Shoreline monitoring is often a desired or required goal by volunteer groups and local entities, but protocols and guidelines can be hard to find and misleading if not used appropriately. We will present the initial developments of a Shoreline Monitoring Toolbox, an idea that progressed from its original concept at the Shoreline Restoration Monitoring Consortium in June 2013. Among the issues are the needs of local entities for a standardized approach for monitoring and a “toolbox” of protocols and information. Emphasis is placed on methods that are simple and affordable, and that can be used for monitoring restoration sites, establishing baseline conditions, and evaluating status and trends and preservation efforts. The toolbox is coordinated with the PSEMP Nearshore Work Group in order to establish a foundation of technical expertise. Most of the effort so far has been to (1) organize a decision tree that will help guide monitoring choices, and (2) organize protocols that are not well known or might be lost if not in digital form. The goal is to provide the toolbox as a web-based platform that will build upon other resources to fill gaps of monitoring needs. In this process, science will help inform decisions to catalyze action by (1) providing effective guidance for how to monitor, (2) informing groups on how to move forward in their goals, and (3) providing a feedback loop of completed projects that can inform future projects. An example will be given of how completed restoration monitoring at the Olympic Sculpture Park (Seattle, WA) was useful to guide local shoreline planning, but the technical methods were difficult to apply when taken out of context to other efforts such as at Carpenter Creek Estuary (Kingston, WA). Invited comment from the Stillwaters Environmental Center will discuss how volunteer monitoring efforts were established, and how a toolbox would have and hopefully will better organize monitoring efforts in the future
