As we head into the winter, people prepare in any number of ways. Much of that includes tucking things away to protect them from the impacts of ice and snow. Along the coast, this means putting shutters on seasonal cottages, draining pipes and taking out boats and docks. These are all structures that people have put in place and put a great effort into taking care of through the seasons. But what about the natural landscape? Inland, gardeners bed down gardens and place wooden frames over delicate shrubs. Along the shore, typically, we leave things alone — and many rules and regulations dictate that that’s what we have to do. But winter’s storms can wreak havoc on shorelines, and those of 2024 brought this to many peoples’ attention. And now the question is how we can both repair and better prepare for winters to come?

In an effort to share some practical solutions for home owners, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection held a free, public “Shoreline Solutions” workshop last week at Union + Co in Bath. There were a variety of presentations from agencies, consultants and scientists about the types of coastal erosion as well as methods used to restore and protect shorelines, and the permits needed to install different types of reinforcements. The focus of this workshop was to present more natural alternatives to riprap — the use of hard stone to fill in eroding areas.

Some familiar, nature-based solutions were presented, including planting shrubs and other plants as buffers to runoff coming from the land and leaving the root structures of dead trees in place to help hold together the substrate. But a new idea I wasn’t previously aware of was the method of “live sticking” where you take the dormant shoots of fast-growing species like willow and dogwood and place them like stakes in the shoreline to both hold the soil in place and to also hopefully take root. There have also been some efforts to combine this method with natural fiber brims that can absorb some of the excess moisture by using the “live sticks” to hold these berms in place. Presenters showed other techniques as well and also talked about what you need to do to get proper permitting to do this type of work at your property.

Presenters shared a few case studies of eroded properties along with what has been done to help mitigate erosion at these sites. This brought up the issue that every property is unique and requires identifying the stressors that are causing erosion as well as the constraints of what can be done — including how to coordinate with adjacent properties. As presenters pointed out, nature doesn’t abide by property lines such that the issues impacting one homeowner might overlap into another’s shoreline. The idea of collaborating with neighbors both to strengthen the impact of restoration as well as reduce cost was raised as a potential solution.

Following the presentations, attendees had an opportunity to meet with experts one on one to ask specific questions about their properties. This was an invaluable chance to identify problem areas and to talk about what might be done to prevent further erosion. A number of resources were also shared, including “A Shoreline Planting Guide” featuring native plants, the DEP’s Living Shorelines Suitability Decision Support Tool and a one-page synopsis of “Clearing Vegetation in the Shoreland Zone.” There are specific regulations to each town as well, but these resources give a basic overview and a lot of helpful tips. There are many more resources available at maine.gov/dep/land/ourshore/. And you can stay tuned for more workshops like these in the future that will provide homeowners with useful resources.

Whether you have a coastal property or not, coastal erosion is an issue that impacts many parts of our coast. This includes many public access points as well. There is much to learn about innovative efforts to manage erosion and how important it is to the health of marine ecosystems.

Susan Olcott is the director of strategic partnerships at Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association.