FINAL National Review of Innovative and Successful Coastal Habitat Restoration

Coastal habitat restoration is a burgeoning science, with numerous organizations participating in an increasing number of projects and programs across the country. Examples of innovative and successful components of these efforts are summarized in this review. The information on projects and programs was collected through expert interviews and through a nationwide review of scientific literature, restoration plans, and Internet sources. The examples provided cover many coastal habitat types from the four coasts of the United States. The review provides information on restoration research and the innovative and successful components of funding, partnerships, planning, restoration methods and techniques, monitoring, adaptive management, information dissemination, and community involvement. The lessons learned from the experiences of the many sources noted in this review are summarized at the end of the paper. Through this work we hope to contribute toward the success of future restoration efforts. The document, A National Strategy to Restore Coastal and Estuarine Habitat (RAE and NOAA 2002), acknowledges that " coastal areas have much to offer one another in terms of innovative and successful approaches to restoration " and stresses the importance of distributing information and lessons learned to others involved in restoration. To that end, the objectives of this review were to find examples of innovative and successful coastal restoration, spanning both the broad geographic area of the coastal United States (U.S.) and the range of coastal habitat types, and to summarize the findings for use by restoration practitioners. This review is part of a larger effort by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to characterize coastal habitat restoration (see also Diefenderfer et al. 2003). The Strategy discussed above (RAE and NOAA 2002) also puts forth the following seven critical elements for restoring functions to coastal and estuarine habitats: 1) Habitat Restoration; 2) Restoration Partnerships; 3) Restoration Planning and Priority-Setting; 4) Science and Technology; 5) Evaluation and Monitoring; 6) Outreach and Education; and 7) Funding. The topics of this review are similar to those subjects, with two additional subjects discussed, Adaptive Management and Dissemination of Information, drawing from the systematic approach put forward by Diefenderfer and others (2003). In addition, Table 3 of this review provides a summary of innovative and successful restoration methods and techniques. The key findings of this review are provided in the Discussion. 1.1 Background Coastal habitats are among the most productive and diverse habitats in the world. Types of coastal habitats vary widely across …