The purpose of this document is to promote the transfer of information gathered during the implementation of Coastal America projects over the last three years. This includes both procedural experience gained during project development and planning as well as technical information gathered during project implementation. Successful methodologies, procedural and technical lessons learned are presented based on an analysis of projects with similar objectives from around the country.
At its inception in 1991, Coastal America was a concept, a gut level belief that collaboration among government agencies and private organizations would produce better resource protection. Today, Coastal America is a partnership of the Executive Office of the President and 10 federal agencies, each with diverse capabilities and responsibilities. The agencies work together and with non-federal public and private interests to integrate and leverage their authorized programs and projects. The partnership process aids the development and implementation of innovative solutions to the three primary coastal problems identified by Coastal America; those being habitat loss and living resource threats, nonpoint and point source pollution, and the environmentally responsible management of contaminated sediments. Each agency maintains its individual program responsibility but seeks to find areas of mutual concern among the partners, thus promoting innovative solutions to coastal ecosystem degradation.
The Coastal America partnership promotes the multi-agency (federal and non-federal) development and implementation of local projects that are designed to achieve specific environmental protection and restoration goals. These local projects are developed and implemented through the collaborative efforts of seven interagency regional implementation teams (RITs). In its first three years, Coastal America initiated over 140 projects, worth over $40 million in cash and in-kind services. These projects are located in 26 states and territories and have been developed with the participation of over 300 nonfederal partners who have matched the federal financial contribution. Upon their completion, these projects will have contributed to protecting the habitat of over 20 endangered species, restored over 100,000 acres of wetlands, re-established hundreds of miles of anadromous fish habitat, instituted Best Management Practices (BMP) on over 50 farms and watersheds, and generated numerous public educational outreach products.
Last July 12, 1994 the Principals, an executive level assembly of the Assistant Secretaries of the Partnership agencies, directed Coastal America to " ... develop a publication that outlines the ideas and concepts that are making the partnership and projects successful." In response, 50 of 140 projects were critically examined by the Technology Transfer Working Group (TTWG) and the respective Regional Implementation Teams (RITs) of Coastal America and jointly developed this Lessons Learned Report. The projects have been organized into six categories, based upon the type of habitat restoration being conducted, whether the project focus was upon endangered or threatened species or upon mitigating a source of pollution threatening a coastal resource. The lessons learned, as reported by the RITs and TTWG, were divided into two broad categories, technical and procedural.
Five major procedural themes were identified as follows: The Partnership Process; Public Involvement/Education; Technology Transfer; Systems Approach; and Adaptive Management and Monitoring.
The first procedural theme noted that the partnership process really works, as it allows the agencies to accomplish a number of important functions. First, it provides for the combination of agency resources and authorities in such a manner as to achieve common objectives and to collectively accomplish more than any single agency would be able to do alone. Secondly, it leads to the timely resolution of policy conflicts identified among the partnership agencies.
The second procedural theme identified public involvement and education as vital components of the partnership process because they provide a number of very important functions. It utilizes the public's knowledge and interest in problem identification. Another area in which great dividends are seen is through the public's volunteer efforts. Finally, the active involvement of the public increases their environmental awareness and leads to positive local action.
The third procedural theme addresses technology transfer and how we can improve the regulatory process by considering the results of testing and monitoring required to permit technology in one region and applying that same technology in other regions. Coastal America has successfully demonstrated new and proven technologies in various regions of the country.
A fourth procedural theme that emerged is that often a local project, addressing a specific problem, will assume a broader view and can lead to a more systematic approach. Conversely, we've also seen how a broad regional issue can be addressed at the local level.
Finally, our last procedural theme addresses the concept of adaptive management and monitoring and how they can modify agency responses in a manner that allows multiple objectives to be accomplished and expectations to be realistically met. Additionally, the value of monitoring and surveys have been demonstrated to positively influence project design and implementation.
The major technical lessons learned were developed from each of the six categories into which the Coastal America projects were organized, namely: Wetland Protection and Restoration; River System Protection and Restoration; Beach/Dune Protection and Restoration; Offshore Habitat Protection and Restoration; Nonpoint Source Mitigation; and Assisting Species at Risk.
In the Wetland Protection and Restoration category a number of important technical lessons were identified by the RIT's, including: the use of aerial imagery in the northeast to identify degraded wetlands dominated by the common reed, Phragmites australis, and to demonstrate the use of this species as a change indicator; the beneficial use of dredged sediments was demonstrated in a variety of wetland restoration efforts, further substantiating this concept; and, in the southeast, the resiliency of some wetland ecosystems was demonstrated by their return to pre-disturbance conditions with little to no human intervention following heavy agricultural use.
In the River System Protection and Restoration category some of the important technical lessons learned included: how the application of ecological principles increases the likelihood that environmental restoration activities will succeed; that when examining alternative solutions to restoration projects it should be remembered that older technologies have been proven and will work; and, there is no substitute for appropriate planning activities in order to achieve implementation success.
In the Beach/Dune Protection and Restoration category some of the important technical lessons learned included: when designing project features within fragile ecosystems it is important to ensure that the design is compatible with the ecosystem in which the project is located; the use of collaborative planning activities will assemble a more diverse mix of engineering and scientific disciplines to examine the problem(s) and generate a more comprehensive solution; and the use of native plant species in restoration projects will not only provide a more natural looking restoration, but will increase the likelihood that wildlife species, native to the area, can successfully return.
In the Offshore Habitat Protection and Restoration category some of the important technical lessons learned included: the use of coal combustion fly ash as an oyster reef material is a viable technological solution; however, the regulatory process for approving this technology in other regions of the country must be improved; and, in order to ensure seagrass bed restoration activities are successful they must be routinely monitored and adequate protection provided as they mature.
In the Nonpoint Source Mitigation category some of the important technical lessons learned included: when installing mitigation measures to control nonpoint source pollution, it is very important to accurately characterize the watershed so that all possible sources of nonpoint source pollution are identified; nonpoint source vegetative control is best applied at the source of the pollution; and, public involvement is an integral feature of nonpoint source mitigation projects.
In the Assisting Species at Risk category some of the important technical lessons learned included: project costs can be reduced with the use of existing investigations to characterize species' needs and to develop appropriate management plans; when designing projects for fish and wildlife species, it is important to recognize the need to link habitats that have been fragmented and thus increase the use of available habitat within the region of concern; and, when designing projects it's important to realize that wildlife population changes will require time, thus expectations should be set accordingly.