"Restore Your Shore" is a multimedia lakescaping program that shows landowners how to protect a natural shoreline or restore a degraded shore with a natural buffer, and it is now available online. The program is located on the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' (DNR) website.
"This web version of the popular CD-ROM is the culmination of a 10-year process to make high- quality information about the values of natural shorelines to fish, wildlife and water quality accessible to all Minnesotans," said DNR Nongame Wildlife Supervisor Carrol Henderson. "It teaches Minnesotans how to restore, enhance or conserve their own shorelines."
Henderson, the author of "Lakescaping for Wildlife and Water Quality," added that the new format enables the DNR to reach a much larger audience. It also allows for modifications to content as new techniques and tools are developed.
Visitors can follow four different shoreland owners' experiences as they share their shoreland transformation projects. Worksheets and forms are also available to guide people step-by-step through the design and implementation process.
"This program will help people develop a deeper understanding of shoreland ecosystems and natural shoreland management, and to discover how others have resolved lakeshore problems similar to theirs," Henderson said.
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Visitors to the website will find solutions to common shoreline issues and select from more than 400 ecologically appropriate native plants on a searchable database.
Everyday activities can affect the health of the shoreland, Henderson said. "For example, lawns that stretch to the shoreline without a buffer are detrimental to habitat for native animals," he said. "When we remove native vegetation -- from upland trees to underwater plants -- we destroy natural cover and water quality protection. And the chronic use of fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides can contaminate the water and disrupt natural processes."
