The Living Shorelines Act is a progressive piece of legislation that was introduced by Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ) to help coastal communities build resiliency against rising sea levels and climate-related weather events.
In the wake of superstorms and major hurricanes events, the United States has allocated hundreds of millions of dollars for evacuation, clean-up, and rebuilding efforts. The Living Shorelines Act would encourage the development of projects like Living Breakwaters that incorporate ecological materials such as oyster reefs and wetland plants, to enhance coastal barriers and help combat erosion and flooding.
SCAPE encourages landscape architects and citizens alike to act and call their members of Congress and advocate for this legislation, as it will allow communities and design professionals to work together in developing long-term solutions for our coastal communities. In ASLA’s recently released statement advocating for the bill, Kate explained that, “As a landscape architect, I support this legislation because it will allow communities and design professionals to work together in developing long-term solutions for transforming our coastal communities.”
If you are interested in advocating the bill, the iAdvocate Network can be used by ASLA members to contact their member of congress and a directory of Congress members’ contacts can be found here.