Shoreline armoring and reducing the use of hard, structural approaches to protecting property is a hot topic across marine communities of North America. As we learn more about the importance of the marine and terrestrial interface (the nearshore zone), we also understand more about how our past practices of hard armoring shorelines can be problematic to the nearshore zone and the ecosystem goods and services it provides. Shifting property owners away from using common hard approaches to erosion protection is difficult to achieve without easy access to information on effective environmentally-friendly alternatives.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and partners are helping to fill that void with products that provide information to a variety of audiences which will allow them to better understand alternatives to hard armor, how to design a project, and why these approaches are better for the long-term health of the nearshore zone.
This poster will:
Highlight the Marine Shorelines Design Guidelines (MSDG) released in 2014 that provides technical detail on how to assess a site, identify a suitable technique, and guidance for effective project design.
Introduce the newly released “Your Marine Waterfront: A guide to protecting your property while promoting healthy shorelines” which is an easy to follow booklet based on the concepts in the MSDG and is geared towards residential waterfront property owners.
Introduce the “Shore Friendly” website that provides a web-based resource for shoreline landowners to learn more about shoreline armoring, soft shore alternatives, beach processes, incentive options, and more
