Marsh Protection Index

Aggregation and scoring of marsh benefits throughout the Chesapeake Bay and Coastal Bays can help managers and practitioners to prioritize areas for protection and restoration. This dataset is the overall Marsh Protection Index score. The dataset uses USGS’ Conceptual Marsh Units (CMUs) to aggregate marshes into mini-watersheds and then scores each CMU for four categories: 1. Marsh health (out of 15 points), 2. Marsh proximity to people (out of 15 points), 3. Marsh proximity to other habitats (out of 20 points but no units score higher than 15) and 4. Marsh wave attenuation (out of 15 points). The maximum score for each of these categories is 15, giving a maximum of 60 for the most protective marshes. The scoring description for each category is detailed within the sub-layers related to those scores within the MPI and Marsh Resilience Portfolio. Last updated: 03/30/2026 Click to download data.