Shoreline Stabilization Options in Maine

The “O.U.R. S.H.O.R.E” Program is being developed to provide guidance and training for using nature-based design practices to protect against shoreline erosion. This program serves homeowners, contractors, resource managers, and community leaders, providing them with how-to information and showcases different project examples from throughout the state to successfully use nature-based designs. OUR SHORE is also an emerging network of engineers, earthwork contractors, designers, and municipal officials interested in learning and sharing these techniques in Maine.

Through "O.U.R. S.H.O.R.E," people can:

  1. Assess sources of erosion
  2. Identify design recommendations while preserving and restoring natural functions to shorelines
  3. Navigate regulatory process to streamline installation of erosion control measures

The OUR SHORE Guide to Nature-Based Shoreline Stabilization Options in Maine (PDF) – DRAFT IN DEVELOPMENT includes basic guidance on shoreline function, erosion processes in different environments, and the importance of vegetation in stabilizing soils. The OUR SHORE approach relies on targeting the contributing sources of erosion and instability to select and combine erosion control practices that will address these causes using the least intervention necessary while using natural, biodegradable or living materials. The guidance provides techniques and considerations to include habitat and shoreline functions into the design of any project, even when riprap is used, so the outcome over time is a naturalized and more resilient shoreline. A short list of common materials, and how to descriptions and pictures of common design practices are included.

Questions? Please contact our team OURSHORE.DEP@maine.gov.

What does OUR SHORE stand for?

Goals and Objectives

  • Observe and blend project with unaltered shorelines near the site
  • Use native, natural, living, and biodegradable materials
  • Reach conditions that function as a naturalized shoreline over time

Access Instability

  • Source and severity of erosion
  • Height and slope risk
  • Overland water and land use
  • Re-vegetation or reconnection shoreline buffer opportunities

Erosion Control Practices

  • Evaluate and Enhance erosion control practices based on site specific needs

Why OUR SHORE?

Coastal and inland waterfront erosion in Maine is a growing concern due to storms, flooding, and rising sea levels. Nature-based designs may offer an effective, long-term plan for safeguarding both private and public property. These designs provide strength, improve the beauty of waterfront properties, and bring a range of benefits to the community and to the health of the environment. They are effective because they work with nature, incorporating a blend of plants that root into the environment, helping to stabilize soils and provide sediment exchange and accumulation between the upland and wetland. As plant communities mature, these designs gain strength, offering greater resilience over time.

Nationwide, nature-based designs are becoming embraced as an effective practice to address waterfront and riverfront erosion and have a proven track record in Maine, especially along rivers, streams, and lakes. The application of Living Shorelines for managing erosion is expanding to include estuaries and ocean coasts in Maine where the challenges presented by wave energy, tidal fluctuations, and winter ice can be severe.

Additional Resources

  1. The Assessment Checklist for Erosion (PDF) offers a streamlined process checklist for site evaluation and selection of Nature-Based design practices.
  2. Case Studies - Example case studies showing design solutions for different landscapes

Training

Materials and training opportunities on Maine Department of Environmental Protection website

  • Contractors
  • Municipal Officials
  • Service Providers

Annual Practitioner Training

On November 20th, 2025, the OUR SHORE Program held its launch event at the University of Maine Orono’s Wells Conference Center. Entitled, “Shoreline Stabilization Practitioner Roundtable and Q&A (Applying Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) to Shoreline Erosion)”, 182 contractors, landscapers, engineers, regulators, community leaders, service providers, and researchers spent the day learning about and discussing the state of Maine’s shoreline stabilization practices focusing on methods in use to effectively respond to persistent and worsening erosion. The goal of the workshop: to grow and strengthen the network of practitioners dedicated to resilient, long-term and economically viable shoreline stabilization solutions, through analysis of opportunities from the latest regulatory frameworks, and materials and techniques which embrace proven practices from the past combined with promising innovations (e.g. hybrid green riprap, vegetative buffers, moving away from plastic tools by replacing them with biodegradable options, and current and wave attenuation). Continuing Education Hours (CEH) were available for attendees as were recertification credits for those already certified by the DEP’s Nonpoint Source Training Center. The OUR SHORE Program intends to hold similar workshops annually at various locations throughout Maine.

Access the video recording of the entire workshop.

Access all the PowerPoint presentations:

PERMITTING, AGENCY REVIEW, and GUIDANCE

  1. Permitting with New Regulations: How and Why? (Robert Wood, Department of Environmental Protection)
  2. Permitting Shoreline Alterations in the Unorganized Territories (Audie Arbo, Land Use Planning Commission)
  3. Assessing Impacts to Coastal Bluffs: The Geological Lens (Peter Slovinsky, Maine Geological Survey)
  4. Assessing Impacts to Marine Resources from Shoreline Stabilization Projects (Heidi Leighton, Department of Marine Resource)
  5. Natural Resource Reviews (John Perry, Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife)
  6. OUR SHORE Guide and Advanced Training and Certification (John Maclaine, Department of Environmental Protection)

PRINCIPLES, TECHNIQUES, & LESSONS LEARNED FROM DESIGNERS & CONTRACTORS

  1. Picking Plants for the Shoreline: Right Plant, Right Place (Rebecca Jacobs, Gabriella’s Gardens)
  2. Living Shoreline Stabilization - Marshes to Buffer Zones (Paul Bernacki and Ruby Treyball, Homeplace Team)
  3. Trial by Tide: Lessons Learned from Planning to Implementation of Nature-Based Strategies (Lisa Vickers, Senior Coastal Professional, GEI Consultants, Inc.)
  4. Maine Coastal Protection Case Studies (Robert Anderson, Anderson Landscape Construction)
  5. Beyond the Pavement: Greener Solutions for Transportation Infrastructure (Kent Cooper and Val Derosier, Maine DOT)
  6. Restoring Coastal Marshes, A Pilot Project in Yarmouth, Maine (Tim Forrester, Flycatcher, LLC)
  7. Advances in Nature Based Stabilization for Coastal Sand Dunes Exposed to Open Ocean Conditions (Seth Wilkinson, Wilkinson Ecological Design, Inc.)