| Summary: | San Juan County’s 400+ miles of marine shoreline provide forage fish spawning sites, eelgrass meadows and kelp beds as well as feeding, refuge and migration corridors for rockfish, salmon, seabirds and orca. The health of these marine habitats is critical to the recovery of the Salish Sea. Unfortunately, nearshore ecosystems throughout the region are suffering from ongoing and cumulative impacts of shoreline development. Armoring buries forage fish spawning habitat and disrupts geologic processes. Shoreline vegetation removal and improperly managed runoff directly contribute to loss of ecosystem health, bluff failure and increased demand for new armoring. In San Juan County, armoring is present on 22.5% of all non-bedrock shores. Since 2010 at least 8 new bulkheads have been constructed here in situations where no structure was at risk (e.g. non-exempt), and 3 of these are located on documented forage fish spawning beaches. Development pressures and rising seas are expected to increase demand for hard armor. Friends of the San Juans has worked for the past 15 years to prioritize beach and bluff restoration projects, develop relationships with public and private shoreline property owners, and develop, implement and monitor habitat improvement projects. Over this time, many lessons have been learned about engaging landowners in the protection and restoration of coastal processes, habitats and species. This poster will use a case study approach for the Brown Island Feeder Bluff Restoration (armor removal) Project to highlight some of the successful tools FRIENDS is applying to landowner engagement efforts, including new informational graphics and short videos that share the human perspective of physical and biological restoration efforts.
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