Annapolitans Win Grants to Build Living Shorelines

Politicians, nonprofits and homeowners from around Maryland gathered in Eastport on Thursday for the announcement of 16 recipients of the Chesapeake Bay Trust's 2012 grants to build living shorelines.

According to the Chesapeake Bay Trust, living shorelines are a stabilization technique that uses natural habitat elements like rocks—instead of bulkhead or riprap—to protect shorelines from erosion while also providing critical habitat for fish, crabs and other wildlife.

The trust partnered with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the Maryland Department of the Environment to give away more than $800,000—the largest amount awarded to date.

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) said he brags about the Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts to his colleagues in Congress all the time. 

"We know how important the Chesapeake Bay is to our state, and how important it is our country. It's a national treasure," Cardin said. "It was Maryland that started [the restoration effort], and then we brought in the other states and the local governments and the private sector and the federal government. And that partnership now is a national model."

The hope is that these 16 new shoreline projects will serve as learning tools for and examples of effective restoration.

"You are truly on the front lines," Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown said. "You are educating the public on the importance of protecting the environment and our shorelines, but also you are putting into practice those techniques."

The 2012 recipient ceremony took place in Eastport where three neighbors got together after learning about living shorelines in part through demonstration projects funded through this collaborative. The Annapolitans worked together to remove bulkheads and build a contiguous living shoreline on their properties, which now serves as an example for current and future grant recipients. 

Local Living Shoreline Projects

In Arnold, the Pines on the Severn community is still fundraising to be able to restore 400 feet of living shoreline along Chase Creek, where a bulkhead is deteriorating. The community has already raised $7,000 on its own through door-to-door fundraising and silent auctions.

The group plans to use the money for the design and permitting process of the restoration work.

"We have huge cliffs, so we have lost a lot of trees, and some of it is bulkheaded, and some of it people just threw concrete blocks," said Ellen Posten. "There was property there that belonged to the community that has eroded, but more importantly than even regaining property is we will get more natural habitat there. We want to see our herons and our terapins return."

The group chose Keith Underwood of Underwood and Associates for the project.

The South River Federation received a $12,880 grant to cover some of the costs for its restoration of 240 feet of shoreline along Church Creek in Annapolis, which was completed earlier this month.

The other living shoreline was privately funded. The Annapolis Cove Property Owners Association received $40,000 to create a 150-foot living shoreline in its community along Lake Ogleton.

State Sen. John Astle (D-Annapolis) is a Chespeake Bay Trust board member, and he votes on how much money should be allocated to living shoreline projects. He said being able to give out a number of grants to Annapolis and Anne Arundel County meant a lot to him.

"Representing an area that probably has more shoreline on the Chesapeake Bay than just about any other district in the state, I am acutely aware of the issues that we face that impact the bay," Astle said. 

He pointed to a shoreline restoration project done behind as an example of how erosion can be stopped and a habitat can be recreated.

"The fact that we can do this in an urban setting—I think is really neat," Astle said. 

Since the trust's living shoreline program started seven years ago, there have been 68 projects in local communities that have created 28,000 feet of living shoreline and 18 acres of wetland habitat. 

The program has awarded more than $4 million and leveraged $7 million in matching funds from landowners throughout Maryland and Virginia. 

Living Shoreline grant recipients include:

MARYLAND

• Annapolis Cove Property Owners Association, Anne Arundel County, $40,000
• Magothy Beach Improvement Association, Anne Arundel County, $100,000
• Severn Riverkeeper Program, Anne Arundel County, $18,784
• Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Anne Arundel County, $41,931
• South River Federation, Anne Arundel County, $12,880
• West/Rhode Riverkeeper, Anne Arundel County, $39,850
• Baltimore County Department of Recreation & Parks, Baltimore County, $13,336
• North East Isles, Cecil County, $100,000
• St. Mary’s College of Maryland, St. Mary’s County, $16,500
• Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, Talbot County, $60,000
• The Gunston School, Queen Anne’s County, $100,000
• Chester River Association, Queen Anne’s County, $99,000

VIRGINIA

• City of Norfolk, VA, $134,082
• Friends of Norfolk’s Environment, Norfolk, VA, $5,894
• Northern Virginia Regional Commission, Prince William County, VA, $16,500
• The Landings at Bolling Square Community Association, Norfolk, VA, $11,212