Initially, hard rock rip-rap was placed in before a permitting process was complete. The rip-rap had to be removed, and a bio-engineered bank with willows was used in replacement. Once enough time passes and deep roots have established, the willows work as effectively as rip-rap to stabilize the shoreline, and provides habitat complexity necessary to support diverse wildlife and fish habitat.

To protect the willow cuttings long enough for them to grow deep and intertwined root systems, fascines were created out of pine branches, placed at the “toe,” or bottom, of the bank and staked to the shore.

A fascine literally means: “a bundle of rods, sticks, or plastic pipes bound together, used in construction or military operations for filling in marshy ground or other obstacles and for strengthening the sides of embankments, ditches, or trenches.”