On Thursday, May 5, JHC partnered with New York State Senator Shelley B. Mayer, Assemblyman Steve Otis, and their guests for a fascinating conversation about stabilizing shorelines. Speakers included Katie Friedman, Save the Sound‘s New York Ecological Restoration Program Manager; Nancy Seligson of the Long Island Future Study; and Westchester County Legislator Catherine Parker.
The afternoon was a truly informative discussion about what can be done by municipalities, nonprofits, homeowners, NGOs, volunteers, land stewards, and more to prepare for sea level rise, climate change, and threats to wetlands and neighborhood homes.
Mayer introduced the speakers and caught the audience up on legislative progress in the area of water protection. Friedman, from Save the Sound, shared success stories from living reef projects in Larchmont and other weather-event prone areas. Seligson impressed upon everyone the availability of millions of dollars of incentive grants and funding accessible right now for municipalities to create more resilient water-permeable areas, from parking lots to athletic fields. Seligson also touched upon the idea of habitat connectivity, which is disrupted by development and non-permeable insertions. Parker reviewed a shoreline restoration project, the expanded permeable parking lot at Rye Playland and Edith Read Sanctuary.
There were lots of questions afterward from audience members including Chris Cohan, Sue Drouin, and Josh Nathan.
