Presentation Abstract
As over 90% of shoreline parcels in San Juan County are in private, residential ownership, shoreline property owners are critical caretakers of marine habitats. Information that is provided directly to shoreline property owners can be beneficial to all who enjoy the resources provided by our marine habitats. And in our changing climate, shoreline property owners’ actions can also help improve resilience to the impacts ahead. So, how do you educate shoreline landowners in a manner that engages and inspires them toward positive choices? Friends of the San Juans took on this challenge and created an attractive, positive, and engaging booklet to mail to all waterfront property owners. The Living with the Shoreline stewardship guide uses professional photography, new art, fun facts, and quotes from waterfront owner “peers” to educate and explain why healthy management decisions are both good for the property and for the marine ecosystem. The text focused on the positives of natural management choices and tried to provide an action element. A landowner survey that offered expert site visits was mailed along with the stewardship guide; there was a 12% return on the surveys with over 50 people interested in site visits and/or more information on permanent shoreline protection. The new artwork from the guide was also used on an interpretive panel that is prominently on display at the Port of Friday Harbor. Friends of the San Juans is following up with landowner’s who returned the survey by providing technical site visits to both reduce demand for new armor and identify potential restoration projects, and also conducting landowner meetings with those interested in shoreline easements. The presentation will describe communication tips and lessons learned from Friends decades of work with landowners while sharing messaging and the artwork from the recent publications. This will work as a snapshot or as regular oral presentation.
Session Title
Communication Tools to Accelerate Success
Keywords
Shoreline property owners, Community education, Landowner engagement, Communication tools
Conference Track
SSE6: Communication
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2018 : Seattle, Wash.)
Document Type
Event
SSEC Identifier
SSE6-395
Start Date
6-4-2018 1:30 PM
End Date
6-4-2018 1:45 PM
Type of Presentation
Oral
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Shorelines--Monitoring--Washington (State)--San Juan Islands; Land tenure--Washington (State)--San Juan Islands; Environmental responsibility--Washington (State)--San Juan Islands
Geographic Coverage
San Juan Islands (Wash.)
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Included in
Fresh Water Studies Commons, Marine Biology Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons
Living with the shoreline: education for property owners
As over 90% of shoreline parcels in San Juan County are in private, residential ownership, shoreline property owners are critical caretakers of marine habitats. Information that is provided directly to shoreline property owners can be beneficial to all who enjoy the resources provided by our marine habitats. And in our changing climate, shoreline property owners’ actions can also help improve resilience to the impacts ahead. So, how do you educate shoreline landowners in a manner that engages and inspires them toward positive choices? Friends of the San Juans took on this challenge and created an attractive, positive, and engaging booklet to mail to all waterfront property owners. The Living with the Shoreline stewardship guide uses professional photography, new art, fun facts, and quotes from waterfront owner “peers” to educate and explain why healthy management decisions are both good for the property and for the marine ecosystem. The text focused on the positives of natural management choices and tried to provide an action element. A landowner survey that offered expert site visits was mailed along with the stewardship guide; there was a 12% return on the surveys with over 50 people interested in site visits and/or more information on permanent shoreline protection. The new artwork from the guide was also used on an interpretive panel that is prominently on display at the Port of Friday Harbor. Friends of the San Juans is following up with landowner’s who returned the survey by providing technical site visits to both reduce demand for new armor and identify potential restoration projects, and also conducting landowner meetings with those interested in shoreline easements. The presentation will describe communication tips and lessons learned from Friends decades of work with landowners while sharing messaging and the artwork from the recent publications. This will work as a snapshot or as regular oral presentation.
