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ASBPA is proud to announce the recipients of its 2025 Best Restored Shore awards. The esteemed award program recognizes and encourages more effective coastal risk management that restores natural infrastructure to address growing erosion, flooding, and related hazards associated with increased storm severity and sea level rise. “Shoreline projects that restore natural infrastructure protect coastal communities while also enhancing habitats, increasing resilience, and providing far-reaching economic benefits,” says ASBPA Executive Director Nicole Elko. “ASBPA’s Best Restored Shore award aims to showcase these successful projects to build public awareness and support.” The 2025 Best Restored Shore awards are Birch Bay Berm Project, WA; City of Miami Beach, Brittany Bay Park, FL; Indian Island County Park, NY; and Nueces Bay Marsh Restoration, TX.
The Birch Bay Berm Project, located in Birch Bay, Washington, represents a model for nature-based shoreline resilience in a changing climate. “The Berm,” Whatcom County’s largest capital project and largest gravel beach placement in the State of Washington to date, was designed to reduce coastal flood risk, restore shoreline habitat, and improve public access. The project is a community-driven success, made possible through the support, vision, and commitment of Birch Bay residents, with collaboration among Federal, Tribal, State, and local partners demonstrating how engineering, environmental restoration, and community partnership can create a safer, more accessible, and ecologically healthier coastline. Overall, the project placed over 100,000 native plants, reduced incoming wave energy and enhanced ADA access. From an eroding shoreline with frequent flooding to a revitalized beach with improved recreational access and habitat, Whatcom County’s Birch Bay shoreline has been transformed.
The City of Miami Beach Brittany Bay Park project, located in Miami Beach, Florida, is a multi-functional transformation fusing engineering innovation, ecological restoration, and public enrichment within one of Florida’s most environmentally sensitive areas. By abandoning a traditional seawall replacement in favor of a hybrid living shoreline, the City set a new precedent for sustainable resilience and community-forward design. The Brittany Bay Park project preserved and expanded habitat with 18 mature mangroves protected, and over 680 new mangroves planted, restoring vital ecological functions, all while providing tidal connectivity and upgraded wildlife-safe infrastructure. For the public’s engagement and usage, a recycled-material overlook deck, enhanced paths, and educational access to nature are just some of the additional key project features. Brittany Bay Park serves as Miami Beach’s pilot for hybrid shorelines and a blueprint for coastal resiliency across South Florida.
The Indian Island County Park project, located in Riverhead, New York, achieved lasting ecological, cultural, and community outcomes using nature-based solutions. The project protected a known Native American burial site, stabilized an eroding shoreline and bluff, reestablished native tidal marsh, improved ecological function with native plantings, and preserved public access and recreational value at Indian Island County Park. This multi-benefit project showcases how coastal resilience, habitat restoration, and heritage preservation can integrate into a replicable effort led by public agencies in close collaboration with state and federal regulators, tribal representatives, and the private sector. The project has a built-in framework for long-term stewardship with ongoing monitoring and future contingency planning. Its success is rooted in thoughtful design, inclusive planning, and a long-term commitment to adaptive management.
The Nueces Bay Marsh Restoration, located in Corpus Christi, Texas, is an example of how long-term planning and building partnerships across many levels of stakeholders can produce a successful project. The Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program (CBBEP) helped develop a phased plan and leveraged funding participation from local, state, and private partners. The result of the project has been a significant increase in estuarine marsh habitat within the Nueces Bay system. To document ecosystem health, CBBEP engaged researchers at Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi, to study the system prior to and post construction. Since completion, the CBBEP has constructed an observation deck to enhance public access, and the City of Portland constructed a recreational boat launch and dock area to increase community usage of the area. The project has flourished and is spurring user participation by the community.
The 2025 Best Restored Shore award recipients will be recognized on October 8, 2025, during the ASBPA National Coastal Conference, held in partnership with the California Shore & Beach Preservation Association’s (CSBPA) H2O conference, in Long Beach, California. A complete list of Best Restored Shore award recipients is available at https://asbpa.org/about-us/awards-program/.
Photos below clockwise: Birch Bay Berm Project, Washington; Indian Island County Park, New York; City of Miami Beach, Brittany Bay Park, Florida; and Nueces Bay Marsh Restoration, Texas.
