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Press Releases
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Coconut Logs and Corn Bales help restore Eroded Shoreland
Also, click here for an additional article about lakeshore soil erosion
Article reprinted with permission by
Hearald-Review, Grand Rapids, MN
Story by Willow Loney - September 7, 2005 |
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Ice thrusting winters created some violent erosion activity on the shores of Bass Lake in front of Art and Crystal Lamey’s home. The past few years they have lost nearly 5 feet of their shoreline sparking them to try a revolutionary new technique in shoreline restoration.
“We just thought that we really needed to do something,” said Art Lamey. The couple has owned 130 feet of lakeshore in front of their home and another 210 feet of undeveloped lakeshore property since 1969 but the last few years they have seen some violent erosion action.
“I had read about this and there was a report in the Bass Lake Association newsletter and I liked the sound of that and I looked it up on the Internet and I said well I think this is worth a try,” said Art Lamey. “I think it is a very unique idea.” (Two or three years prior, Lamey, who is from Fargo, said that he tried to do some shoreline restoration projects himself, but the ice had pushed it up and destroyed all of his work). The article Lamey read in the Bass Lake Association newsletter was about Daniel Dix owner of WoodSpirit Gardens in Backus who he eventually hired to help restore his shoreline.
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Roll mouse over picture for Before & After image | |
Standing on the banks of the Bass Lake on Tuesday, Dix pointed out the serious erosion problem the Lameys were experiencing.
“That is very drastic,” said Dix pointing to a area of shoreland with several feet of vertical erosion. If that kind of erosion were to continue, eventually trees could start to become uprooted and even homes washed into the shore. “It is very serious,” said Dix.
It is very serious not only to homeowners and the destruction of their private property, but also to the degradation of the lake. Dix claims that one of the biggest problems occur because many lakeshore owners mow their lawn all the way to the lakeshore.
Whereas natural shoreline plants have deep roots which hold the shoreline in place, grasses have only a couple inches of roots and cannot hold up the dirt. Greater development on area lakes as well as increased usage of motor boats has helped to further the erosion process because grasses cannot withstand repeated wave action created by motor boats. “Once you start losing these shoreland vegetation and these deep roots, it starts going faster and faster and faster,” said Dix.
“What we are trying to do is reestablish these native plant communities and get it going again, because that is what is going to hold these shorelines. It is not going to be rock. It is not going to be cement. It is not going to be some kind of iron mesh. It has got to be the native plants. They are the ones that are going to hold this world together.” |
For the last three years WoodSpirit Gardens has been using Coconut Husk Logs to help restore damaged shorelines. This season is the first year they also have used something known as ShoreSox containment system made of lined burlap & photo degradable mesh. Using this new technology as well as by planting natural aquatic and upland vegetation has created a marked improvement in controlling erosion for some of Dix’s recent clients.
Dix, who practiced traditional methods of shoreland restoration in the past using large boulders, concrete and rocks, found that this method was not working as well as he had hoped. Although the rocks helped to break some of the wave action they do not allowing natural plants to take root. | |
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 | | The coconut logs Dix is fond of using now, are made out of coconut fiber surrounded by a mesh tube about 12 inches in diameter and typically 20 inches long. Hole's are poked into the logs and dirt is put into them to create an environment which allows aquatic natural plants to grow and eventually establish themselves long term on the shoreline.
“With out something like this, a couple waves and they would be gone,” said Dix.
A coconut mat is put on the upland area to help hold upland plants.
ShoreSox is a modular containment system made of burlap fabric on one side stitched together with biodegradable nylon on the other and stuffed with bales of corn stalks. The bales and the logs are further held in place with wooden stakes and tied together with rope. Eventually the logs and sacks will biodegrade but the plants that they help to root will continue to grow and maintain a healthy shoreline. |
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“It is an emerging technology,” said Dix. “Nobody has all of the answers, but you have to do something and the old things aren’t working.” Although the old method and this new method are fairly comparable in price, some look at this type of shoreland restoration as just another unnecessary expense. It may be an investment, but the overall goal is working to preserve nature, said Dix.
“Just working with nature is much less expensive in the long run,” he said. “If we lose these lakes people aren’t going to want to buy property or come on vacations up here.” The problem that took about 40 years to create will likely take about 40 years to fully restore, but Dix said that with some maintenance and care with bio-engineering, the area will become a vibrant ecosystem again.
“We are hoping that we can get that shoreline established,” said Lamey. “That is what we are hoping for.”
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