A Surprising Trend in Coastal Armoring? Maybe.

October 4, 2020

Sea levels are up but Is coastal armoring the answer

On this episode, Peter Ravella and Tyler Buckingham examine three case studies in coastal armoring that may point the way to a new direction on the American shoreline: (1) The sudden and unexpected stoppage of the USACE's NY & NJ Harbor & Tributaries Focus Area Feasibility Study (HATS), (2) The California Coastal Commission's rejection of a Coastal Development Permit to protect the coastal bluff under the Niguel Shores Subdivision in Orange County; and (3) The USACE's interim Report on the Florida Keys Coastal Protection Feasibility Study, which rejected all armoring solutions and rather focused on buy outs, retreat, and land use planning. We conclude with a fun discussion on the fascinating history of ship cats. Yup, ship cats. Only on the American Shoreline Podcast!



Show Transcription
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Peter Ravella & Tyler Buckingham

Peter and Tyler joined forces in 2015 and from the first meeting began discussing a project that would become Coastal News Today and the American Shoreline Podcast Network. At the time, Peter and Tyler were coastal consultants for Pete’s firm, PAR Consulting, LLC. In that role, they worked with coastal communities in Texas, Florida, and North Carolina, engaged in grant writing, coastal project development, shoreline erosion and land use planning, permitting, and financial planning for communities undertaking big beach restoration projects. Between and among their consulting tasks, they kept talking and kept building the idea of CNT & ASPN. In almost every arena they worked, public engagement played a central role. They spent thousands of hours talking with coastal stakeholders, like business owners, hotel operators, condo managers, watermen, property owners, enviros, surfers, and fishermen. They dived deep into the value, meaning, and responsibility for the American shoreline, segment-by-segment. Common threads emerged, themes were revealed, differences uncovered. There was a big conversation going on along the American shoreline! But, no place to have it. That's where CNT and ASPN were born.