About the Program
Keeping water resources healthy in the face of increasing development pressure requires informed decision-making and cooperation on the part of citizens and government agencies.
The Shoreland Education Program works to improve water quality, habitat and aesthetics of lakes and rivers.
Shoreland property owners, the landscape and nursery industry, natural resource professionals, realtors, developers and local government agencies benefit from our educational. Key components of the program include workshops, hands-on field experience, educational materials, and research and demonstration sites.
Workshops cover a range of water-related topics such as, basic limnology, best management practices for shoreland property, aquatic and wetland plant identification, erosion control, invasive species control, shoreland revegetation, and shoreland maintenance and management. Many of these workshops provide hands-on and field experience that build participant confidence, resulting in long-term impacts in urban and rural areas of Minnesota.
Educational products supporting the Shoreland Education programs include an award-winning Web site, Minnesota Shoreland Management Resource Guide, promotional materials, From Shore-to-Shore newsletter, fact sheets, how-to workbooks, the Lake Home and Cabin Kit and Better Living on Our Lakes and Rivers video series of nine DVDs addressing shoreland issues.
Over 100 shoreland restoration demonstration sites have been implemented on public and private lake and river shorelines since 1997. Research has included appropriate installation methods and alternative erosion control techniques. These demonstration and research sites are used to forward the science of shoreland restoration and provide the basis of many of the shoreland educational materials.
The Shoreland Education program is sponsored by the University of Minnesota Extension in cooperation with the University of Minnesota Water Resources Center and Minnesota Sea Grant.
