The Oyster Restoration Atlas was prepared in response to a request for assistance from the Norfolk District office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE), staff of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) and Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) in 2002. The COE wished to devote efforts to oyster habitat restoration in the Chesapeake Bay for environmental and water quality improvement. In tandem, the Chesapeake Bay Program was coordinating the production of The Baywide Comprehensive Oyster Plan for Maryland and Virginia. VIMS and VMRC were preparing the Virginia component of this plan cooperatively. The original map atlas illustrated the potential location of future oyster reef restoration projects in Virginia waters relative to those plans. The current edition (2009) of the Oyster Restoration Atlas (2009) has added depth and salinity as factors on the original maps. The original maps were based on maps of oyster habitat in Virginia made by Lt. Baylor of the U.S. Navy between 1892 and 1896. This atlas incorporates details describing the most recent substrate maps, limits of public and leased oyster grounds, bathymetry and salinity in relation to current and potential restoration sites. These maps are generated to illustrate the results of the targeting effort following the protocol described in the Restoration Siting Protocol section. The authors recognize this level of targeting does not preclude the need for field inspection at potential sites prior to reef construction. The atlas is comprised of a series of boxes preceded by an index locator (below). The scale of each box may vary. The potential restoration areas are illustrated in red. The legend reports the total acres available for restoration within the boundary of each box.