Calling Your Bluff Toolkit

Create Coalitions

By uniting citizens who share concerns about climate change and a commitment to protecting their shoreline:
• Build diverse partnerships. Connect with local officials, organizations, and regional experts.
• Take on high-impact projects. Organize dune restoration, plant living shorelines, map and document vulnerable areas, or host resilience-planning workshops. These projects generate valuable data, designs, and momentum that can help municipalities build upon.

Work with Municipalities

With limited capacity to plan for shoreline erosion and heavy reliance on volunteers, many coastal municipalities depend on citizen-led action to drive progress:
• Identify municipal needs. Determine where local capacity is stretched—such as shoreline assessments, public engagement, or grant applications.
• Align your projects with those needs. Select initiatives that address those gaps—such as dune restoration, living shoreline projects, or documenting flood-risk areas.
• Provide useful information. Data, visuals, designs, or reports municipalities can apply immediately to planning and funding opportunities.

Finding Partners

Nonprofits and state agencies play complementary roles in building community resilience. Partnering with them brings expertise, resources, and credibility that local leaders may not access alone. They can provide capacity by organizing meetings, providing staff support, and managing flexible grants. State agencies like the Maine Geological Survey (MGS) and Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) set the broader framework, offering funding, data, and policy guidance. Patience is key. These partnerships may move slowly but create stability and help align communities with statewide funding and protection goals.

Community Volunteering

When engaged citizens come together—driven by a shared concern for climate change and a commitment to protecting their community and shoreline—they can be a powerful force for progress. Building partnerships with these individuals, along with local officials, organizations, and regional experts, is key to advancing meaningful resilience work.
Volunteerism is a driving force behind many communities. Engaging residents in roles such as organizing events, coordinating projects, documenting shoreline changes, and sharing knowledge strengthens participation and builds local capacity. Volunteer-driven efforts bring added benefits:
• Increased community buy-in and awareness of coastal issues
• Strong neighbor-to-neighbor networks and future collaborations
• Long-term ownership of coastal restoration projects.

Local to Regional

In communities, when volunteers lack support from local officials or when municipal capacity is limited, progress often depends on seeking guidance elsewhere. Partnering with regional and nonprofit organizations provides the structure and momentum to move local efforts forward—broadening participation, reconnecting local leaders, and laying the groundwork for lasting collaboration.

Identify Knowledge Gaps

Start by identifying what your community understands—and what it doesn’t. For example, many residents see erosion but don’t realize that hard armoring can cause end-effect erosion—worsening damage to neighboring shorelines. Host simple webinars with experts using local examples to make science relatable. These conversations build understanding and drive action.

Go Big

With the network of experts you are cultivating, you have the foundation to create a meaningful event that deepens understanding and strengthens community ties. Don’t hesitate to scale up—larger events can spark ideas, partnerships, and action. These community events can create momentum, leading to joint grant applications, pilot projects like living shorelines, and stronger partnerships with state agencies. Keep track of what worked and what didn’t to guide future events.

Shoreline Surveying with MGS

Local groups can play a vital role in helping MGS update coastal hazard maps—not only in unstable areas, but anywhere landowners seek clarification or a revised bluff designation. By organizing on-water access and supporting shoreline documentation, these efforts help MGS geologists collect critical data more efficiently. Along with geotagged photos, this work tracks coastal changes and strengthens the maps that guide resilience planning across the state.

Drones

Drones have transformed coastal monitoring, offering an accessible, cost-effective way to capture high-resolution shoreline data. Even consumer drones can detect bluff retreat, dune shifts, and vegetation changes.

Monitoring Bluff Erosion with a Smart Device

You can help Maine geologists monitor bluff erosion using your smartphone or a GPS-enabled camera. The built-in GPS tags each photo with its location, allowing MGS to use your images to update the Maine Coastal Bluffs and Landslides Map. At sites like this one, tracking erosion—especially at the end of riprap installations—can reveal bluff retreat rates and show how hard armoring can exacerbate erosion rates on neighboring properties. Photos documenting coastal erosion are also required to apply for most shoreline stabilization permits from the DEP.

Step By Step Site Photography

Make sure your device is set to capture GPS data. Define your shoreline boundary at low tide: pick a section of shoreline, include an item or person for scale.

Take two sets of photos: one on the upland (bluff top) and one at the intertidal zone for a minimum of 10 all.

Take multiple photos with each set:

• From the boundary ends near the toe and aimed toward the center.
• Take centered shots and photos that include springs, icicles, and runnels.
• Repeat set on upland to show lawn, bluff edge, and land management.

Submit photos to MGS. Your images will help update MGS maps to reflect the shoreline changes and its stability.

Funding is Critical

Funding is essential and competitive. Successful grant applications don’t happen overnight. Here are a few lessons we’ve learned that can help you prepare.
• Build Partnerships and Design for Impact. Collaborate with nearby communities or organizations—regional efforts are more competitive. Create projects that are scalable and transferable to show broader relevance.
• Secure a Fiscal Agent. If you're not a municipality or nonprofit, find a partner who can legally receive funds.
• Prep Early. Draft a basic project description now—you can adapt it later as deadlines approach.
• Know What to Expect. Most grants ask for a clear description, alignment with public goals, defined tasks, and a realistic budget.
• Think Ahead (8–24 months out). Use a “crystal ball” approach—anticipate your future funding needs and be ready with ideas before opportunities arise.