St. Lawrence County Planner John Tenbusch spoke at the Working with Nature workshop organized by NYSG for Ogdensburg, NY. Credit: Roy Widrig/NYSG

Contact:

Roy Widrig, Great Lakes Coastal Processes and Hazards Specialist, E: rlw294@cornell.edu, P: (315) 312-3042

NYSG provides New York’s freshwater and marine shoreline stakeholders with expertise on natural and nature-based shoreline management methods

Oswego, NY, March 23, 2023 - Repeated flooding and destruction of shoreline protection features in New York’s Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties in recent years has created a need for more resilient and nature-based shoreline erosion management methods.

In 2022, New York Sea Grant (NYSG) and partners hosted “Working with Nature” shoreline management workshops in Ogdensburg (August 25) and Chaumont (October 21) to educate shoreline residents in St. Lawrence and Jefferson counties on nature-based shoreline erosion management methods. Topics presented included shoreline geology and ecology, permitting and design processes, funding, and volunteer opportunities. The workshops respectively toured the nature-based shoreline installation at the Fort de la Presentation historic site along the St. Lawrence riverfront and a nature-based shoreline restoration project in progress at Chaumont’s Lyme Town Park.

Thirty residents, town officials, and agency staff attended the three-hour workshops. Attendees received multiple publications from NYSG and partner agencies on shoreline management and funding opportunities, and were able to converse one-on-one with NYSG and partner agency staff.

In response to local demand for knowledge in natural and nature-based features, NYSG and partners provide workshops to help community leaders, property managers, cottage owners, and residents better respond to shoreline management issues.

Partners: 

• New York State Department of State 
• Save The River, City of Ogdensburg 
• Chaumont Free Library 
• Town of Lyme 
• Jefferson County Soil & Water Conservation District 
• New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

Funding: New York State Department of Environmental Conservation


Working with Nature workshop tour to Fort de la Presentation’s shoreline restoration area, Ogdensburg, NY. Credit: Roy Widrig/NYSG


More Info: New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York (SUNY), is one of 34 university-based programs under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Sea Grant College Program.

Since 1971, NYSG has represented a statewide network of integrated research, education and extension services promoting coastal community economic vitality, environmental sustainability and citizen awareness and understanding about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources.

Through NYSG’s efforts, the combined talents of university scientists and extension specialists help develop and transfer science-based information to many coastal user groups—businesses and industries, federal, state and local government decision-makers and agency managers, educators, the media and the interested public.

The program maintains Great Lakes offices at Cornell University, SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Oswego and the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University in Long Island, Brooklyn College and Cornell Cooperative Extension in NYC and Kingston in the Hudson Valley.

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube links. NYSG offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which is published quarterly.