Living Shoreline Training Kick Off
Gaining hands-on experience and working with various tools for planting wetland grasses.
Virginia passed recent legislation making living shorelines the de facto shoreline erosion control strategy, but to get projects built on the shoreline, we'll need a larger cadre of trained people to design, install, and maintain them. With the James River Association and other partners, we formed a Virginia Living Shoreline Collaborative (LSC) and created a training program for living shoreline professionals. Wetlands Watch and the Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP) program launched the first training session this month with more to come.
After four years of thinking about it and a year of intensive planning, we delivered CBLP-Shorelines to a 21-member cohort from the private, public, and nonprofit sectors over three days at the East Ocean View Community & Senior Center, located adjacent to Little Creek. We could not have done this without the amazing spirit of collaboration and support of many: LSC members, the James River Association and their National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Grant, our LSC training team, and all the individuals who provided instruction during our pilot workshop series.
The growing demand for shoreline professionals is fueling the effort to prepare more individuals to do this type of work. Along with changes to legislation, increased funding opportunities and campaigns to increase awareness of the multiple benefits of living shorelines have made this approach to shoreline management more desirable. Way back in 2012, a year after the General Assembly made living shorelines the preferred approach to shoreline stabilization, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission received just 13 permit applications for living shoreline projects. Ten years later, in 2022, with even more deference for living shorelines in the regulations, that number had climbed to 186.
Recognizing that an increase in qualified professionals would benefit all stakeholders, a team of instructors representing regulatory authorities, technical advisors and educators, nonprofit staff, and private contractors with living shoreline expertise came together, volunteering their time and knowledge to prepare for and conduct the workshop.
Participants take elevation measurements with guidance from instructors Jim Cahoon of Bay Environmental and Ellen Grimes of CRM, Inc.
Using a mix of presentations, hands-on learning, and field activities, the Shorelines program led participants through all stages of a low-energy environment living shoreline project, from site assessment and planning to feasibility, design, and permitting, construction, and finally to maintaining and monitoring completed projects. LSC partners are providing additional avenues for hands-on experience and mentoring by engaging workshop participants to join them at project sites throughout the year.
The LSC Training Team convened in 2021 under Wetlands Watch staff and CBLP leadership and included more than 30 regional and local experts. The Team conducted a refined needs assessment, developed learning objectives, and a framework to create a cost-effective means of engaging and consistently training and upskilling living shoreline practitioners throughout Virginia and eventually other Bay states. The goal is to grow a network of skilled practitioners to support living shoreline programs and project implementation, connect clients with trusted service providers, and improve capacity of existing shoreline businesses to implement more living shorelines. Following this pilot in Norfolk, the workshop will be refined and adapted for delivery throughout the Chesapeake Bay Region. Planning is currently underway to hold a second workshop in Virginia later this year.
Training Advisory Team:
Billy Almond, WPL; John Bateman, Northern Neck PDC; Lowery Becker, Northern Neck SWCD; Vince Bowhers, Lynnhaven River NOW; Jim Cahoon, Bay Environmental Inc; Dylan Constable, EQR; Kevin Du Bois, DOD Chesapeake Bay Program Representative; Karen Duhring, Virginia Institute of Marine Science; Katherine Filippino, Hampton Roads PDC; Jeff Flood, VA CZM; Amber Foster, VA DEQ; Laurie Fox, Virginia Tech; CW Gaskill, Jr., City of Norfolk; Barbara Gavin, Elizabeth River Project; Cirse Gonzalez, Chesapeake Bay NERR - Virginia; Kati Grigsby, Chesapeake Bay Foundation; Christine Gyovai, Dialogue and Design; Emily Hinson, James River Association; Brent Hunsinger, Friends of the Rappahannock; Allison Jackura, City of Hampton; Jake Kline, VA DEQ; Lucas Lees, Unity Landscape; Donna Milligan, Virginia Institute of Marine Science; Rachael Peabody, Virginia Marine Resources Commission; PJ Scully, City of Virginia Beach; Justin Shafer, City of Norfolk; Tracy Skrabal, NC Coastal Federation; Suzanne Slear, Environmental Concern; Bhaskar Subramanian, NOAA; Ryan Walsh, James River Association; Aaron Wendt, VA DCR Shoreline Erosion Advisory Service
Pilot Workshop Instructors:
Jim Cahoon, Bay Environmental Inc
Autumn Crawford, US Army Corps of Engineers
Karen Duhring, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Barbara Gavin, Elizabeth River Project
Beth Ginter, Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council
Kati Grigsby, Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Ellen Grimes, CRM LLC
Sierra Hildebrant, Old Dominion University
Shereen Hughes, Wetlands Watch, CBLP
Seamus McCarthy, City of Norfolk
Stacie McGraw, Wetlands Watch, CBLP
Donna Milligan, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Rachael Peabody, Virginia Marine Resources Commission
Joe Rieger, Elizabeth River Project
Justin Shafer, City of Norfolk
Tracy Skrabal, Consultant
Tim Stromberg, Stromberg, Garrigan, & Associates
Ryan Walsh, James River Association
Aaron Wendt, Virginia DCR Shoreline Erosion Advisory Service