Fdiscarded-christmas-trees-trucked-jersey-beaches%2Fdocview%2F116755557%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D13626
Sullivan, J. F. (1980, Jul 20). LOSING TO THE SEA IS ONE THING; TO THE STATE, ANOTHER. Retrieved 2025, November 25, from New York Times. https://login.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Fnewspapers%2Flosing-sea-is-one-thing-state-another%2Fdocview%2F423953755%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D13626
Torres, Ella (2020, January 8). After initial goal of 200, 2000 Christmas trees are donated to help sand dunes in New Jersey. Retrieved 2025, December 21, from abcNews https://abcnews.go.com/US/2000-christmas-trees-restore-sand-dunes-jersey/story?id=68144397