NEW YORK / NEW JERSEY HARBOR & ESTUARY PROGRAM Lessons Learned for a Changing Future 2019 Restoration Conference Director’s Note Welcome! Thanks to the work of the people in this room, restoration of the New York – New Jersey Harbor Estuary continues to advance. The progress report released today summariz- es benefi ts from the more than 40 projects and $290 million of expenditures completed in the past three years. We have made signifi cant advancements, especially in restoring mari- time forests, conserving land, and improving aquatic connectivity for migratory fi sh. We celebrate these achievements knowing that climate change is posing critical questions about the future. Seven years after Hurricane Sandy came ashore, some innovative answers are emerging. Natural and nature-based solutions, like building living shorelines, enhanc- ing tidal wetlands, and conserving vulnerable fl oodplains, are becoming recognized by policy makers. The ability of our highly productive wetlands to sequester carbon and the importance of retaining that carbon in place, is discussed as a climate change mitigation strategy. But the policies and community of practice for implementing these techniques on the ground are still emerging. Climate change is also demanding that we reconsider traditional restoration and manage- ment practices. In a rapidly changing ecosystem, how do we manage an invasive species like Phragmites? Can we continue to make progress on restoring oysters and improving water quality? Do we need to consider new policy frameworks for wetlands and the coastal zone? Lessons Learned for a Changing Future seeks to improve our ability to deliver quality an- swers to those questions. To help us, we are fortunate to have the leaders of critical federal and state agencies with us today, to share how their agencies are tacking these issues. We also have a terrifi c series of afternoon workshops and panels where we can dive deeper into some of the key topics. Most importantly, we have designed the entire day to engage you and the other experts in this room in this crucial conversation. Robert Pirani Conference Wifi NY-NJ Harbor & Estuary Program: @harborestuary Network: SI- Event #RestoreOurEstuary Password: learn@SI Dining-ware at this year’s conference is nearly all compostable. Please use the compost bins provided courtesy of Earth Matter. Agenda Morning Plenary 9:00 Registration and Breakfast Basement Lobby 9:30 Welcome and Introduction Auditorium Robert Pirani, Program Director, NY-NJ HEP Peter Lopez, Administrator, USEPA Region 2 10:00 Disruptive Imagination: Reframing our Restoration Work David Maddox, Founder and Executive Director of The Nature of Cities 10:30 Restoration Progress in the Hudson Raritan Estuary Looking back over 10 years of restoration since the adoption of the Comprehensive Restoration Plan and plans for fulfi llment of our region’s restoration goals. Isabelle Stinnette, Restoration Manager, NY-NJ HEP Colonel Thomas D. Asbery, Commander, NY District, USACE 11:00 Break Basement Lobby 11:15 Restoration for Adaptation: Perspectives from the States Auditorium Representatives from the States of New Jersey and New York will discuss how habitat restoration and conservation are being recog- nized as the answer to new questions. Both states have launched new initiatives for deploying natural and nature-based solutions as critical tools for managing coastal resiliency, shoreline protection, carbon sequestration, and stormwater management, while also delivering habitat restoration and species protection. Catherine McCabe, Commissioner, NJDEP Sean Mahar, Chief of Staff , NYSDEC Moderator: Christopher Daggett, Chair, HEP Policy Committee 12:15 Plenary Closing Remarks and Lunch Clay Hiles, Executive Director, Hudson River Foundation Agenda Aft ernoon Breakout Session 1: Choose one 1:15 The Yin and Yang of Estuarine Phragmites Management Room 1 Restoration practitioners discuss lessons learned over many years of combating invasive species, including how sea level rise is changing minds and techniques. Come prepared with your questions to ask the experts! Terry Doss, NJSEA Christiana Pollack, Princeton Hydro Kip Stein, NYC Parks Judith Weis, Rutgers University Moderator: Lisa Baron, USACE Restoration for Water Quality and Stormwater Management Room 2 Panelists will provide case studies and explore how habitat restoration techniques are increasingly being proposed and tested as a means of improving water quality. Learn about the state of practice for managing a variety of landscapes and pollutants. John Butler, Van Cortlandt Park Alliance Tobiah Horton, Rutgers University John McLaughlin, NYCDEP Beth Roessler, HR Estuary Program, NYSDEC Moderator: Shino Tanikawa, NYC Soil and Water Conservation District, SWIM Coalition Envisioning Future Shorelines Naval Offi cers Join the NYC Department of City Planning in an exercise to envision the Room future of NYC’s 520 miles of waterfront. We will discuss the most pressing Third Floor issues facing the city’s shorelines and the strategies that we can use to address them. Feedback from this session will inform the city’s next Comprehensive Waterfront Plan, which will be released in 2020. The plan provides a framework for how NYC will manage its waterfront in the next decade and beyond. Marit Larson, NYC Parks Cory Mann, NYC DCP Michael Marrella, NYC DCP Adam Parris, Mayor’s Offi ce of Resiliency NYC Brendan Pillar, NYC DCP 2:30 Transition to Next Session Aft ernoon Breakout Session 2: Choose one 2:45 Next Steps in Harbor Oyster Restoration Room 1 Panelists will discuss the status of oyster restoration in the Harbor, and current challenges and opportunities. Discuss the how best to advance restoration past the piloting stage. Meredith Comi, NY-NJ Baykeeper James Lodge, Hudson River Foundation Katie Mosher, Billion Oyster Project Moderator: Mike McCann, The Nature Conservancy Auditorium Monitoring Shorelines for Ecological, Structural, and Social Resiliency Panelists will present and discuss the results of Measuring Success, an ambitious project to create a framework for monitoring shorelines throughout New York. Off er your feedback and priorities for the next round of monitoring sites. Novem Auyeung, NYC Parks Pippa Brashear, SCAPE Dylan Corbett, Arcadis Carolyn Fraioli, NYSDOS Katharhy G., Brooklyn College Katie Graziano, SRIJB Lindsey Strehlau-Howay, NY-NJ HEP Accelerating Blue Carbon Sequestration in Tidal Wetlands Naval Offi cers Panelists will lead us through the state of the science and policies for Room wetland restoration and preservation as a means of storing carbon. Help Third Floor identify next steps for advancing this work here in the Estuary. Riobart Breen, NYSDEC Tim Dillingham, American Littoral Society Stuart Findlay, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies Chester Zarnoch, Baruch College Moderator: Kristin Marcell, NYSDEC 4:00 Conference Concludes Please join us to continue the conversation at Pier A Harbor House, 22 Battery Pl, New York, NY 10004 Presenters Thomas Asbery ecologists who are tasked with monitoring US Army Corps of Engineers and assessing NYC Parks’ natural resources; advising on natural resources protection Colonel Thomas D. Asbery assumed and conservation; and using research and command of the New York District of the monitoring to inform adaptive manage- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on June 8, ment. She is also a part of the New York 2017. He is responsible for the Corps’ water City Urban Field Station and has worked resource development, navigation, and with the U.S. Forest Service on a variety of regulatory activities in northeastern New ecological and social science research Jersey, eastern and south-central New York projects. Her background is in community State, including the New York and New and ecosystem ecology, with a focus on Jersey Harbor and Long Island, as well as climate change, soil biogeochemistry, and areas of Vermont, Massachusetts, and microbial ecology. Novem holds a B.S. in Connecticut. Colonel Asbery oversees the Environmental Science from Brown design and construction at U.S. Army and University and a Ph.D. in Forestry and U.S. Air Force installations in New Jersey, Natural Resources from Purdue University. New York, and Greenland. Colonel Asbery holds the title of Supervisor of the New York and New Jersey Harbor. Most recently, Lisa Baron Col. Asbery oversaw the completion of US Army Corps of Engineers various coastal restoration projects along New Jersey and Long Island, including Lisa Baron is a Project Manager with the emergency maintenance dredging in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-NY District, Moriches Inlet. High visibility coastal Civil Works Branch. She has 28 years of endeavors under his leadership include the experience which includes ecosystem completion of New York City’s East Rocka- restoration initiatives, dredged material way Inlet to Rockaway Inlet & Jamaica Bay, management, environmental dredging, NY and the full design eff orts currently remedial investigations and ecological risk underway for the South Shore of Staten assessment. Lisa manages the New York Island, New York. District’s large scale restoration program for the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary and the Novem Auyeung Upper Hudson River. Lisa has served as the Restoration Work Group Chair of the NY/NJ NYC Parks Harbor Estuary Program since 2010. Lisa As a senior scientist, Novem guides conser- served as Chief of the Harbor Programs vation, research, and monitoring priorities Branch, responsible for the execution of for the Forestry, Horticulture, and Natural the ecosystem